A qualified independent equine nutritionist offers expert unbiased advice on how best to feed your horse. While they may recommend certain manufacterers feeds and supplements, they recieve no financial compensation from the manufacter for making the recommendation and so you can be sure their suggestion is truly in your horse's best interest. Advice given by Clair is impartial, practical, clear and tailored to the needs of your horse.
With so many supplement and feed choices available it is hard to know exactly which products are best for your horse and whether your horse's diet is balanced. A balanced diet is crucial to ensure optimal health and performance. An independent equine nutritionist can help you make the right choices.
Clair takes her extensive scientific knowledge of nutrition and in conjunction with her many years of practical horse experience creates diets that are straight forward, user friendly, cost effective and easy to implement. In addition, a key component of Clair's consultations is helping owners to understand what nutrients their horses need and why.
In the article titled “Working with a Nutritionist” published by theHorse.com, Heather Smith Thomas explains the benefits to your horse of using this type of qualified professional. She starts off by explaining that “feeding horses properly is an art and a science. Sometimes it helps to work with a nutritionist to find out which grains best complement available forages, to design the best diet for a broodmare or a performance horse, or to resolve a nutritional problem. Why? Because sorting the best diet for your horse from the blinding array of commercial feeds and supplements, or from more than 100 basic feed ingredients last listed by the 2007 Nutrient Requirements of Horses, can be daunting at best, and dangerous at worse. Feeding a horse is like building a house. You can buy all the lumber and other materials needed, but the house can't build itself. You need the means to put it all together. Horse owners often want to create their own rations, and a good nutritionist can help with this. He or she has the years of training to understand how these materials go together, and how to balance everything and make it come out right.”
The article goes on to discuss the bias from using nutritionists provided by feed companies and the importance of working with a nutritionist who specilizes in equine nutrition. Smith Thomas concludes by saying “most of us could use some help in understanding how to best feed our horses, whether they are old pasture pets or champions on the track or in the show ring. Even having an annual evaluation by a nutritionist--and following that advice--could result in healthier horses. For those animals having problems such as weight loss or developmental disease, a good nutritionist can even make the difference in their survival and future health.”
The above is reprinted with permission of theHorse.com. A full version of the article may be found at http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=11403
Why use an independent nutritionist?
