Apple A Day is one of the craftable items in the game. Users in the Nutritionist stream can produce it using apple, psyllium and aloe.

Course Article

Supplementing for Internal Disease Prevention

There are a couple of supplements that may be added to a horse's diet to help prevent internal diseases. In particular, the two main conditions in Oxer to Oxer that may be prevented by supplementation are colic and gastric ulcers.

One common type of colic is sand colic, which can happen when horses are fed hay on sandy ground. Horses will inadvertently eat the sand when eating their feed, which can cause accumulation of sand in the gastrointestinal tract. This can cause obstruction, irritation of the intestinal lining, weight loss, and colic. Sand colic can either be a medical or surgical case: in some sand colics, the accumulation of sand is so great that it has to be surgically removed and cannot be passed on its own. Owners that have horses prone to sand colic can add psyllium to their horse's diet, in order to increase the dietary fibre. The fibre helps push the sand out of the gastrointestinal tract, to hopefully prevent accumulation and intestinal irritation.

Another condition that is commonly supplemented for is gastric ulceration. These ulcers occur on the non-glandular part of the horse's stomach, or the part of the stomach where no stomach acid is produced. Because no stomach acid is produced in this region, it does not have the protective mucus coating that the acid-producing part of the stomach has. Thus, when acid comes into contact with this area of the stomach, it can cause tissue ulceration. Many believe that aloe vera has a soothing effect on the ulcerated parts of the stomach, and may help prevent ulcers from developing. However, there have been limited studies to prove this in horses so far.

These two ingredients, along with apple for flavour, have been combined into the product Apple A Day. This product helps lower your horse's risk of getting internal disease, so if your horse seems susceptible to these problems, you may want to consider adding it to your horse's feeding regimen.

1. Blikslager, A. Aloe vera for equine ulcers? The Horse, 2019. https://thehorse.com/19987/aloe-vera-for-equine-ulcers/? 2. Oke, S. Study: Horses with sand colic have 'excellent' prognosis. The Horse, 2018. https://thehorse.com/139480/study-horses-with-sand-colic-have-excellent-prognosis/