Clare Mcleod reports how Pro Hoof suits her little horse Vana perfectly
I was delighted and honoured when Mel at Progressive Earth wanted to supply my lovely little mare Vana with one of her excellent balancers, after I reported how much I liked and rated them.
Vana is a grulla (black dun) American Quarter Horse. She is a very good doer and is on restricted grazing most of the year. She has not yet needed any concentrate feed on top of forage, even when in a fair level of work.
It’s particularly important that she receives the essential nutrients missing from forage, and the Progressive Earth balancers are an ideal way to supply what she needs.
I find the Pro Hoof to be what suits her best, and she finds it perfectly palatable when mixed with some plain grass or alfalfa chaff and a little unmolassed sugar beet pulp.
Vana lives on a track system all summer, along with my cob. She receives a small amount of Horsehage High Fibre during summer to boost fibre intake considering her grass-sprouts diet, and so her gut is adapted when she is fed forage during travelling and when we go for weekends away!
She has access to fields over winter and is fed homemade haylage.
I’m not particularly competitive, but I have found that entering competitions both gives me a goal and is also a useful test of where my horse and I are at with our skills.
Our first outings were to TREC, where we managed to win a few classes and gather many ribbons overall. The following year we got out to a few dressage and show jumping competitions and collected many more ribbons.
Then we did what I’d always dreamed of… we developed the skills to enter a one day event! It was only baby sized at 70 cm but we completed going clear XC, one pole down in the SJ, and placed 9th!
This season we’ve been out show jumping, and have just completed our second ODE, which was great fun. I look forward to every single ride on this wonderful, friendly, feisty and smart little mare!
So many thanks to Progressive Earth for contributing to the development of a really nice little riding horse.
Clare Mcleod is a highly respected equine nutritionist and author of The Truth About Feeding Your Horse. Her enthusiasm for health and fitness has promoted an interest in feeding the horse more naturally, which results in less disease and disorders, and more optimal performance and longevity.