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Case Studies

 

 

University trial proves that horses respond to a little tlc!

 

In December 2000, the University of Plymouth carried out a trial on tlc with 40 horses from the Bicton College of Agriculture.

The horses were carefully paired for breed, age, hoof condition and body condition and then randomly allocated to the trial diets. All the horses received chopped haylage and pony nuts according to their bodyweight, but half of them also received tlc.

Throughout the 8 month trial, the horses were weighed weekly and scored for body and coat condition. Hoof condition was regularly monitored, growth rate was determined and hoof clippings were subjected to detailed histological examination and physical properties were determined using recognized techniques.

The Results

Horses fed tlc had significantly greater increase in coat condition score compared to the horses not supplemented with tlc. This completely agrees with the finding of many users that the coats of horses and ponies given tlc becomes shinier, with less scurf making clipping easier and faster. Whist horses do often respond to the soya bean oil in tlc, by becoming shinier, it seems likely that the zinc and biotin in tlc is also contributing to the improved skin texture appreciated by so many users.

There was no significant difference in body condition score betweeen horses fed tlc and those supplemented. Whilst tlc makes the horse look good, this shows that owners of good-doers should not be concerned about weight gain.  However, customer feedback has told us that horses in poor condition, recovering from illness, or veterans have shown improved weight gain, which could possible be due to an increase in appetite, rather than the actual tlc itself.

To test the improvements to the hoof wall, the force required to puncture hoof samples removed at farrier visits was used to quantify the hardness of hoof tissue. The increase in force required to puncture hoof tissue of horses supplemented with tlc was greater (324g) than that required to puncture hoof samples from horses not supplemented (209g).

Conclusions

These results indicate that horses fed tlc over an 8 month period begin to show increased hoof durability and shinier coats without any increased weight gain.

 

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