The Pellet
Pellets generally have a bad reputation in Germany. Many riders believe that they are employed to make use of leftovers, since it is visually hard to tell what is really inside them. That view is over-generalized and not entirely true.The pellet certainly offers the possibility of adding numerous components without having a customer realize it. However, this critique cannot be directed at the pellet as a form of horse feed and is only justified if cheap, low-quality ingredients are added to the pellet. In fact, if it contains high-quality raw materials it is a very attractive and practical solution for horse nutrition.
The feed is for the horse…
…not for the human, who tends to be influenced by a certain small or “look” of a product, without being realistic and considering that these things are irrelevant for the horse. Since muesli is considered healthy for humans, this assumption is made also for horses, even though the requirements and preconditions are different.If fragrant herbs are added to the mix, the illusion is perfect, even if no ordinary person is capable of objectively judging the grainy ingredients of the muesli, which are often mixed and covered with oils and molasses. The opposite tends to be the case: Discoloration, funguses and dust are oftentimes so hidden that they are almost impossible to recognize. Even for high-quality mueslis there is partly no way around pellets because some raw materials and vitamin mixes can only be processed that way. Another problematic aspect is that the crushed grains used in muesli spoil easily, due to their large surface that causes their fatty acids to go rancid.
Hygiene? Not a problem with pellets!
Most of the mentioned problems can be solved by means of pellets. All ingredients, even very small and light ones like minerals and trace elements, can be homogeneously mixed in the production of pellets.Through squeezing and grinding the cereal parts are opened up perfectly. In the pressing process of the pellet these parts are compressed and their surface reduced, which limits the access of oxygen.
That way it is possible to maintain the quality of the ingredients over a long period of time. When the pellets are processed well they are sleek and cause only very little abrasion. The addition of molasses and other binder materials is unnecessary, which also slows down the natural deterioration of the product and improves its hygienic quality.
What’s not in it?
To avoid esophageal obstruction, “Ludgers” leaves out any kind of swelling crude material like for instance beet slices. We consciously avoid milling by-products like wheat bran, oat hulls etc. They might do their job as “fillers” but strain the horse’s organism unnecessarily. Molasses and sugar serve the purpose of appetite provokers and work as binders but also cause strain for the metabolism and lead to intestinal problems. Palm oil is generally hard to process for the horses organism, since it is rich in unsaturated fatty acids. However, horses need high-quality oils, that have a good balance of unsaturated fatty acids (omega-3 and omega-6).When the types of cereal were chosen for the “Ludgers” feed, we took wheat off the lists of ingredients entirely. It contains a high percentage of wheat gluten. This can cause adherence and indigestions in the alimentary tract through faulty fermentation, which can lead to acute laminitis.