Page 22 - AEF-AlbertaBits_Fall-2025

Hold [Onto] Your Horses
Helping your equine
live a healthier life
By Caitlin Hart
WILD HORSES ARE a beloved symbol of Alberta and its wild west history.
Roaming the foothills, they spend their days grazing on wild grass and
foraging, the way horses naturally do. This pattern helps them avoid some of
the health problems that domestic horses might face.
To help domestic horses eat more like their wild counterparts, a growing
industry of slow feeders, from hay balls to automated feeders that dispense
food at set times throughout the day, is slowly gaining traction. The most
common type of slow feeder uses netting or mesh around a hay bale to
prevent horses from gorging themselves. Although they can look different,
the premise is the same — mesh bags, netting to cover a hay bale or a
trough with a net secured over top to slow horses down and help them eat
at a more natural pace.
Horses are foragers by nature, eating small amounts of food over the
course of a day. While roaming wild horses typically spend 12 to 18 hours
grazing, it can be harder for domesticated horses to meet their grazing
needs — a horse’s unique biology and small stomach means that forage
feeding prevents digestive problems like gastric ulcers and colic. Similarly,
the saliva horses generate while chewing for hours a day helps protect their
digestive systems.
For Nordic AutoFeed founders Ashton Shura and Kirsten Wiklund,
the inspiration for their automated slow feeder came from a personal
heartbreak, when Shura’s horse passed away after suffering colic, a
gastrointestinal issue in horses that causes abdominal pain.
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Alberta Bits Fall 2025