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California Riding Magazine • July, 2009 Natural Glo & Satin Finish |
Starch is great on shirts and not so great in horses. Sure, starchy foods like grain can add weight, energy and coat gloss, but too much can overload a delicate digestive system that was designed for grazing on grasses not gorging on grain. Stabilized rice bran entered the equine market as an alternative about 15 years ago and Phoenix-based NutraCea has been a pioneer in that field throughout that time. Their familiar equine products NaturalGlo™ and Satin Finish® have recently been joined by Natural Glo Rice Bran Oil and all of them have been keeping horses happy and healthy with plant-based calories that convert to calm energy, healthy coats and carefully managed weight gain or maintenance. High-end performance horses and backyard trail riding buddies benefit equally from NutraCea’s line of supplements and feed ingredients. Innovations in stabilization technology now make it possible to produce stabilized rice bran in pelleted form without the clay or lignin binders commonly used in the industry to hold a pellet together. This new proprietary process enables NutraCea to produce revolutionary new product platforms that have applications as nutritious bases for supplements and other products. Natural Glo, Equine Shine and Satin Finish feature the highest purity stabilized rice bran available and they are manufactured to food grade standard with no preservatives. A customer in Las Vegas noticed a big difference in her 26-year-old Thoroughbred after just a month of including NaturalGlo in his diet. “He has an incredible sheen and the product has been extremely beneficial for maintaining his proper weight through hunter/jumper competitions and seasonal temperature changes,” she reports. “He looks and moves like a much younger horse and I believe that NaturalGlo has been instrumental in maintaining his overall condition.” NutraCea’s products are not intended to replace formulated feeds, but they can provide an excellent complement, explains Matthew Butler, vice president of NutraCea’s Equine/Animal Nutrition Department. “They offer caloric density without all the starch.” The stabilized rice bran products and feed additives are plant-based, providing a “more helpful glycemic response that actually helps the horse’s mental focus.” Because the products include whole food ingredients, they contribute to a profile that includes healthy fats, carbohydrates, protein, fiber, key vitamins, minerals and a complete amino acid profile. This fits with industry trends toward healthier equine diets. “The addition of NutraCea stabilized rice bran results in the delivery of highly digestible, low starch, naturally occurring high fat plant based calories while simultaneously mitigating the passage of starch into the hind gut,” Butler continues. “Overt levels of starch that are not fully digested in the small intestine will spill into the hind gut, leading to lower intestinal pH levels and potential bouts with colic and laminitis.” Reducing starch has also been shown to help horses that have a history of tying up.
For more information on NaturalGlo, Satin Finish, Rice Bran Oil and other NutraCea products, visit www.nutracea.com or call Matthew Butler at 800-576-2105. |
