The use of equine nutritional supplements in Finland

English. The use of nutritional supplements is widespread within many horse owners and caretakers,despite the fact that the scientific evidence of their efficacy is often limited. This study aimedto describe the use of nutritional supplements in horses by the Finnish equestrian industrythrough an online survey. Most Finnish horse owners or caretakers participating in the studyused nutritional supplements in their horses, with only 0.5% of respondents having not usedany supplements. The most common types of supplements used were vitamins and minerals,electrolytes and enhancing performance, and joint health and mobility promoting products.After feeding a certain nutritional supplement the majority of participants noticed either asignificant or slight improvement in their horse (46.3% and 39.8% respectively). It was alsocommon to feed the horse more than one supplement concurrently and dosage of thesupplement was most often based on the manufacturer recommendations. The most commonreason for feeding supplements was fulfilling dietary requirements.

English. Toidulisandite kasutamine on hobuseomanike ja hooldajate seas laialt levinud sellegipoolest,et teaduslik tõestus nende efektiivsusest on tihti vähene. Selles uuringus kirjeldataksetoidulisandite kasutamist Soome hobustel internetipõhise küsitlusega kogutute andmetealusel. Suurem osa Soome hobuseomanikest ja hooldajatest, kes osalesid küsitlusel, kasutasidtoidulisandeid, ainult 0.5% vastajatest polnud neid kasutanud. Kõige levinumad toidulisanditüübid olid mineraal- ja vitamiinpreparaadid, elektrolüüdid, sooritust parandavad jaliigesetervist ning liikuvust soodustavad preparaadid. Peale teatude toidulisandite kasutamistsuurem osa vastajatest oli märganud märgatavat (46.3%) või vähest (39.8%) paranemist omahobuses. Levinuks osutus ka rohkema kui ühe preparaadi kasutamine korraga, ja preparaadidoseering otsustati valmistaja juhendi alusel. Kõige levinum põhjus toidulisanditekasutamiseks oli toiteainete tarbe täitmine.