Latest News from allenandpage.com

Proudly sponsoring Houghton International Horse Trials 2012

Thu, 17 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Allen & Page is once again proudly sponsoring Houghton International Horse Trials on May 24-27, and this event is of huge importance due to the cancellation of several major horse trials in recent weeks.

The recent wet weather in Britain has wreaked havoc with the Eventing calendar in the run up to London 2012, with a number of large events cancelling including Badminton and Chatsworth. Organisers Musketeer Event Management (MEM) re-opened entries for The Subaru Houghton International having closed the CIC***, to allow riders to compete prior to Olympic team selection. Alec Lochore, Event Director at MEM and London 2012 Eventing Manager, commented, “We have had entries from all over the globe, including Thailand, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, the Czech Republic and Italy. All being well, we’ll be able to run at Houghton in one weeks’ time so feel that re-opening entries to the International classes is the right thing to do. As a result, we now have a huge international entry, which also includes British riders such as William Fox-Pitt, Piggy French, Nicola Wilson, Mary King, Emily Llewellyn, Francis Whittington and Tina Cook, who may well represent Great Britain at Greenwich in July.”

Allen & Page is a key sponsor for this Norfolk event and a team of experts and nutritionists will be on hand at the event. Just come along to the Allen & Page stand near the main arena to discuss any feeding issues and find out more about the range of products.

Allen & Page's sponsored rider and pro blogger Ginnie Turnbull is also coming along to the event to ride in the one-star, two-star, and three-star sections, as well as bringing some young horses along, so make sure you cheer her on if you see her on course! Read Ginnie's latest blog here.

For information on the event, visit www.houghtoninternational.co.uk

New ASM for Essex, Suffolk and Kent

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Annie Hughes as the new Area Sales Manager for the Essex, Suffolk and Kent region.

Annie has been involved in the equine world on both a personal and professional level for many years, beginning her working life as a secretary and then attending agricultural college. She says: “My first equine job was as head girl for an international event rider in Surrey and I then worked as head girl for event rider Nigel Taylor, when he was based at the Milton Keynes Eventing Centre. Next stop was a year in Australia as a working rider for an eventing family. On my return I decided to keep eventing as a hobby and went back to office life to fund this expensive pursuit!” Annie has since travelled the world before embarking on a degree in Animal Behaviour and Animal Welfare. She graduated from Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, in 2010 with a first class honours degree then worked as a research assistant to Dr Charlotte Nevison as part of the Equine Research Anglia Group (ERA).

YHL winner has ace lesson

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Anna Young was our very lucky winner of the star prize at Your Horse Live 2011 – a lesson with top event rider and all round superstar Pippa Funnell!

Anna recently went along with her six-year-old mare Crespa to Pippa’s yard for her lesson and brought along her daughter Mayan Northway Young, 9, to watch. Anna says: “The lesson was absolutely amazing! We started with an hour of flatwork and then Pippa asked if we wanted to jump – in the end we did well over two hours and we were both exhausted! We are competing at BE90 level so the lesson was really helpful. Crespa is quite a young mare and Pippa was good at pointing out her strengths as well as giving tips on how to improve. We focussed on getting a better quality of work out of her, making sure that every stride and aid counted. My mare can sometimes feel a little lazy but Pippa told me to slow her down, which felt weird at first but it stopped me rushing her so she could get a better rhythm. At the end Pippa signed a copy of her latest book for my daughter, who was really pleased to meet her.”

Area sales manager Simone Highmore was also there to watch: “Pip was fantastic with Anna, giving her a two-and-a-half hour lesson. It was amazing to see the transformation in the horse and Anna’s riding in just over two hours. Pip is a genius and her teaching was amazing. Anna was very overwhelmed with her day and so was I.”

Great start to 2012 season for Funnells

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Once again this year Allen & Page is proud to support top class riding duo and husband and wife team Pippa and William Funnell. Both riders have already started their competition season well.

William has just come back from the Sunshine Tour in Jerez, Spain having enjoyed excellent results, including a double clear in the Grand Prix Tour D on Billy Angelo. William rode an exciting round in the jump off against fellow Brits Tim Davies and John Whitaker, to finish in a well-deserved third place.

Meanwhile, Pippa – with her eye on potential Olympic selection – competed at Tweseldown on March 8, producing pleasing performances from all her horses. Then, Pippa took a lorry load of horses to the Aldon event, picking up third place in OI (R) on Pure Addiction and fourth in OI (S) riding OR Noir De La Loge, a ride she picked up from Andrew Nicholson last year.

Both Pippa and William feed their competition horses on Allen & Page feeds. Pippa says: "When coming back into work or with the younger ones in for breaking and training they are fed on Calm & Condition. The older horses competing at a more advance level are moved up to Power & Performance once the increased energy requirement to perform at this level is reached and we consider that they would benefit being fed a higher protein feed.

"Power & Performance is high in vitamins and minerals and includes electrolytes which are essential for rehydration after a competition. It is low in starch and this allows them to achieve a high level of performance without becoming fizzy or over excited and losing concentration. The horses competing at this advanced level of competition require the extra energy this feed provides, to sustain their performance at each competition and throughout a long season.

"A good feeding regime is critical so that the horse can retain its fitness and achieve the best results. Our competitions horses fed on Power & Performance always maintain their condition well, look wonderful in their coat and maintain their fitness well."

Feed Helpline rewarded at BETA International

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Our popular and friendly feed helpline has picked up the runner-up prize for the Haygain Nutritional Helpline of the Year award at BETA International 2012 trade show.

The Allen & Page Feed Helpline was nominated by happy customers up and down the country and after careful judging we were given our award at the NEC, during the equestrian trade fair.

Marketing manager Clara Baillie-Lane says: “We’re all very proud of our nutritional helpline and to once more pick up runner-up position in this hotly contested competition is testament to the hard work put in by all the staff here at Allen & Page. We are so pleased that people not only use, but also appreciate our helpline, and we hope it continues to be the first port of call for any equine nutritional questions. Thank you to everyone who voted and hopefully next year we’ll claim first prize!”

Funnells gearing up for 2012

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Once again this year we will be following our sponsored riders the Funnells on our website, keeping track of events and results as the season unfolds.
William kicks off his international season by flying off to get some Spanish sun. He flew out on February 21st to join the team down at The Sunshine Tour in Jerez, Spain with 20 horses; his own, his owners' horses and horses belonging to riders they are training, plus the horses that Dan Moseley will be riding for the Funnell team.

Meanwhile Pippa is preparing her horses for the start of the season – and of course this is one of the most important years ever, with the prospect of Olympic glory on home turf spurring her on. Redesigned is being prepared for a run at Badminton so watch out for the dynamic duo in action in May.

Follow the Funnells on our website to keep up to date by clicking here.

For more rider news why not read he great blog by eventer Ginnie Turnbull here. With a team of exciting young horses rising through the ranks, a busy training schedule and young family to raise, Ginnie's juggling act makes for fascinating reading.

Two new staff join nutrition team

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Briony Mitchell and Rachel Harrison to the friendly nutrition team.

Briony Mitchell has joined us as an Equine & Animal Nutritionist, working across all three brands – Allen & Page, The Smallholder Range and The Organic Feed Company. Briony brings a huge wealth of experience having recently completed an Equine Science thesis at the Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester on the subject of nutrition and weight and condition monitoring techniques. She says: “I’m really looking forward to developing my skills within the area of equine nutrition and I’m keen to put my practical and theoretical skills into practice in a commercial environment.”

Also joining the team as Feed Advisor is Rachel Harrison. With a wide range of equine and nutritional experience, Rachel will be working closely with the nutrition team and manning the busy Feed Helpline. Rachel has recently completed her degree in Equine Sports Science at Nottingham Trent University and has excellent experience in equestrian retail that she brings to the role. She says: “I’m excited to see the diverse range of enquiries that we get as well as learning more about the product development and nutritional research that goes on behind the scenes.”

New ASM for Norfolk

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Allen & Page Horse Feeds is pleased to announce the appointment of Sarah Bee as Area Sales Manager for Norfolk.

Sarah has been working as a Nutritionist at Allen & Page for nearly two years and will now be taking on this extra role alongside her current position. Sarah says: “I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Allen & Page to date and I am very excited at the prospect of working with even more of our customers and the stockists in our home county of Norfolk. I enjoy promoting natural feeding and seeing the results Allen & Page produces so adding the Area Sales Manager role to my existing experience as a Nutritionist creates a whole new world of opportunity for me.”

Sarah joined Allen & Page in 2010. As a graduate Sarah has plenty of experience, not least from her internship spent at a leading Thoroughbred farm in Kentucky USA, learning first hand about the importance of nutrition. Sarah has ridden since an early age and is interested in all equine sports, but follows eventing closely.

Sarah can be contacted at sbee@allenandpage.co.uk

Your Horse Live Prize Draw Winners

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Q. Which of the nutritional elements in horse feed (as below) may contribute to fizzy or excitable behaviour if fed in large amounts?

(tick the two which apply)

a) Fibre
b) Starch
c) Sugar
d) Protein

The correct answers are Starch and Sugar.

Congratulations to:

1st Prize – Lesson with Pippa Funnell
Anna Young from Reading

2nd Prize – Fleece horse rug
Claire Llewellyn from Oakwellyn stud, Lichfield

3rd Prize – Saddlecloth
Jemma Green from Peterborough

Recent research, including our own, has shown that diets high in sugar and starch can cause behavioural problems in horses and ponies. Just as in humans, when a horse eats, the food is broken down in the intestines and absorbed. When the food is absorbed it enters the blood stream and causes the blood sugar to rise. This happens after every meal, but diets high in sugar and starch bring out a much higher response than fibre.

Fibre:
Unlike a high starch diet, a diet high in fibre causes less extreme peaks and troughs in blood sugar, which means there is less excess sugar circulating for the horse to become fizzy on. The fibre is fermented by the bacteria in the hind gut which release volatile fatty acids – compounds that the horse can use as slow release energy. High fibre feeds tend to be lower in starch which means they are a better choice for horses that tend to be excitable or fizzy.

Starch:
Starch is made up of non structural carbohydrates which are broken down by the horse in the small intestine to provide energy. Generally this is fast release, which provides a sudden burst of energy - in some horses this can cause excitable behaviour. If your horse has a tendency to be fizzy it is better to choose a feed with a low starch content.

Sugar:
Sugar circulating in the blood is the most accessible form of fuel for the horse, however there is not enough in the circulatory system to sustain exercise for long periods. The sugar contained in the blood can cause excitable behaviour and the bigger the blood sugar peak, the more chance there is of your horse showing unwanted behaviour.

Protein:
The commonly heard myth that protein can cause excitability, or is responsible for laminitis, azoturia or hives (lumps and bumps), is unfounded. In fact, protein is not used as an energy source but is a very important part of the horse’s diet; it helps to support the immune system and forms the basis of muscle, hooves and hair amongst other things.

To minimise the chance of unwanted behaviour, it is essential that a diet high in fibre is fed. Highly digestible fibre sources, such as those found in the Barley & Molasses Free Range of feeds may help to prevent fizzy behaviour, as they are broken down more slowly than traditional cereal grain rich feeds. Being lower in both starch and sugar than many other feeds, the Barley & Molasses Free Range feeds will not cause excessive blood sugar peaks, meaning that both you and your horse can have fun without the fizz!

Bryony hedges her bets!

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Bryony Biddlecombe, Area Sales Manager for the West Midlands, has been enjoying leaping hedges on her four-year-old horse Tilly.

"I have always fed her Calm & Condition and Power & Performance and we've been recently popping some hedges with great success." Tilly is only four and was bred by Bryony herself and the pair are hoping to start eventing next year. Judging by this leap of faith they should be well set for success!