I’m not sure on how it all actually works, just the general idea of slowing absorption of food. But they are probably pretty tight lipped about how it is actually designed to work. I would think that since it’s a combination of several things there wouldn’t be one supplement like oil that would do the same thing, but maybe a combination of things might get the same effect? WOuld be interested in any research but it seems like most of the research is done on stomach ulcers.
I was kind of thinking about the oat flour in Succeed in the same way as the Metamucil or psyllium fiber would slow down digestions and wondering that’s why it was suggested to me…
Isn’t oat flour just basically starch??? So more like grains etc ??? Which sounds like it would be counter productive. I’m just not seeing a logical/plausible mechanism of action for the oat flour. Maybe the oil changes rate of feed passage thru the gut??? But how much fats/oil is in a daily dose of Succeed? So, if changing the rate of feed passage is primary goal, then just stick to a good hay diet with other means (oil, beet pulp??) to provide necessary increased energy. Just thoughts…
It is supposed to be the beta glucan (a soluble fiber) in the oat flour that is helpful. According to Succeed’s information, they allegedly use oat flour that has higher beta glucan concentrations that regular (“grocery store”) oat flour. From their website, the benefits of beta glucan are that it slows the progression of the feed (especially grain) through the intestines (as suggested above) to reduce the risk of undigested simple sugars reaching the hind gut and fermenting (causing hind gut acidosis). Another alleged benefit is that it regulates the release of sugar into the bloodstream, but even if true, I’m not sure how that is supposed to help the hind gut.
I have definitely found oat flour beneficial for horses with hind gut issues. I’ve never tried Succeed because oat flour cleared up the problems I was trying to address so maybe the stuff I bought (from the local organic grocery store) had enough beta glucan for my horse!?
I’d read studies on banana powder, and tried it, along with soy lecithin, slippery elm, etc., but added up cost of individual ingredients and switched to Smartpak SmartGI Ultra. Comparing ingredients, it had all the right things, and cheaper than buying each individually. Obviously more convenient, and bonus colic insurance. Been on it 3 months post treatment and no signs of recurrence.
If the cause of hind gut issues is too much undigested starch reaching the hindgut, which can indeed cause various problems, there is a much simpler and cheaper solution.
Take the horse off high starch grains and feed a low NSC hay. Then there will be no excess starch.
Oh I agree that may well be the best answer for many horses. However, my horse who needed oat flour was not on high starch grains. I don’t know how high the NSC was in the hay - when you board there is usually little or no choice in hay and most people do not have their hay tested.
