Cheaper Supplements or other ideas

[urban_teacher]

I bought a 14 year old OTTB last year. He is my first horse. I plan on Working Equitation and Pony Club Western Trail. Right now, he had an air pocket in his hoof so he is being hand walked and we are working on ground manners.
He is on 4 shoes now. The farrier asked for an xray which found his heels pushed in and the air pocket.

He is on Smartpak Colic guard, Ulcer guard, Farriets Formula and Calm guard. I am wondering if there are cheaper ways to keep him healthy. My trainer recommended the supplements and I can afford to keep him on them barely.

I figured since COTH has been helpful in the past, someone might have some ideas.

[Jump314]

By “air pocket,” do you mean he has an abscess?

What was your horse up to before you bought him? I’m surprised a 14-year-old needs to work on his ground manners.

There are no supplements called “colic guard” or “calm guard.” You must mean a ColicCare eligible supplement; there are several of those so you need to be more specific. What is the rest of your horse’s diet? If he is on a well-balanced diet, he may not need any supplements.

[Simkie]

Supplements (should) address a need, so what needs are these addressing?

Since he’s relatively new to you, it might be worth discontinuing all of them, and see what you get. If something changes, you can decide how to address that–either with a supplement, or feed change, or management change.

The only one that would really come with a caveat is the one providing your ColiCare coverage, since that provides colic surgery coverage. But if you want to continue that for the coverage, do confirm you’re enrolled & meeting the other obligations! (And that you would choose to send him to colic surgery in the event he needed it.)

[kaya842]

Same as above. If it were me, I’d stop all of them. Farriers formula (and all hoof specific supplements) is worthless in my experience.

Why is he on a calming supplement? If it’s due to behavior - what does the rest of his diet look like? How about turn out? His work load up til now?

Ulcerguard has some merit but is expensive and lifestyle changes are really better for an ulcer prone horse. Has he had ulcers in the past? Nexium might be a more affordable if it’s needed. The ulcerguard and smartpak gut supplement are (likely) targeting the same thing. The smartpak supplement may be worthwhile for the colic surgery coverage BUT you better make sure you are following all of the other obligations in the program (and maybe run a cost benefit analysis of keeping him on the supplement and following the program vs insuring him vs something like CareCredit).

[luvmyhackney]

Cut them. The one with Colic coverage is probably fine to keep if you suspect ulcers or have tummy issues.

What does his actual diet look like?

[Texarkana]

Echoing everyone else… I’d drop all of them.

What is he being fed in terms of hard feed and hay?

[GraceLikeRain]

To get the best help I’d recommend listing out the hay (type and weight or if you don’t have weight, number of flakes), stalled vs pasture and how many hours on pasture, grain by weight or volume, the exact names of these products, and what you are desiring as an outcome.

For example:
Free choice fescue hay - about 6 flakes per day or half of a lighter bale, probably 18 lbs
12 hours of turnout on grass but short and probably stressed
8 lbs of Triple Crown Performance
ABCD supplements
He has a history of ulcers and want to protect his stomach. He’s also a bit pushy and a worrier so my trainer recommended something that might also help him stay calm.

[Klevie]

Like everyone else here, I would also drop most of those supplements. If you need a hoof/skin supplement at a much more decent price, Omega Horseshine is amazing. If you are dead set on a colic preventative, you can also feed Psyllium pellets once a month and those are much more cost effective as well.

My OTTB has been on Omega Horseshine for about 18 months since coming straight off the track and has some amazingly healthy hooves, especially compared to where we started. With this added into a properly balanced diet, I really think it’s an underrated supplement, especially for its price!

[urban_teacher]

The stable he is at had poor quality hay until a group of us stepped in. He has grass /orchard hay. He showed signs of ulcers when he came so my trainer suggested Uguard.
He was very reactive to both the indoor arena when I got him and I’m sure my anxiety didn’t help so my trainer suggested magnesium hence the Smartcalm.
I fell off when he panicked in the indoor which is why I’m doing a lot of ground work. He can’t be ridden yet until his hooves heal but also for my benefit. I need him to trust me when he’s scared.
Reading people’s responses I think I’ll cut back and see what happens

[GraceLikeRain]

Ulcer supplements do not heal ulcers. The best investment you could make would be to scope for ulcers and treat if they are there.

[Ghazzu]

@urban_teacher

my trainer suggested magnesium hence the Smartcalm.

.
You can buy a 50# bag of feed grade magnesium oxide for under $50, and it will last you for eons.

[AllSport]

Dealing with a new horse myself and trying not to go down too many rabbit holes --soooo easy to do! Anyway, you said you’ve had the horse for a year correct? In theory he should be settled in enough to not need any gut supplements as others have said.

For what it’s worth, I’ve tried to keep it simple with my young TB but still ended up failing. At the trainers he was on powdered ulcerguard (and probably needed), when I brought him home I got Purina Outlast, once that’s done I’ll switch to the SmartGut Smartpak I got due to indecisiveness, and then I’ll be done with those and see how he does. In those mixes to make it tastier he gets Triple Crown Senior, a splash of canola oil, and some added salt. Do I want to add the most expensive vitamin E, hoof supplements, cool calories, some kind of magic everything powder, this that and the other thing, maybe some pure gold flakes to be posh, sure! But, I’ll drive my self slowly insane–probably already have! Anyway, that’s what I’m doing, I’m no nutritionist though! He’s fat and happy just eats slow but 99.99% sure its his teeth and waiting for them to get done.

And I reserve the right to be a hypocrite later and go back down more supplement rabbit holes, but I’d prefer not to. It’s not fun.

[RhythmNCruise]

I’ll echo the advice about ulcers. Until you actually treat them, you’ll never get rid of them. That will be the best thing to do first (scope, treat). You should see a big difference in him and he’ll not only be less reactive and spooky, his health overall should improve. And you’ll be able to cut the SmartCalm and the U-gard.

As for hoof health, there are a lot better options than Farrier’s Formula. You want copper, zinc, biotin, and amino acids. Personally, this is why I feed a forage balancer (I use KIS Trace, though there are other popular options like Vermont Bland, California Trace, etc.). My barefoot trimmer is the one who suggested it.

I’ll second Omega Horseshine too. I’ve fed it for decades. I keep trying to quit the stuff, but I always regret it.

[luvmyhackney]

@RhythmNCruise

there are other popular options like Vermont Bland,

Your typo is exactly what my pony thinks of Vermont Blend. He eats it with soaked alfalfa but it isn’t his favorite.

[RhythmNCruise]

Hahaha! I hadn’t noticed that!

I’ve wanted to try VT Blend (or the Pro, more specifically) because I like the numbers a smidge better than KIS Trace, but I’m wary of switching from something my horse likes to something he might not like. He eats the KT up with no issue. It’s also in with soaked forage.

[Texarkana]

@urban_teacher

The stable he is at had poor quality hay until a group of us stepped in. He has grass /orchard hay. He showed signs of ulcers when he came so my trainer suggested Uguard.
He was very reactive to both the indoor arena when I got him and I’m sure my anxiety didn’t help so my trainer suggested magnesium hence the Smartcalm.
I fell off when he panicked in the indoor which is why I’m doing a lot of ground work. He can’t be ridden yet until his hooves heal but also for my benefit. I need him to trust me when he’s scared.
Reading people’s responses I think I’ll cut back and see what happens

A lot of times, people who are overly reliant on supplements have holes in the horse care they are providing.

You identified one yourself-- poor quality hay.

All of the problems you are experiencing can be tied back to management issues. For example, ulcers and anxiety go hand in hand. Many horses who are overly spooky and anxious calm down when their ulcers are treated.

Ulcers can be caused by lots of things, but one of the most common culprits in boarding situations is not enough forage. If the barn was already feeding poor quality hay, there’s a good chance they might also be stingy with hay. Horses shouldn’t be going for any extended period of time without access to forage. It doesn’t necessarily need to be free choice 24/7, but they need to have enough forage provided so that they aren’t running out hours before the next feeding. No supplement or pharmaceutical treatment is going to help in the long-term if they horse’s ulcers are being caused by his management.

Forage problems also greatly increase the likelihood of colic.

Contrary to popular belief, OTTBs don’t have to have bad feet. It’s not something they are all genetically predisposed to. Most of the time it’s secondary to management, lifestyle, and nutrition. They don’t always get the best farrier work at the track and the minimal turnout exacerbates those issues… then we bring them home and their nutrition changes drastically, often creating gaping deficiencies in amino acids and trace minerals. Hoof supplements don’t fix these problems; many times they don’t even make a dent in them. Good farrier work, good nutrition, and a healthy lifestyle fix these problems.

Sorry for the proselytizing tone. I feel for you because you are likely being put in a compromising position by people providing subpar care. They aren’t providing your horse with a healthy lifestyle, then they try to “pass the buck” and make it your problem, suggesting supplements to fix their shortcomings. Horses are expensive enough without owners being guilted into buying supplements to fix the problems a barn created.

[Simkie]

@RhythmNCruise

I’ve wanted to try VT Blend (or the Pro, more specifically) because I like the numbers a smidge better than KIS Trace, but I’m wary of switching from something my horse likes to something he might not like. He eats the KT up with no issue. It’s also in with soaked forage.

For what it’s worth, all of mine are happy to eat Vermont blend pro. I don’t even ease new horses into it, and they’ve just…eaten, lol. The Vermont Blend people do have samples to try, which is really nice.

[Pico_Banana]

@Simkie

For what it’s worth, all of mine are happy to eat Vermont blend pro

Unfortunately, I’ve had the opposite experience. I really like the product, but my horses do not.

[luvmyhackney]

@RhythmNCruise

I’ve wanted to try VT Blend (or the Pro, more specifically) because I like the numbers a smidge better than KIS Trace, but I’m wary of switching from something my horse likes to something he might not like. He eats the KT up with no issue. It’s also in with soaked forage.

It’s not bad to get them to eat it. I mixed with applesauce the first few times and all my other horses eat it with zero issues.

It’s just this one pony but he also doesn’t eat Triple Crown Sr. And he does eat it if I add some alfalfa cubes, but with straight beet pulp he won’t.

[GreyDes]

Mine like the newish pelleted version of Vermont Blend much better than the powder.