I am seeing adds for this stuff all over. And some FB groups seem to have cult followings recommending Immubiome Supplements? Curious if anyone has actually used and feel like there is a noticeable difference? Makes me a little uneasy when a company is using catch phrases like “pure” and “no-fillers” to promote their supplements.
Also struggle to understand how some mushrooms, colostrum, pro/prebiotics are supposed to fix everything from EPM to gut issues.
Well, these seem to also contain the basic common probiotics like sacc boulardi and lactobacilli etc. Colostrum also has valuable components. The calming supplement has magnesium. They could be using regular formulas with the majick addition of mushrooms.
Any SM advertising can easily be stage managed.
I have found Herbs for Horses probiotics useful for chronic diarrhea. So these could be useful too. If colon health is the source of your issues.
But like many human supplements, it’s likely over hyped and over priced.
I just have a hard time believing they have 100s and 100s of cult followers willing to say these supplements are life savers.
These things can be manipulated.
Maybe a popular “influencer” is promoting them.
Maybe they are paid to post. It happens.
Maybe they give out lots of free samples.
Maybe they are fake accounts.
They have a concentrated marketing program from vets, getting vets to buy wholesale and resell. Lots of logo hats etc.
It could be legitimate probiotics and oversold or over promised and marketed unethically maybe by resellers.
I used them as part of a supplement regime that was supposed to help my horse rebuild his immune system after EPM treatment. I have no idea whether they worked or not–it was a herculean task to get him to eat the supplements! Even with two pounds of chopped alfalfa coated in molasses, homemade peppermint syrup, Torani peppermint syrup, fenugreek, every flavor of the Uckele EquiSweet, some fancy medication-hiding-flavor-supplement from ValleyVet…nada. I got about half of each tub (Spine and Nerve and another one I can’t remember now) down him before I threw in the towel because I couldn’t cope with the daily bucket battle.
I didn’t notice a difference either way, and they’re pretty spendy for me to bother springing for them again. From my perspective the smell was inoffensive–a bit like buttered popcorn.
Interesting! So I tried the lean muscle and have had the same battle. She can suss out even 1/30th if a scoop mixed with beet pulp and something tastey like senior. It doesn’t seem worth it if eating it is such a battle and I don’t have time to syringe. Some of the FB groups that recommend it keep saying “oh if your horse won’t eat it means they have ulcers and you NEED this supplement to fix it”. Which I totally don’t buy. And then it’s odd cause in all
The reviews not one mention palatableness. Which makes me think they buy review or pad reviews, cause on every other supplement know to be someone off putting usually half the reviews talk about that.
I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s review padding or who knows what else going on. Supplement companies aren’t exactly held to the most stringent of marketing standards, and there’s a lot of horse people in the world (especially on social media) desperate to find an answer in the bottom of a feed bucket. Some slick marketing and well-placed ambassadors can go a long way.
A lot of vets rave about Platinum Performance–which is little more than expensive, lightly adulterated flaxseed meal. I give the ImmuBiome supplements a comparable level of skepticism.
And when you’re feeding herbs, they devour them if they “need” them. I think horses know what they need and they may not like some things they’re supposed to have, but it seems strange that most will refuse this supplement.
My pony’s hoof trimmer uses sups by Mushroom Matrix for severe respiratory issues. She’s not sure if they’re actually working but they’re really pricey.
Just curious.
What value is there to Colostrum for an adult horse in supplement form ?
For any newborn ( foal, calf, goat kid, lamb etc )it needs to be consumed as soon as possible and by 12-24 hours it is basically useless to them.
I have no idea 
but I’ve seen it discussed somewhere like COTH at some point.
As opposed to the proprietary secret mushroom stuff in these formulas, which is just their idea. I know mushrooms are trending now. But it’s possible the actual active ingredients are the older things in this mix not the mushrooms that make them "different "
@Scribbler I see the " mushroom" trend on commercials lately and had no idea it had crossed over to the animal side as well?
I detest mushrooms so I will never reap the supposed benefits , nor will my horses.
I tried to search this and couldn’t find any valid research that supports it for adult animals.
I am not surprised. It doesn’t say what the benefits are on the supplement either?
Count me among the snake oil opinions. It was aggressively peddled by my vet while my late WB was rehabbing. I didn’t find out about the incentive program for vets until well after that. I saw no discernible difference whatsoever for the hundreds and hundreds of dollars I spent on it. Like others have said, the poor palatability is a nightmare, and this was a horse who ate almost anything.
My $0.02? If you’re going to invest in your horse’s nutrition, go for high quality forage (with analysis if possible) and then whichever grain/RB/VM is appropriate for their needs. I wish I’d known then how many gimmicky supplements I could eliminate simply by ensuring the base diet was as complete and balanced as possible.
Cow colostrum? That’s pointless. I assumed it was at least horse colostrum. Totally different gut biomes between species.
I have used immubiome for my horses for about 2 & 1/2 years now. I started with G-tract after my old guy developed ulcers & I completely changed his diet.
My young guy had terrible allergies after coming to Florida from Kentucky. I tried everything for him that I was using on the old guy for allergies & nothing worked. I called immubiome & they recommended trying breathe. I did 2 scoops a day for a month & then dropped down to once daily. For ease of feeding I switched the old guy to breathe. The old guy eats it fine, the young guy requires his bucket shook up with any supplements before feeding. It works for them.
I don’t get free products or paid for posting except for a free hat with my December order a few years ago. I try to go the holistic route if possible. My dogs have been getting bovine colostrum for years. I know many holistic vets treating cancer with medicinal mushrooms & that interested me. It’s not cheap but I actually wanted to try Biostar & that is completely out of budget.
Any science or studies behind this?
I don’t know if there are any studies about medicinal mushrooms or if it’s just that they are part of TCM, traditional Chinese medicine. I haven’t looked for any but maybe there is something on AHVMA. I think they recently put on continuing education or are soon. You can probably find the speakers on their fb page.
I had a discussion about 6 years ago or so with my exotic/holistic vet about a friend’s dog with bone cancer. He used mushrooms on several occasions for dogs with bone cancer. He did say in his experience with bone cancer that you could heal it in one leg but it would come back in a different limb. I had another friend with a dog & her vet said to amputate & chemo. She decided to use colostrum & Noni juice. Her vet was surprised the dog lasted another 9/10 months.
I think it’s just something you’re going to try or you’re not. I had a dog 20+ years ago with horrendous allergies. The only thing the vet wanted to do was steroids & allergy shots. 10 mg of pred was the lowest dose to keep the dog comfortable & I went looking for a better option. Luckily I found one & she made it just shy of 16 years before I had to let her go.
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