OCD Pellets for young horses

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I recently purchased some OCD pellets as it came as a suggestion from a breeder and after reading into it, I decided to purchase it.

I wanted to know your success stories with it - or lack of. I have done research on it and there has been many people who have seen a huge difference with their horses. I do not know if it is worth a try for my horse as he just turned 5 (big boy at almost 16.3 but he has been consistently growing but slowly and his parents didn’t fully mature until 7). We figured if it would help my horse, its better to try it now than when he was 7. I believe I am going to use it for about 6 months and see if we see any results.

[alexandra]

Well I do not know. They have done some research in the Netherlands and found that OCD can be visible as yearlings and later non and vice versa. They have not checked older horses and I would suspect there is no effect on a 5yo at all as I would thinkg Bone growth should be done by that.
I believe that special food does only good for the producer. I believe. I think that it has also been reseached that 24/7 turnout full year with minerals given based on regular bloodtests in the Young years are the key. And very important do not feed them fat. The way (young) hunters look - rather fat- is not really good for a horse.

I also wonder how you want to see results ? Did you x ray and do you think the OCD disappears from that food ? What is it by the way ?

[raisethebar]

OCD Pellets aren’t necessarily just for OCD problems, mind you a lot of people use it to help OCD problems. OCD (company wise) stands for Optimal Cartilage Development. http://www.docsproductsinc.com/OCD-Pellets.html That is the website for the product.

My horse does not have any of those listed problems, he has started a paddle (in his RF more than LF) and it has been getting worse since he really popped his chest out, it is just more noticeable with a wider chest than when he was younger and a breeder-friend of mine suggested that we could “try” this, that she uses it for her young growing horses but due to the fact of how slowly he is growing, it could potentially make a difference for him. She described it as a rejuvenade for older horses - at least that is what her purposes and mine are for. I don’t think it would will obviously fix it overnight but I am hoping there is an even slight chance this stuff could help correct it a little bit

Thank you for your info alexandra OCD’s seem to be a super tricky thing with the WB’s. My horse has had proper nutrition his whole life and live on 24/7 turnout until he was 3.5 and still has plenty of turn out at 5. We had him checked as a yearling due to other reasons, and he had no signs of it thankfully.

[BeeHoney]

I’m very skeptical that feeding OCD pellets would in any way help your horse’s paddling. Good cartilage health does not change a horse’s way of moving unless some kind of pain is being relieved.

I have used the OCD supplement on several young horses (at owner’s request) and it’s not something I personally would spend money on, especially for a 5 yo horse. If you can find a study showing hard data that proves a benefit from the supplement, great, but most supplements in that category are a combination of a little bit of science, but primarily speculation and glossy advertising.

Breeders who breed to sell and owners of young horses have a horror of OCDs (pricy surgery, annoying rehab), so it’s absolute genius to feed on that fear and use it for marketing purposes to sell an expensive supplement.

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Thank you BeeHoney, I completely agree that it could be a huge waste of money. This woman who suggested it to me has no interest in scamming me, just said it could be a last resort effort to see if it could work. Probably not but I would be interested in trying it for now. Seeing as you can get a free 4lb bucket with a purchase of a 4lb bucket, it comes out to about 22 a month. If anything, hopefully he will have mighty strong bones.

I also have a call into New Bolton Hospital to speak with the farrier on staff. I want to know if he would be ok in chatting with my farrier after seeing some pictures/videos of him trotting, just to make sure we are taking care of every situation possible. I have had our vet look at him, and she said that he is landing flat so that is the most important thing and she isn’t concerned about it which is good to know.

I probably wasted my $ on this stuff but who knows haha. People love it, hopefully I do too haha

[M_O_Connor]

Insofar as nutrition can affect growth, it’s very, very important to be confident that what you’re feeding is appropriate for your horse’s stage of development. Adding ANYTHING just ‘in case’ it might ‘work’ (especially on something that has yet to happen) is a huge shot in the dark. Not only might it be a huge waste of money, but you will be making a change to your horse’s diet.

The better course of action would be to consult an equine nutrition expert to take a look at your present program to see which of your horses needs are being met and/or whether any requirements are not being met. This will allow you to determine what an optimum diet for your youngster would look like so you can proceed with confidence about your nutritional program.

I would not expect that a feed program however, would substantially change your horse’s general conformation–which is what determines his way of going. Keeping up with regular trims is important to maintain good limb development, so having a good farrier is essential. Don’t hesitate to ask your farrier about the paddling–there may be something that can be done to address it.

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Thank you M. O’Conner - I am thinking I am going to return them. I think the person I spoke with was more so talking about the benefits of supporting healthy bone while he is still growing.

My farrier is great and I have a call into New Bolton’s farrier (yet to be returned :/) about seeing if there is anything we can do to help him more than we are that would aid in it.

I too agree that maybe we might just have to do every 4 week trimming and resetting the shoes and see how he develops from there.