Spirulina is gross...am I feeding too much?

[joharavhf]

I got my spirulina for my pony today. Needless to say it is GROSS. I read a previous thread that said 1oz. 2x per day. So I mixed up some with some bran, molasses, and hot water. I concocted…and concocted. And I gagged and gagged and the pony wouldn’t go near it. Now mind you, this is the VACUUM pony who eats everything in his wake…

So I’m wondering if I’m feeding too much. How much do you feed and how have you made it palatable? My pony gets 1/4c. of grain and that’s IT…so using the grain is probably not a feasible option.

[Larbear]

@joharavhf;3886264

I…So I mixed up some with some bran, molasses, and hot water. I concocted…and concocted. And I gagged and gagged and the pony wouldn’t go near it. Now mind you, this is the VACUUM pony who eats everything in his wake…

Heheh yeh, the smell of the stuff makes me gag too. I fed the recommended dose but oddly enough my boy snarfed it right up. Maybe drop the dose down for now to introduce and then slowly up it. Springtime also makes a wafer but not sure how that would taste…powder still might be easier to mix into stuff.

[GallopHer]

Introduce it gradually

You’re right - Spirulina is nasty!! But it works!!

When my horse is coughing, I feed one tablespoon, twice per day. Otherwise, for maintenance, I feed one tablespoon, once per day.

My suggestion, and it worked for my picky guy, is to introduce the spirulina gradually. Work up to your tablespoon over the course of a couple of weeks. Now that Cole is accustomed to the spirulina, he eats his food with no problems.

Best of luck.

[hookedoneventing]

where is the best place to buy it?

[decorum]

[QUOTE=hookedoneventing;3888453]
where is the best place to buy it?[/QUOTE]

I get it at herbalcom.com, you can also use the sister site herbnhorse, some products are cheaper there but I don’t believe spirulina is one of them.

Introduce it slowly and if you have trouble getting it into your horse soak some hay pellets or BP and use that as a carrier. A sprinkling of grain in the pellets really helps for the super picky.

Ann Szolas

[zgllcsb]

Spirulina, it’s a miracle herb

I know it’s so gross but my horse snarf it as well. I give about 1 oz once a day. Start with just a little, then add as the pony begins to accept it. Try mixing it with a little no sugar added apple sauce, that may make it more palatable. It’s amazing stuff when it really kicks in. Combined with garlic granules, my once bug bite riddled horse now makes it through from Spring to Fall with barely a bump on his big 17 hand body. Plus hives are a thing of the past.

I always buy it from Star West Botanicals on the web. Great product with a good resealable container. Skip the wafers, they are useless.

[Altamont_Sport_Horse]

When the smell is strong like this try feeding in a shallow pan so the horse is not overwhelmed by the smell with his face in a bucket or feeder.

I tried my mare on some spirulina tablets I already had here. I wanted to see if she would eat it before buying a bunch for her. She ate the tablets right up in her grain. I will try a few more times just to see if she continues to eat it before ordering.

Maybe wafers would be good for us. How big are the wafers and are they pure spirulina or mixed with something else?

[zgllcsb]

Spirulina powder vs wafers

I have a natural horse product company and people contact me all the time about allergies, hives, and itches in general. Many of them have tried the Spirulina wafers with no success. I tell everyone to purchase it by the pound from Starwest Botanicals and get emails relating their new success.

I have never used the wafers, but have not heard one positive thing about them. Feeding in a low tub is a great idea. Both are horses are fed in them and it’s also better for their neck alignment. More natural eating position then from a bucket.

[cyberbay]

Any differences among the different powders Star-West offers? The Chinese is the least expensive, but still works out to about $1.30/day. Any place cheaper to buy s’lina?

[kwilhide]

My guy would not eat the spirulina wafers from springtime, but would eat the pills that are human form in his grain whole, but you need a bunch of them, so it gets expensive. I am trying to introduce the powder again. I am finding if I use beet pulp and a little bit of the peppermint bran mash from smartpak, all mixed with hot water, and a handful of grain, I can get almost anything in him, and he is picky.

[zgllcsb]

I only give my horse about 1 teaspoon per day and he’s 17 hands and my 1 lb bag lasts a long time. I never calculated the per day cost…I don’t buy anything from China and try to stay organic. I know Spirulina is pricey, but I don’t feed it all year. I’ve had so many bad experiences with different herb company’s that I don’t wander much farther then Star West Botanicals and San Francisco Herbs (they don’t carry Spirulina). One time I ordered Arnica, as pricey as Spirulina, from a cheaper source and the bag was full of useless stems.

[Trixie]

I don’t blame them a bit. I accidentally bought protein powder with spirulina in it and it tastes like dirt.

[snowcoverworld]

I feed my horse with the small spirulina tablets, 150mg each tablet. it is chewable. but they do wholesale, minimum order is 5kg.

150mg Small Organic Spirulina Tablets (5KG) - Wholedsale Price

[Montanas_Girl]

FYI: This is a 15 year old thread, and the OP hasn’t posted anything on COTH in about 2.5 years.

[sascha]

Nevermind, that’s a helpful link! The powdered stuff is just awful. I’m currently using up a stockpile of the crap and was looking at moving to tablets, but $$$. This 5kg bag of tablets seems pretty reasonable. So thank you @snowcoverworld for enabling this thread to go full zombie