Succeed for prevention

[LandisGreen]

Back story: 4yo gelding who has been out of work since March due to an SI injury in December. Recently moved from KY to Ocala. He got a nasty wound about a month ago and has been on stall rest due to the location and reopening. Will be reevaluating SI injury in a few weeks to hopefully start him back in work.

I was speaking to my barn owner and going over feeding and supplements over the weekend. My horse has only been in the barn since May. Current feeding program is Buckeye Grow N Win, gelatin supplement for feet, Mag + total calm, electrolytes because of a freaking hot in Fl, Vit E/Selenium. She was mentioning that her horses are on Succeed as a preventative and suggested it might be good to add to my geldings routine. My question is how does this work when the horse does not have ulcers/show signs of ulcers? It’s quite expensive are there other options or other products you feel like work better than Succeed?

[leheath]

I’ve used Succeed very successfully in a horse that definitely had hind gut ulcers and would not hesitate to use it again in the same circumstances. However, I don’t know anyone that uses it as a preventative, although that may be because none of the people I know can afford to use it that way! That said, the prime ingredient in Succeed can also be found in oat flour, so I have fed one of mine that had a rather sensitive hind gut (frequent loose/wet manure not just during more stressful events like shows) a 1/2 cup of oat flour every day and it definitely helped her.

[SporthorseFun]

I have been using the Smartpak Smart GI Ultra with the oat beta glucan after two month of Assure Guard Gold post ulcer treatment (3 months Gastroguard and Misoprostol). It is very expensive, and I think, for my horse, I like the Assure Guard Gold better for a really expensive supplement. Because of cost, and I think the Smartpak Smart GI Ultra wasn’t really doing all I had hoped (grouchy, biting and kicking at flanks - but there was a barn and gradual grain change - still hoping for some protection, and back on ulcer meds), I am going to try the GutX with hyaluronan and Beta Glucan. My horse gets inflammation of the lower stomach region and pyloric ulcers, and the hyaluronan is supposed to help with soothing the tissue. For sugar regulation, the beta glucan has been tested to regulate sugars well, but I don’t have that research at hand, so do your research. I also really like the Gastroease by Perfect Products for pre and probiotics.

I have never tried the Suceed. Let us know if you try it and how it works out!

[LandisGreen]

I have been reading a ton about Gutx. It’s around the same price point so I was wondering if that or the Equine Elixers Ulceracer was a decent alternative to the Succeed. Is GutX something you would keep your horse on long term?

[leheath]

I’m using Gut-X for my gelding post ulcers and he will be on it long term. There is no downside to it and the price is reasonable for long term use. It should work for both stomach and hind gut ulcers (it was not available when my mare had hind gut ulcers and my gelding, who just got over ulcers, only had stomach ulcers). The beta glucan in Gut-X targets hind gut ulcers while I don’t think there is anything in EEU that specifically targets the hind gut. The only downside to Gut-X is it is a thick liquid and should be fed in liquid form for efficacy so you can’t add it to feed ahead of feeding it. Depending on your care/boarding situation, this may or may not be an issue.

[SporthorseFun]

My horse likes the Gutx! I am going to keep him on it long-term. I have been through three expensive rounds of ulcer meds, and we have ongoing suspensory issues.

[CobJockey]

I’m also on Gut-X for long-term ulcer prevention and am very happy with it. Bit of a PITA to feed a liquid, but worth it.

[floppyammy]

Curious how you fed the oat flour? Do you add it dry to grain, or add water to form a paste?

On Succeed’s website, they poo-poo feeding human-grade oat flour or oat bran as “not the right kind”, as it doesn’t have the beta glucan in it. But obviously they would be biased against a far more affordable alternative.

[leheath]

@floppyammy

Curious how you fed the oat flour? Do you add it dry to grain, or add water to form a paste?

On Succeed’s website, they poo-poo feeding human-grade oat flour or oat bran as “not the right kind”, as it doesn’t have the beta glucan in it. But obviously they would be biased against a far more affordable alternative.

I just added it dry to grain and I’ve never had a horse not eat it (which always slightly surprises me!). It is probably true that the oat flour or oat bran flour might have less beta glucan than their magical formula, but it definitely has beta glucan and I have had it work on several horses. Equally, I had one that had pretty serious hindgut ulcers (e.g. a very good eater going off hay almost completely) that I used Succeed to “heal” and then oat flour to maintain and that worked out very well.

[wsmoak]

So what happens if we take whole oats and whiz them in a coffee grinder? Do we get lots of beta glucan or not?

https://www.fiberfacts.org/consumer_oat-beta-glucan-soluble-fiber/

seems to imply that it comes from the bran

The Health Benefits of Oat Bran

Now I am thinking maybe those bran mashes we used to give weren’t such a bad idea after all?

[ClassyJumper]

I give my mare 1/4 cup oat bran 2x a day and it has worked just as well as suceed to keep my ulcer prone mare on her feed. She also doesnt get girthy or touchy flanks anymore.

The old school brans were wheat I think, which is much cheaper and doesn’t have the beta glucan.

[wsmoak]

@ClassyJumper

The old school brans were wheat I think,

YES that’s right. I haven’t bought a bag of ‘bran’ in so long I could not remember.

Bran Mash | AAEP

Where are you buying the oat bran?

[ClassyJumper]

Natural food type stores usually have it, my local one carrys bobs red mill. Runs about $4 a week, sure beats $100+ for a month of suceed!