I recently purchased a 14-year-old TB and want to get her started on supplements but am overwhelmed. She was on 6 smartpak wells a day from her previous owner - yikes! I can’t spend that much, but am willing to invest to keep her healthy. I will for sure do joint support - but again - so many on the market I’m not sure which to do. Any suggestions welcome!
Before you jump on the supplement bandwagon, take some time to read about what works and what doesn’t. And don’t do that reading on the SmartPak site or you’ll be convinced that you horse should take a zillion different things. The best place to start is a good feeding program – high quality hay and low starch feed. See how your horse does and then talk to your vet about what your horse might need. It’s probably less than you think. Many supplements are sold on anecdotal results. Spend the time to research which (and there aren’t many) can back up their claims with science. Most feed through joint supplements do not have any science that shows they work.
Personally, I feed my horses flax because it makes their coats shiny and adding Omega 3 oils is a good thing. My gelding gets Vitamin E because he tested deficient for it. He also gets MSM as he’s 19 and feels a bit creaky without it. My mare is younger and she gets flax seed and, in the winter, some Vitamin e. They get free choice second cut hay and an appropriate amount of Triple Crown Senior.
You don’t need to feed supplements to keep your horse healthy. One of the horses at my barn is 25. She gets free choice hay and a small amount of Triple Crown senior. She’s in good weight, sound and happy.
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What supplements did the former owner have your mare on, and why? She might not even need all of them. As Bogie said, not all supplements actually work. Read up on them from some reliable sources and try to get away with feeding as few as possible, preferably none!
My guy turns 18 in March and all I have him on is MSM and a biotin supplement. crosses fingers Here’s to keeping him like this!
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I feed a vitamin mineral supplement because our hay here is low mineral, salt, and a cup of whole flax in a beet pulp alfalfa cube and oats mash. The supplement is the priciest thing for sure but is actually the best cost per unit on our local market.
I thought smart paks were designed for owners to provide to boarding barns, over packaged for convenience. If you are doing your own feed they seem silly.
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If you can, find out what was in those Smartpaks and why she was getting it.
Mine get too many powders, but there’s a reason for each. And not just because it seemed like a good idea.
One gets vitamin E because he doesn’t absorb enough from his diet and he gets skin issues.
One gets a probiotic because he can get gassy and it happens less frequently with less severity when he’s on it.
One gets glucosamine because it helps him - he warms up in half the time for ridden work.
One gets selenium and vitamin E because he has EPSM and both help him function properly.
Both get MSM for it’s inflammation reducing effects.
They also get salt, though that’s not really the same sort of thing.
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Congrats!!! And you really should post a pic when you get a new horse!!!
The basis of your mare’s diet is forage, and with a TB, I usually make sure they have good quality hay or grass in front of them every minute of every day. Ask your barn manager for a copy of the hay analysis, or if you are handling the hay, get one done.
There are 2 reasons to feed anything other than forage - more calories and insufficient nutrition. If she will not hold her weight on hay/grass, and/or she cannot meet her daily nutritional needs on hay/grass, you need to add something. What concentrate are you feeding, and how much?
So now look at your forage plus concentrate and see if there are any holes. My easy keepers get hay/grass plus Triple Crown Lite. My TBs get hay/grass plus Triple Crown Senior. The only 2 supplements I feed regularly are Quiessence, ground flax and MSM.
If you have a quality basic diet - your hay/grass and the concentrate you choose, you really should not need much from Smartpak.
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This should be a “sticky.” 
G.
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If your horse is getting the recommended amount of a quality feed, he shouldn’t need additional supplements. If he’s getting less than the recommended amount, a ration balancer might be all you need. My four are on TC 30 and Legends feed, along with orchard grass hay. One gets a probiotic from time to time because she sometimes is a little off digestively. Otherwise, no supplements.
This has always been my philosophy… my horses get what they need as evidenced by a deficit either in their ability to utilize as evidenced by their condition suggesting a need… or a lack of something in their feed/hay… and then the products I used were well researched so that I was getting the best bang for the buck.
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I would start with the list of what the old owner was feeding. There are some things that might be there for a reason, and some that I wouldn’t just go cold turkey on - but wean off of. Specifically, I would wait at least 2 months post-move to remove any digestive/stomach supplements, salt, or electrolytes.
If your horse is eating the recommended daily minimum pounds of a nutritionally balanced grain, you can start with nothing.
If he’s not, start with a vitamin/mineral supplement like Barn Bag.
Add vitamin E/selenium if your horse tests deficient.
Joint supplements are kind of a toss up. There is little hard evidence that they work. I’ve fed pure MSM, Cosequin ASU, Equithrive, and Smartflex Ultimate IV are various points in time. I like all of them, but couldn’t say whether or not they are worth the cost.
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Like already mentioned - don’t go by the Smartpak website suggestions! According to that my mare would be on about 28 different supplements. No she doesn’t need 28! Not even close - it’s such a joke what they recommend. If i do need to feed a supplement I go to Horsetechs website or call them.
Lots of good advice from other posters here :).
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Try not to fall for the supplement marketing if you can resist it. If your horse had quality grain, he’s already getting what he needs. Smartpak and the rest of them are very good at telling you that you absolutely need that vitamin in that nice shiny catalog, but you most likely don’t.
If you absolutely want a joint supplement, I personally like Cosequin ASU. I used SmartFlex at one point and liked that one too. Just read the reviews and do some trial and error if need be.
I feel like if you’re going to feed a joint supplement all the time you’ll probably be better served doing a round of adequan or legend once a year instead. Since we’ve gotten that out of the way… Love the Triple Crown. I go between the low starch and the lite for my fatties. My old mare had trash feet and switching her to a low starch diet did way more for her hardness of horn and thickness of sole than the piles of biotin I’d been feeding her. That’s where doing the research really pays off. Wish I would have figured that out sooner!
Magnesium is deficient in a lot of US farm land. Ergo, a lot of hay is deficient. Also, a lot of vegetables we riders eat that are supposed to be good sources of magnesium (spinach, lettuce, other greens) are also deficient. Hard for a plant to pick up what isn’t in the soil. There isn’t really a blood test since the body will just pull it out of muscles to maintain it in the blood. By the time it tested low you’d probably be noticing the accompanying seizures and neurological impairments. Anyhow, it’s one to read up on. It’s cheap, and a lot of us run low on it.
I actually like the SmartPak supplement wizard. I don’t reflexively order everything it recommends, but use it as information in making my decision. I consider myself a “middle of the road” supplement person and have a good reason for every supplement I feed. A lot of horses are deficient in Vitamin E unless they are on fresh pasture, but you should test both Vit E and Selinium before you decide to supplement. Here’s my protocol and thinking:
Two tablespoons of salt because she does not use a salt block at all (bought in big box at CostCo so super cheap)
Two tablespoons ground flax for the Omega 3 (bought in bulk at local feed store so also super cheap - I would give more to a TB but my girl doesn’t need that much fat)
5000 mg Elevate Vitamin E because her E levels were way low (I actually started her on the liquid version to get her levels reasonable before switching to the powder option. She gets this much because she was really, truly low both times we tested. I plan to test again in a few months and will reevaluate then. Her Selinium levels were fine so no need to add that, but you should know that these two work together.)
Three cups Purina Outlast because she is prone to ulcers as proven by multiple scopes (given out in one cup amounts three times a day)
SmartDigestUltra because my barn gets enough different loads of hay that a probiotic seems like a good idea plus I get the ColicCare coverage
This is in addition to good quality hay and about 3 pounds of a beet pulp based grain.
I don’t do oral joint supplements as I prefer Adequan.
With this protocol I actually cover everything SmartPak tells me I need, I just implement it differently than they suggest.
I fed supplements just cause my pony is getting older but everything has a purpose. He’s also on a ration balancer that technically provides everything he needs.
2 TSB MSM, 1 C. Legends Omega Max (has zinc, copper, fat, flax) smells good and keeps his allergies away, Vitamin E in the winter, and a biotin additive with copper/zinc for growing out an area an abscess blew, salt.
As soon as the abscess hole grows out he will get pulled off the hoof supplement and as soon as grass is back, he gets pulled off Vitamin E. I feed salt, MSM, Legends Omega Max year round. It rounds out to about 25.00 a month in the spring, summer, and fall and currently around 40ish in the winter including the biotin which is the first time I’ve feed it
I mix my own and use zip loc bags for the barn to feed. Smart Pak too pricey for me.
:lol: :lol: Once I ran through the supplement suggester for giggles to see what all Smartpak would try to sell me–it was a TON! Like $150 worth of stuff every month??? A. LOT. And then a few days later, they called me to follow up! That was an interesting conversation (the lady on the phone was VERY nice but it was a little awkward to tell her I really just wanted to know how much they were going to try to sell me!)
OP, it would be helpful to know what all your horse is on, and we can help you suss out if those things are useful or necessary. Most feed through joint supplements, for example, don’t do a whole lot. :yes:
Here are the things that I find useful for my horses:
Ground flax: 1/2 c to 1 c for omega 3s and to make them shiny
Tri amino: scoop for anyone in my barn that’s not on alfalfa; helps with topline and other muscling
Vitamin e: degrades very quickly in hay, so important if they’re not on fresh grass
Seroquine: I like this one the best for my “reactive” horses
Garlic: I live in tick central, and use this in spring, summer and fall to keep the ticks off
@Pico Banana take a look at the Santa Cruz vit e supplement I’ve linked above–it is identical to the Elevate power, but costs ~$0.11 per 1000 IU vs the ~$0.34 per 1000 IU you’re paying for Elevate! It also comes in a pellet for the same price :yes:
Only supplement I feed is msm to my 33 going to be 34 gelding. He also gets 13 pounds of senior feed. Young gelding lives on hay & pasture nothing else. He’s picky eater doesn’t like anything so heck with him…hay/pasture only diet.
msm does wonders for the old guy who tends to be stiff when cold out. I don’t buy into the need to feed supplements, just endup spending unnecessary money.
Why don’t you first find out what supplements the mare was given previously, and why. Then talk to your vet to see what may be needed for her. Other can give suggestions of what they do or don’t give their horses, but that is not applicable to yours. If your horse has any deficiencies or specific issues that need to be addressed, such as hoof or joint, then you can your vet and make an informed decision together.
I tried feeding a complete vitamin/ mineral supplement ( +skin, coat hooves) for this past year and frankly I felt like my money was wasted. My hay is almost too good quality for my 2. Since we put up our own hay , keep it fertilized and the fields maintained year round, I am not worried about them lacking.
Good health, good weight , good feet and energy to burn tells me they are fine. I went back to just adding whole flax to the handful of whole oats they receive every evening. It adds a shine to the coat and at $20 for 50 pounds it lasts me a long time.
I wouldn’t feed a supplement just because the previous owner did. See what she needs first, if anything .
@PamB where are you? Hope we did not scare you off.
And thanks everyone for not pointing out that the 2 supplements I feed (Quiessence, flax and msm) actually add up to 3.
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