Very clever! Thanks for the tip!
I’ve heard mint tea leaves but haven’t tried it.
I have a big box of candy canes bought cheap on sale and crush them up, add about a half tsp to my mare’s half cup of balancer to get her Thyro L into her. The sugar isn’t great but it gets the meds down without complaint.
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I don’t feed that one because I didn’t want the MSM but I have fed that algae stuff to my horse with asthma, and it does smell!
I found that he would eat HorseTech’s Profile product, though—much milder smell. It’s ingredients are the algae DHA, chia, flax, fenugreek. I had some ground flax on hand, bought some chia seeds, and I got bulk ground fenugreek off Amazon. Mixed it myself and used up the $$$ DHA bag. Now I just buy the HorseTech.
So, I suggest the fenugreek and adding chia at least. Chia adds a nutty flavor, and the fenugreek cuts some of the fishy smell. Or buy the HorseTech and mix together. Even my home made mix would leave my feed tub attracting more flies than usual 
.
I also started off by adding it to a ration of some really delicious grain the night before—let the good smelling grain take some of the edge off. Once he learned that the taste is delicious, it became a little easier to handle the smell.
Did you feel the algae was effective? I feel like I could pretty well replicate the Aleira for cheaper with other supplements, other than the “proprietary mushroom blend” which… idk what on earth that would be or if it’s important.
I’ll have to keep that in mind. I had a run of trying to get various forms of sucralfate into the other pony this past winter. It was a disaster. Applesauce, molasses, everything was just sticky and ended up being in a huge syringe, and since he was actively trying to founder at the time, those weren’t good choices for that reason either. Eventually I settled on a specific brand of sucralfate that was tasteless and chalky and water worked fine to dilute it. I couldn’t feed it in his food because he is also hates mushy feed. No hay cubes, no hay pellets, nothing wet.
I have found that SMZs are the craziest thing to break down… a few drops of water and a small spoonful of powdered sugar (very small amount of water and very small amount of powdered sugar) and then stir… some weird chemical reaction takes place and it makes a smooth, creamy paste that is easily spooned into a syringe and slides delightfully into their mouths. Just enough sticky that it doesn’t run out, but not so viscous it’s hard to squeeze.
It probably would have been more effective if used in conjunction with MSM, but it doesn’t agree with him in other ways. Hard to say, but he was doing well on that plus Zyrtec plus saline nebulizer, and even better after the wildfire smoke went away, which is a major trigger for him. He was actually going the best he’s ever gone and had good muscle (until he was dumb in turnout and injured himself, which is where we are now), while still on the supplement. I did know he really liked chia already before trying the other ingredients.
I just added it back a little while ago since it’s spring allergy time even though he’s not in work at the moment. He’s cooped up in a dusty barn.
I think the amount of DHA in Profile isn’t as high, but I don’t know how to get it any higher without a ratio that’s too stinky. I would bet that HorseTech would make you up a custom blend with MSM added, or you could buy MSM separately since it’s readily available and cheap on its own.
@RegentLion horses are very anxiety inducing.
Im curious if you have seen any progress with the Aleira? My mare coughs mucus and I fear the Dex is losing its effectiveness for when she has flares. Im searching for anything to help, especially since this summer seems to be headed very hot and humid, which is the worst for her.
He’s doing very well on the Aleira once a day (they tell you not to split it), zyrtec twice a day, and lightly sprayed hay nets… not soaked.
He only coughed up mucus after his first dose, then has not since.
He’s also Back in work and so far tolerating it without issue. No coughing during the day, but we also moved and the horses aren’t outside my bedroom window anymore, so not sure about nights. Initially he’d cough in the late evening/early mornings only.
I feel this regime is helping and I’ll continue it as it’s pretty easy. He eats the supplement and Zyrtec without complaining in 2/3c soaked beet pulp and 1/3c TC Senior.
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I had to syringe dose 2 meds for years with my old gelding. There was nothing that would entice him to take the meds willingly. Trust me, I tried everything.
If it comes to that, it will be fine. You’ll both get used to it as part of the daily routine. Quick, done and forgotten in a few seconds.
A little kool aid powder (sugar free if you prefer) masks a ton of smell/flavor when you mix it in with a little water. I mean a ton. You can have that supplement smelling like cherry or grape or orange or anything else the pony prefers easily. That trick never fails for me.
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