what supplements work for you?

[Katona]

I’ve gotten to the point now that I try something, and only continue with it if I see results. So now I’m down to 24/7 hay/water, a ration balancer, flax and paprika. (I could feed a copper supplement rather than paprika, but I can’t find anything I like in Canada.)

I’ve been through dozens of supplements, wanting to be a “good horse mom.” At the end of the day, I looked at coat, feet, muscle, movement and attitude. I spent serious money and a lot of time to see very minimal results. So I started letting them run out.

It was recommended that I put my TB on flax a few months before the Warmblood inspections this summer. I noticed a lovely natural shine pretty quickly. As her winter coat came in, it was remarkably softer. Paprika came shortly after. I decided a ration balancer made more sense for me than a multivitamin.

As others have said, a good supplement will work if the horse is missing what it supplements.

[Pancakes]

As far as things that have worked?

SmartShine Ultra (which is just a combo of flax and omega fatty acids). It did make my horse’s coat shinier and his skin is less prone to breakouts of hives.

Assure and the family of products – my last horse had sand colic and this cleared it up and prevented more episodes. It’s a bit pricey, so I have my new one on SmartDigest Ultra which seems to have a lot of the same products in it. If I could I’d put them on the Assure family of products daily.

[Mukluk]

My horses get free choice grass hay from a slow feeder 24/7.
Both get Platinum performance, flax, black oil sunflower seeds, and senior feed.
The mare also gets a scoop of timothy pellets
The gelding also gets a scoop of beet pulp and a scoop of alfalfa pellets.
They get apples and carrots every morning and horse treats if they look like they are starving. Despite the above feeding regime they often convince me they are starving and require treats.

[cruisecontrol]

Depending on what the horse is deficient in I would agree to look into the feed and turnout situation. My vet recommended a combination of hoof supplements because I have a QH with typical tiny feet. Hoof Power by Delta and Platinum Performance Hoof supplement. I have seen a huge difference in the amount of hoof growth the past year and he has gone up a shoe size.

He is on a 12% feed and gets 1/4 of a scoop twice a day basically enough to eat his am and pm Supplements. He gets the Apple a day at night to encourage him to drink in his still. I also have him on a probiotic since we have horrible weather swings in North Texas, he also has an omega 3 supplement because he is prone to dermatitis any time of year. I have really likes the omega 3 I think it’s made a huge difference. Other than that he is out about 8-10 hours a day free choice of grass or hay is thrown in winter. I think collaborating with your vet on what to use when is big because most of them have experience with what did or did not work.

[gypsymare]

I used to supplement with flax (for skin issues in newly acquired chestnut OTTB mare) and magnesium and biotin for the hyper OTTB but I’ve found it much more economical to go with a high quality RB (TC 30) that has these “supplements” in it already and source better quality hay. Since the swap my costs are down (I was feeding the two TBs each 6-12 lbs of TC Sr a day depending on current condition) and I have had NO skin or hoof issues. The two 16.3hh TBs get 1.5 lbs of TC30 a day and the retired paint gets 1lb and every is well fleshed and healthy. They each eat approximately 30-40lbs of free choice second cutting orchard grass a day out of a round bale. I no longer have issues with a poor topline on the hyper TB.

[4horseshan]

[QUOTE=piedmontfields;9007755]
Without knowing anything about your horse and what you do with your horse, I will offer this:

Seaweed-based supplements like Source or Hilton Herbs Hoof & Heath give a lot of bang for the buck, in hoof and skin health + trace minerals.

You really need to look at your horse’s condition, needs, diet and work-load to think about whether supplementation is needed and if so what kind. If you have an easy keeper who doesn’t work that hard and is in good hoof and condition, you may not need anything.[/QUOTE]

I would stay away from anything seaweed for your horse or your self as they are often VERY high in heavy metals like iodine. Supplement companies both human and animal do not have to report this on the label.
They often choose not to test for it so that they have even less liability.

[JB]

Iodine is a mineral, not a heavy metal.

Seaweed can be high in heavy metals, but it’s not all that way. Some are higher in iodine and lower in heavy metals

[4horseshan]

[QUOTE=JB;9014252]
Iodine is a mineral, not a heavy metal.

Seaweed can be high in heavy metals, but it’s not all that way. Some are higher in iodine and lower in heavy metals[/QUOTE]

I meant *and iodine. Sorry!

[Hermein]

Here are what have worked for me:

Hooves–Foundation, which isn’t on the market anymore.

Hind gut–Succeed

Colic–Adding table salt to the iodized blocks they each have in their stalls

Joint pain–Cosequin (but not enough improvement to support the cost) Also, those supps/meds such as Previcox, Adequan & the various Adequan knock offs.

Laminitis and crazy horse syndrome–Magnesium (I use Performance Equine)

Cushings–ChasteTree berries seemed to lessen the yak-like coat.

Triple Crown and LMF feeds

[Pippigirl]

[QUOTE=Katona;9009355]
I’ve gotten to the point now that I try something, and only continue with it if I see results. So now I’m down to 24/7 hay/water, a ration balancer, flax and paprika. (I could feed a copper supplement rather than paprika, but I can’t find anything I like in Canada.)

As others have said, a good supplement will work if the horse is missing what it supplements.[/QUOTE]

Are you feeding paprika just for coat fading or for a source of copper. From what I’ve looked up there’s no copper in paprika? Lots of Vitamin A in it though.

[maunder]

I have three mini horses and a mini mule.

I feed Micro-Phase vitamin supplement because it’s targeted for horses that don’t have access to grasses and great pasture. My little mule boy doesn’t receive the vitamin yet, because he only gets a wee sprinkle of grain (he didn’t know what grain or treats were) and he won’t eat anything that he considers odd.

I feed SmartDigest powder to all three of my minis. One, because he came to me with hind gut issues; the mare, because it helps her not get gas colic with weather changes; my metabolic gelding, because he needed some gut assistance after a recent hyperlipidmea episode.

My metabolic gelding gets SmartMetabolean to give him extra magnesium. This supplement has helped him with some weight loss. He did not respond to Remission as he has to the SmartMetabolean.

My two hard-keeper minis (they do exist) get Cool Calories with every small grain meal.

[Palm_Beach]

I feed the amount of roughage (hay and pasture) that my horses need to maintain a healthy weight. My recreational riding horses are easy keepers and get TC Lite, MSM, Quiessence and flax. The race horses get TC Senior, maybe TC 30, and maybe flax.

[MysticOakRanch]

Besides good hay which is a given… All my horses get a ration balancer All get flax and that gives a definitive coat improvement. All are on MSM and I do notice if I skip that for a week, my old retired broody gets stiff and stops playing

It has been years since anyone had feet issues but when I had one who needed a boost there, Farriers Formula really helped

I have one IR mare and have her on magnesium, chromium, and vitamin E (since she can’t graze) and her blood glucose levels are in the normal range so I count that as a working brew

I have a friend who uses equithrive and swears by it for her arthritic horse and there is research that it works

I’ve tried a lot of supplements over the years and most left me questioning their efficacy.

I have found injections to be very effective. I really notice if I’m late w Pentosan for example. So I spend my $ there instead of joint supplements that are questionable in efficacy.

[Manni01]

I have horses from 3 to 23 and they are Warmbloods and one riding pony. All of them are in work daily, none of them has gotten any injections so far. They get quality O/A free choice 2-3 cups of race horse oats per day, ground flax seed and Uckele Sporthorse pellets and Grasspellets. horses with lower workload get the grass pellets, the other get the Sporthorsepellets.

And since I introduced the Uckele vitamin/mineral supplement all my horses improved tremendously in their looks. They shine even more, I think their mane and tails grow faster and I also noticed more hoof growth. For my purpose its a very nice product

[Katona]

[QUOTE=Pippigirl;9015942]
Are you feeding paprika just for coat fading or for a source of copper. From what I’ve looked up there’s no copper in paprika? Lots of Vitamin A in it though.[/QUOTE]

Paprika is very low in Cholesterol and Sodium. It is also a good source of Thiamin, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Copper and Manganese, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol), Vitamin K, Riboflavin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Iron and Potassium.

Read More http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/spices-and-herbs/198/2#ixzz4WJJ3WboU

[lmlacross]

I keep my horse on MSM year round for its anti-inflammatory properties. In addition to thinking of her joints, I use it primarily because she receivesd too little turnout at our last boarding barn and would stock up behind regularly. It’s anecdotal, but MSM reduced this for me even before we moved her to an all-day turnout situation.

In the summer, I add electrolytes and continue them through the hunt season both in the AM and on an as-needed basis based on work and temps. I’d feed them the year through if she weren’t such a good drinker and our barn so good about keeping fresh water in front of her.

I don’t do oral joint supplements. I had her hocks injected when I bought her, followed up a couple months later by loading Adequan, and will continue to evaluate the need for injectable joint support as needed. She’s doing great right now.

[Pippigirl]

[QUOTE=Katona;9016386]
Paprika is very low in Cholesterol and Sodium. It is also a good source of Thiamin, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Copper and Manganese, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol), Vitamin K, Riboflavin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Iron and Potassium.

Read More http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/spices-and-herbs/198/2#ixzz4WJJ3WboU[/QUOTE]

I looked at that link and although it says its a good source copper, I’m wondering why in the list of minerals it lists copper as 0.0 mg, 2%? Maybe 0 mg is a misprint?

I don’t understand how they come up with DV of 2% if there’s 0.0 mg of Copper.

From the link:

Amounts Per Selected Serving %DV
Calcium 11.9 mg 1%
Iron 1.6 mg 9%
Magnesium 12.5 mg 3%
Phosphorus 23.3 mg 2%
Potassium 158 mg 5%
Sodium 2.3 mg 0%
Zinc 0.3 mg 2%
Copper 0.0 mg 2%
Manganese 0.1 mg 3%
Selenium 0.3 mcg 0%

[tazycat]

Easy enough to put out a horse lick tub 50lb one last one horse a long time. It has all the vit/mins needed. Put out free choice no mixing no hassle…

[luvmyhackney]

I switched to Omega Horseshine from SmartShine Ultra. Noticed big difference in 2 weeks. Pony’s coat felt so soft and had a bit more sheen in it. I usually feed straight flax, but since boarding out now, has to be smartpaks. So I feed ration balancer, MSM, Omega Horseshine, 1 tsp salt, good timothy hay.

[JB]

Easy enough to put out a horse lick tub 50lb one last one horse a long time. It has all the vit/mins needed.

Those things entirely rely on how much a horse will consume on an average day, or on a daily average over a week. You definitely can’t put one of those out which contains any real selenium to speak of, in case a horse decides to chow down.

Horses self-regulate salt, and that’s about it. Debatably calcium and phosphorous. That’s it. IMHO those v/m blocks make owners feel good they’re doing something helpful.