supplements

[solomon]

A bit late cos we are just about to go to feed store, but what vitamin supplements have people found good for a general pick me up?

[racaille]

I don't know if I will be on my own here, but I don't feed supplements. They are stuffing their silly faces on good quality ad lib hay, have access to salt and mineral licks and have bags of energy. I add stuff (luzerne or competition mix) if we have an enduro coming up. I often wonder if supplements (apart from when a horse is ill or need a special boost) are not a bit of a con?

[jane]

I don't use supplements either, I feed a balancer (Bailleys Lo-Cal) which gives all the vits and minerals needed, as well as good hay. She gets Dengie Alfa-A lite and a very small scoop - not much more than two handfuls of conditioning cubes along with the balancer, and only gets this because she does work fairly hard.


Horses really are designed to live on poor rations and to be a touch underweight, it is just us that stiff them full of everything. I agree with Rac, bit of a con!

[florence]

What do you mean by general pick me up? Is your horse a bit sluggish or under the weather?

I've only used supplements for hoof improvement and breathing. I've used biotin, farriers formula and cortaflex. All did nothing noticable and even though I kept him on them for over a year (I know the farriers formula and the cortaflex were over 2years) I saw no improvement whilst on them and no effect at all when stopping, so I would agree with rac that they are a bit of a con. I have been using global herbs Airways plus but the vet said I don't need that (or any other supplements) now he's on steroids. The only thing I add to the feed that really does show improvement in his coat is soya oil and the vet agrees that it's very good for them especially if you need to put or keep weight on them.

[solomon]

Its for a horse that lost a lot of weight and now has put some back on, but still has a dull coat and has now developed seedy toe, i am resisting supplements for my horse as he is on conditionning cubes and shines like a piece of glass. There are so many available i do wonder whats in them all!

[fleabitten]

I agree with rac and jane - sure in the wild all they eat is poor grass mainly and whatever they can find - I mean, people say that if they are on restricted feeding then they need vits and mins - in the wild they wouldnt get it.

Well, when we had connie we fed her a b vit supplement called propel plus which can boost their appetite - it picked her up a bit which is why i mention it but not sure if it would be suitable for your situation.

What about linseed oil - its good for the coat. Cant suggest anything for the hoof prob though, sorry.

[baymare]

i give mine scandinavian seaweed.its great for feet.my tb had terrible cracked hoofs but just yesterday the blacksmith said how much better they were.bay.

[duckles]

I was told by vet to get colovet once as a pick me up. It was good, but very pricey so I eventually subsistuted linseed oil (I think it was linseed!!). At that time my horse was underweight and very run down.
While I agree an average healthy horse on good forage shouldn't need a supplement - life isn't always ideal and I think supplements do have a role in particular cases.
If he is healthy I don't think Soloman would need a supplement . I do use Bailey's Low Cal because it means I know the horses are getting all their nutrients when they are on grass (our grass isn't the best). I think its great but I have to admit the other horses (who aren't on it) are really healthy. If he is underweight would you add oil or try conditioning cubes?

In my experience - if a horse has problems in one area, (say a bad back) it can affect his all over health and condition but once the big problem improves, all the other areas do as well. (If this makes any sense)

[maximum]

ceej mustnt have seen this or she would be telling you to go for

www.equushealth.org.uk/?q=product-description&cat=2&pid=34

I used it for Max when he needed help after losing weight and it was great stuff- I dont normally feed supplements but this really helped.

went from this


to this in a month or so

[scattymare]

Bit late as you've probably got something now but supplement wise, P gets Glucosamine to attempt to keep his joints supple. The vet advised that I give Sancy a multi-vitamin supplement when she visited about her belly. I bought the NAF multi-vitamin powder and she's been on it for 3 weeks now and can't say I've noticed any difference in her coat, feet or anything really. So I'm not sure. Incidentally, for a bit of weight gain and some shine to the coat, a cup of sunflower oil works wonders - someone here reccomended it and P's coat was fabulous within a couple of weeks.