Equitop Myoplast - Alternative

[Mix26]

Afternoon Guys,

What can you suggest as an alternative to Equitop please? My lad has been on it post surgery. Vets supplied and insurance have paid for.

I have not noticed it doing much, other than him being slightly more off his rocker than usual - I assume from the heaps of sugar he is consuming.

 

[WelshD]

I get spirulina on Ebay, I understand that's the only proven ingredient in the Equitop and obviously with the plain form there is no added sugar

 

[Goldenstar]

I have had amazing results with myoplast combined with targeted work programmes
You can buy the blue algae stuff that's in it ( I can't remember it's name ) as a powder but you need to feed a lot daily to pack the punch myoplast does and if you taste it you know why myoplast is covered in sugar it's disgusting .
It's a fine powder that gets everywhere and stains everything blue .
My horses would not eat it but others obviously do .
I buried it in the muck heap sadly the eat anything Labradors sniffed it out dug it up and they went around with blue heads and shoulders for days .

 

[Bernster]

As Welsh D says. Although as its not loaded with sugar I think some find it less tasty so need to introduce slowly. If it's for muscle gain, protein and the right work is your friend!

 

[ycbm]

Your insurance have paid out for an untested supplement? When I asked them to tell me their testing they emailed me 'it's a supplement, we don't have to test it. If it had worked I would have suggested the only active ingredient in it, spirulina. Some horses will eat it some won't. I just worked mine (in line with rehab instructions), that did the trick in rebuilding lost muscle.

 

[PorkChop]

Spirulina is the active ingredient, some horses eat it and some don't!

I mix it with grass nuts and introduce it very slowly and my horses have accepted it

 

[HayleyUK]

I had better results with Elite Equine mega build than Myoplast. Myoplast seemed to upset her tummy a bit, whereas the Elite didn't.

 

[mbf938]

My vet recommended this alongside a regimented work programme for my mare. My insurance refused to pay for it but I have been using it on my mare rehabing from kissing spines and hock spavin treatment. Alongside daily pessoa lunging of up to 40 minutes in trot and top spec balancer and cubes, her muscle has built up amazingly. I imagine it only works well if you follow a work programme that works the muscles correctly, though. She is now ready to continue her rehab under saddle. I did have to wet her feed into a mash so she couldn't pick the pearls out of it though!

 

[criso]

My insurance paid for it when the vet recommended it. They list 'nutraceuticals' as something they will pay for. Same as joint supplements, there is limited evidence that most of the ingredients in these work too but if your insurance lists Nutraceuticals, you can get all sorts of questionable supplements if your vet recommends.

In fact I went down the straight spirulina route and they happily paid for that instead when I pointed out it would be cheaper for them and myoplast only has 2 ingredients (spirulina 40%, sugar 60%) I buy from NuKraft.

Funnily enough though it does smell (and probably tastes disgusting) my fussy boy accepted it much more readily than other things though when I won a tub of myoplast, he showed more reluctance than the straight spirulina.

In terms of what it does, it's just a concentrated protein/amino acid boost. If your diet is adequate in this then you probably don't need it. I'm in a situation where I have no control over the forage the yard supplies (bought in or cut onsite) and it is sometimes lacking in protein so it helps me.

Another option I have seen people use is whey powder but some have concerns about feeding an animal based product.

 

[mbf938]

My insurance company have been a pain in paying out for anything - trying to put everything into complementary treatment which I am not covered for grrr! So it's not that they do not cover it, it's that they regard it as complementary, rather than vet, treatment. Thought I had better clarify that.

 

[Goldenstar]

Afternoon Guys,

What can you suggest as an alternative to Equitop please? My lad has been on it post surgery. Vets supplied and insurance have paid for.

I have not noticed it doing much, other than him being slightly more off his rocker than usual - I assume from the heaps of sugar he is consuming.

Heaps of sugar ?
How much were you giving the horse .
It's just over two desert spoons a day for horse dose that's not a lot of sugar for a large animal designed to live off sugary carbs .

 

[criso]

It's quite usual to classify supplements under complementary, it's not a medicine it's a food supplement which may have a benefit. The two insurance companies I have been with specifically mention nutraceuticals under the list of complementary treatments they include alongside things like remedial farriery, physio etc