Feed Balancer against Iron Supplement?!

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Aimee and Tara

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I have a horse who we just found out has suffered small bouts of anemia in the past. However Tara wasn't well when i rode her lately so the vet came out and thought we were being silly and said she looked fine, he blood tested her anyway.

When the results came back it wasn't good she had anemia, dangerously low white blood cells and an underlying virus however we couldnt of prevented it as we didn't know she lacked iron in her blood.

She was prescribed a three day stimulant, a 10 day course of antibiotics and hemo-tonic (iron for her blood) This picked her up alot and she is still on her normal energy food as she is a competition horse.

However i am worried that when the blood tonic finishes tommorow she will lack iron again and it cost us two major events (but i would rather miss that and sort t out) but i was hoping there is something we can do to stop this ever occuring again.

The vet suggested a pint of guiness a day, we have heard and reasearched red cell. We have seen some feed balancers. However if you have had any experience or know someone who has and if you could please help me because i love tara more than anything and desperatly want to help so please help me.

Also do you know any mare supplement and condititioning feed THAT ACTUALY WORKS?!
 
Red Cell is a good quality supplement that should help her maintain the level of iron in her blood.I have used it as a pick me up and also for eventers in hard work.
I would however try and find out why she was so low,was it due to the virus or did she get the virus because she was anaemic.

A feed balancer will not be iron rich enough but may help her get full benefit from the food she is getting. I use Pink Powder and electrolytes as the only supplements for the event horse in my yard.He is on mix and chaff,ad lib haylage and reasonable grass.He has had a busy time and is looking rather well.

Her normal feed should be fine once her blood is back to correct levels.
I would suggest a further blood test in a few weeks time to make sure all is well.
 
Why not talk to a feed company helpline? Minerals interact and a deficiency of one may be as a result of an imbalance with another. Maintaining a balanced diet all year round, so the horse always has all the nutrients it needs, should help avoid a deficiency and support the immune system.
 
Never had good results with red cell, my horse didnt seem to absorb it or needed a different spec as haemavite B plus worked much better and saw improvements in blood counts far superior than red cell

IMO red cell is more of a tonic or pick me up

In clinical anaemia you need something like haemavite

I have a 5litre tub sat in my lorry if you live near lancs!

also - echo finding out why anaemic - it cold be post viral (my horse initially diagnosed as this) but went on to have slightly low counts and later showed to have gastric ulcers - so probably had both!
 
The vet will be coming out to check her again and maybe blood test.

I have heard alot of positive response about Red Cell so may give it a go but i want to be certain it will work.

Doctordoolittle what is the product you are talking about and can you give me some more info on it.

Has anyone tried a can of Guiness as my vet recommended it.

Her anemia was severe so i would rather boot it out and then use a supplement to keep it at bay.

Please all opinions welcome
 
Can i suggest that you should get your forage tested? Excess iron can cause anaemia, bizarrely enough. So can excess manganese because it can cause sopper deficiency which can cause anaemia. So, of course, can low copper. I wouldn't want to be feeding iron until I knew which mineral imbalance had cause the anaemia in the first place, if it was not the infection that did it. If this was feed related, then you may actually need to supplement copper and zinc, not iron.
 
Forget the Guiness [expensive], hardly a scientific approach: Red Cell is recommended, nothing in this life [or the next] is guaranteed. :):
But agree with cptrayes, analysis is the way to go if problems continue.
 
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Ignore the Guinness at your peril, it does work!
Also don't forget Kossolian Blood Salts, a powdered supplement that horses love (aniseedy)
It's a palatable blend of minerals, salts, trace elements and vitamin B12.
A lot of trainers use it as a pick me up and it's brilliant for when they're changing coats which takes a lot out of a horse which many of us don't realise or for after an illness.
Yes, both Kossolian and Guinness have been old remedies for many years but they do work well for most horses and the Kossolian is cheap too at about £16 for 2.5kg which should last 2 months at least.
 
She is a:
14.2hh Mare Welsh D x who lives out 24/7 on this diet:
1/2 scoop of power and performance
3/4 scoop of sugarbeet
3/4 scoop of pony mix
1 1/2 scoops of happy hoof
Mare supplement (was regumate before blood testing we are still triallling different supplements as she is the stroppiest horse you will ever come across!)

By forage i asume you mean hay and the answer to that would be she isn't fed any, her grazing is good and regulary cleaned and maintainated rotated ect.
We did give hay after diagnosed anemic, but that had to be stopped as they became demanding vile vultures!

She competes heavilly (showjumps each weekend and is ridden 6 sometimes 7 days a week)
She is fit enough to cope with this level of work.
 
Have you competed her lately as it takes time for horses to recover from this, just the same as humans so I would suggest easing off with her work load for a while, give her a decent holiday and then start her again gently as if you were fittening for the first time; you can't take recovery too slowly for things like this and viruses, it knocks them back a lot harder than you think and if you push now it will only do harm.
 
Aimee and Tara said:
By forage i asume you mean hay and the answer to that would be she isn't fed any, her grazing is good and regulary cleaned and maintainated rotated ect.
We did give hay after diagnosed anemic, but that had to be stopped as they became demanding vile vultures!
Click to expand...

I mean grazing and hay.

I think you need to question why horses on good grazing became demanding vile vultures when given hay. If this hay came from somewhere other than your grazing, then it is not unlikely that there is something severely lacking or overloaded in your grazing that was put right by the hay, and they knew it and tried to get as much of it as they could.

It does not matter how nice your grass looks or how well it is managed, it can still be severely unbalanced due to the underlying soil and water. Most frequent imbalances are iron and manganese, and sometimes molybdenum, all of which can cause anaemia in horses.

I'm certain in your shoes I would be testing my grazing. If you want it done, try forageplus.co.uk
 
When I used red cell it took about 6 weeks to see a difference. I was fed it for about 7 months with a balancer, alfa beet and chaff. It really did work for us. Good luck hope your horse is feeling better soon!
 
Her ahy has been used by alot of people at are yard and the grass and we have been there 9 years and haven't had any issues, at her previous yard her grazing wasn't great so she may be lacking something as our other seven horses are fine after 9 years. Tara needs something to sort out her anemia issue as said in my intitial post she has had small bouts of it with her previous owner.

We have lightened up her workload now as our vet recomended and she only does as much as she knows she can manage ie hacking and light schooling and as soon a her energy lacks she stops.

The reason they become vile vultures is they are demanding and always have been they are mares (the two that get naughty) and naturally get possesive over there food, even before we found this we had this problem. Tara is extremly food dominant and that is why they become demanding.

Thanks for your help vicksey i will keep you updated
 
Guiness is full of iron!

I had my horse on a red-cell/propell plus type thing a couple of years ago. it said on the bottle that it had all daily vits and mins in as well, so if you get the right one, it will do both!

I also must say what you are feeding seems a little odd - power and performance, and pony nuts?
 
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