Free step superfix!!!

atlantis

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Has anyone ever used this product? A friend recommended it to me for helping reduce fat pads and keeping weight off lottie. I'm a bit scared she's a prime candidate for laminitis come the summer.

My friend has used it on 2 highlands and an aged pony who was quite footy and it gave her a new lease of life (she was returned home as no longer suitable as ploddy lead rein for a 2 year old and returned to her former spritely safe!!
 
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I can't see the ingredients on their website. Do you know what is in it? I wouldn't want to feed something to my horse without knowing exactly what's in it.
So many of these wonder supplements are full of unnecessary stuff and from a quick google, it seems that this could just be mag ox and seaweed. mag ox is well know to aid in reducing fat pads alongside diet and or exercise. It'll also , no doubt, be a lot cheaper. :)
 
Ok here goes. I've used it quite a lot last year actually. However, did it work??? Not really, I thought at first it did but then my pony went over with lammi yet again and was lame for 6 months. Pony was on FS when lammi struck again. I followed their advise to the tune of £300 ish but to no avail. I would love to say it worked but in all honesty it didn't. My pony was also diagnosed EMS and then later on Cushings too. She's 10. I've now followed my vets advice and said pony is sound.

I have honestly read really good reports about the products from lots of people but for my pony it just didn't cut the mustard.
 
The best way to prevent laminitis and fat pads is to just monitor their weight...keep it down. If they have fat pads and or laminitis despite that then it's likely their is an underlying issue such as EMS or Cushings and treating them is what will help.
Certain things like mag ox will help but I'm not totally convinced by these super supplements myself . I'd rather spend my money finding out what's causing the problem in the first place.
I manage all my lami prone ponies by feeding them a good balancer so they are in the best of health and watching their weight ..no special supplements or potions and it works for me 😎
 
I got some of this, I'm sure when it arrived and I checked the ingredients it was mag ox and seaweed, didn't order any more.
 
I used it last year and it mildy had an effect when I rang them to say I was not that happy with the result, they advised me that the horse should only be turned out for 2 hours a day for it to work properly so I never bought anymore, I had better results with £13 mag ox tthe year before so this year I will start her on it in March ready for the spring and summer.
 
The best way to prevent laminitis and fat pads is to just monitor their weight...keep it down. If they have fat pads and or laminitis despite that then it's likely their is an underlying issue such as EMS or Cushings and treating them is what will help.
Certain things like mag ox will help but I'm not totally convinced by these super supplements myself . I'd rather spend my money finding out what's causing the problem in the first place.
I manage all my lami prone ponies by feeding them a good balancer so they are in the best of health and watching their weight ..no special supplements or potions and it works for me 😎

Treat them with what? There is research to say that metformin isn't effective in horses at stabilising blood insulin levels.

There is more information on the sister sites web page that makes sense to me.

http://www.phytorigins.com/index.php/equine-metabolic-syndrome
 
Still not quite decided what to do though!!!


If you are worried about thhe way she looks ie fat pads overweight, get her tested for ems and cushings she may have either or even both or neither, at least that way you can manage her accordingly, supplements can help but they are not a cure for most things, good management is the key for preventing laminitis is she on a diet at the moment? Are you soaking her hay? Is she getting plenty of exercise?
 
Because she has fat pads and a cresty neck and a native pony. And because vet did say so. IMO she is in too good condition for this time of year and she is currently only on soaked hay, out as long as possible on minimal grazing and I'm trying to up her exercise (she's been lame with a splint). Vet said to not let her get any bigger and def to crack on with exercise asap, but we've been limited by her on and off lameness due to the splint, which kept flairing up.

Im currently walking her in hand and if she stays sound then will start riding her on Thursday.

My yo is happy for me to do a track system in her paddock which I will set up this afternoon or next weekend (might be a bit windy today lol. Electric tape everywhere!!! I'm also careful not to over rug her.
 
If you are worried about thhe way she looks ie fat pads overweight, get her tested for ems and cushings she may have either or even both or neither, at least that way you can manage her accordingly, supplements can help but they are not a cure for most things, good management is the key for preventing laminitis is she on a diet at the moment? Are you soaking her hay? Is she getting plenty of exercise?

Thanks pink boots. I'll def have another conversation with the vet about it, we were concentrating on her splint and she was having jabs too when he came.

12 hour soaked hay and token unmolassed Hifi hsndful of feed which she was having formula 4 feet in, but since it ran out I considered the free step after talking to my friend. She's currently getting about 30 mins walking in hand that I've built up since her being lame. Got my (acpat) Physio friend coming out to her on Friday actually so might not ride until after she's been, just to generally check her over before cracking on. I have meant to get her out walking down the road but it's been to dark or icy or windy to try that with my new baby pony, so we've stuck to the school and the yard.
 
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Are you weighing the hay? My cob put on 40kg in 4 weeks when on box rest with ad lib soaked meadow hay :eek3:.

I now give him his hay 4 x daily, between 8am and 10 pm, and I've just invested in a simple spring balance to weigh it. He needs about 12 kg dry weight of hay per day to maintain weight. He's having a lot less hay than when he was on ad lib, he was constantly munching before, and was basically being extremely greedy.

He's turned out during the day on a bare paddock, and in at night on shavings.
 
Yes that's a good idea. I use a Haycube but we have hay bags so I can weigh it before putting in the haycube without too much difficulty.

However she has started leaving some, so I've been giving her less.
 
Treat them with what? There is research to say that metformin isn't effective in horses at stabilising blood insulin levels.

There is more information on the sister sites web page that makes sense to me.

http://www.phytorigins.com/index.php/equine-metabolic-syndrome

Treat them accordingly...Metaformin is useful if you have an animal that is overweight and on box rest but the bestbtreatment for EMS is diet and exercise. Cushing should be treated with Prascend.

http://www.thelaminitissite.org/m.html
 
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Thanks pink boots. I'll def have another conversation with the vet about it, we were concentrating on her splint and she was having jabs too when he came.

12 hour soaked hay and token unmolassed Hifi hsndful of feed which she was having formula 4 feet in, but since it ran out I considered the free step after talking to my friend. She's currently getting about 30 mins walking in hand that I've built up since her being lame. Got my (acpat) Physio friend coming out to her on Friday actually so might not ride until after she's been, just to generally check her over before cracking on. I have meant to get her out walking down the road but it's been to dark or icy or windy to try that with my new baby pony, so we've stuck to the school and the yard.

I just typed out a relly long reply to you and lost it as the net went down! My mare has both I have to go out now but will tell you the story tomorrow, I know how you feel she had an ongoing lameness and just piled on the weight, my vet does not believe in giving them metformin they gave me a diet plan, it sounds like your doing all the right thing but sometimes its the work they need to keep the weight off, have you tried mag ox I give it to mine in march and keep her on it until end of summer I have had good results with this.
 
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