Hi Form v's Science Supplements

PaulnasherryRocky

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Has anyone used either of the above? In particular Hi Form Proflamaid & Oxydane, and Science Supplements Flexability Pro.

I'm looking at something to keep my horse on long term for arthritis and hopefully to also help him with his other ailments found in his MRI scan back in June.

Initally all signs were pointing towards Science Supplements, having what seemed like as many "joint" related ingredients in as possible and in better quantities/concentration than Feedmark Best Flex (which I have used for 3 months and noticed no differences whatsoever)
However I somehow came across hiform, and spoke to their sales team who explained why they don't use bovine products and sent me all sorts of useful information. I've tried to find reviews and so far can only find good reviews with amazing results, which always makes me suspicious, especially as I can't find that much online about hiform!

so i'm looking for anyone that has experience using any of the above products - are they worth the money?
The sales team at hi form reckon I could take my horse off danilon and forget about balancers altogether if i used their products - so it is very tempting to try as I will be saving money on balancer, danilon & also having back shoes taken off so saving a bit there too, surely that's all too good to be true?

Sorry I rambled again, can't help it!
 

Nasicus

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The sales team at hi form reckon I could take my horse off danilon and forget about balancers altogether if i used their products
I'm not sure they're in a position to be giving advice regarding medication prescribed by a qualified vet, and that's slightly concerning to me that they're saying that at all!
 

PaulnasherryRocky

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They did ask why I was using danilon, was it for pain for inflammation - if it were just for inflammation they said their product can help - if for pain then no.

To be completely honest I don't actually think he needs the danilon at the moment, I am just following vets orders of a danilon a day until I run out. I should probably stop giving this to him if i think its not necessary but thats a separate issue!
 

BethanT

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We stock Science Supplements in my shop.

The company is one of the only ones to carry out scientific research into their products. I asked one of my friends to trial it with her veteran and she saw a massive difference being on the Flexability Plus. Some other products don't have enough active ingredients to actually make a difference, and their recommended dosage is so little that it wouldn't be effective on a person let alone a horse.

SS are also NOPS certified for all products, so all competition legal.
 

PaulnasherryRocky

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We stock Science Supplements in my shop.

The company is one of the only ones to carry out scientific research into their products. I asked one of my friends to trial it with her veteran and she saw a massive difference being on the Flexability Plus. Some other products don't have enough active ingredients to actually make a difference, and their recommended dosage is so little that it wouldn't be effective on a person let alone a horse.

SS are also NOPS certified for all products, so all competition legal.


Thanks BethanT, In order to find ingredients and active ingredients is it just a case of hoping they put them on the website?

Also - if feeding something like Science Supplements Flexability Pro, does that get rid of the need to use a balancer? currently i'm feeding equimins pellets
 

KautoStar1

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SS all the way for me. The only company who have proven scientific evidence against all their products.
But yes you would still need to feed your balance or separate vits and mins as the SS Flex Pro is a joint supplement not an all round feed.

Hi Form make some clains. No evidence to back them up.
 

be positive

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They did ask why I was using danilon, was it for pain for inflammation - if it were just for inflammation they said their product can help - if for pain then no.

To be completely honest I don't actually think he needs the danilon at the moment, I am just following vets orders of a danilon a day until I run out. I should probably stop giving this to him if i think its not necessary but thats a separate issue!

But inflammation is usually the cause of pain, reducing inflammation reduces the pain which makes their statement rather odd.
In my view many of these supplements can help but not all work for every horse so I would prefer to use a proven medication long term than risk having a supplement fail which could set off the issue and allow further damage before you see the signs, having to then change to another is going to take time to find out if that works and in the meantime the horse could be in discomfort which danilon will prevent.
I don't see why so many people have an issue using it in low doses long term, it may eventually cause some damage but so do many of the alternatives which will not have been tested so thoroughly, obviously there are a few that cannot tolerate it or need to avoid it but they are in the minority.
 

Leo Walker

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A joint supplement wont replace a balancer. They are 2 completely different things. The cheapest balancer with the best spec that I found was Equimins Advance Complete. I'm very skeptical about joint supplements but at least science supplements are open about whats in them and any research they have, so they would always be my first choice.
 

Hack4fun

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I'm very skeptical about joint supplements

I have to agree. I did quite a bit of research into the active ingredients and although science supplements has a decent formulation there is scant evidence if any that the active materials really make a difference. I think you will find PremierFlex HA has similar ingredients - and similar dose rates which is the key thing - but at a fraction of the price. That's the one I would go for. https://www.equineanswers.co.uk/premierflex-ha/p4
 

EventingMum

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I saw claims that Hi Form Proflamade and Oxydane can help with stringhalt, I was rather skeptical but thought I had nothing to lose. The horse was in poor condition and this did improve rapidly, whether due to Hi Form, Doctor Green or a combination of the two however the stringhalt remained unchanged. I wasn't really surprised in all honesty. I think they're pretty expensive as supplements go to stay on long term unless they make a miraculous difference. I find Equine Answers and Hack Up both get reasonable results at a more reasonable cost.
 

PaulnasherryRocky

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I have to agree. I did quite a bit of research into the active ingredients and although science supplements has a decent formulation there is scant evidence if any that the active materials really make a difference. I think you will find PremierFlex HA has similar ingredients - and similar dose rates which is the key thing - but at a fraction of the price. That's the one I would go for. https://www.equineanswers.co.uk/premierflex-ha/p4


Wow thank you for the link to this one - being as sad as i am I created a spreadsheet to compare flexability pro, premier flex & hi form products to see what had the best of everything - obviously hi form is hard to compare as it doesn't contain any of the same ingredients as the other two (though does have other good joint related ingredients) the premier flex comes out on top! Will 100% be using this when bringing back in to work/after we run out of danilon!
 

supsup

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I used Science Supplements Flexability last winter, and noticed an improvement after introducing it. (I hadn't with Equimins Flexijoint in previous years.) While Hack4fun has a point regarding individual ingredients, the SS Flexability is the only joint supplement I'm aware of that has been through a proper trial with positive results. I really liked it. BUT - the cost is very steep. BestFlex HA from Feedmark changed their formulation shortly after to increase the content of active ingredients to get pretty close to the SS Flexability formulation, and frequently offers deals with 40% off the list price. I know that Science Supplements makes a point about how ingredient quality isn't the same everywhere etc., but it is impossible to tell from the ingredients list on either brand what the "quality" of the ingredients is. So I decided to try out BestFlex HA at less than half the cost of SS Flexability. I didn't notice a deterioration after the switch, so have continued to use the Best Flex since. To be fair though, I think a slow deterioration would be more difficult to spot than an improvement when starting from nothing onto the loading dose of a high-spec supplement.
I know that one difference between the two products is the type of omega 3 fatty acids added. From memory, SS uses something fish-based which is supposedly higher quality, but my horse objected to on taste-grounds (they switched to it after my first bucket). BestFlex has linseed in it, I think.
 

PaulnasherryRocky

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My boy went on best flex from july to about 3 weeks ago, i haven't noticed any deterioration, but then I really can't tell because he has been on danilon. I will probably try all three eventually when he is back in work - he's the type of horse that you really know when hes feeling good!

If Flexability pro is the only one that has papers to test if it works or not, is there a way to find out if the other brands are/will eventually be fully tested too? Best Flex has more of each ingredient, but i'd like to know exactly how much difference the quality of the ingredient makes -
 
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