Horslyx - anyone use them?

I used to, and my mare loved them. But since she's been diagnosed with ulcers, I have tried to cut out all additional sources of sugar, so the horslyx went. Not saying they contributed to her ulcers, but they definitely didn't help ease them.

She now gets a balanced, low-cal/starch diet (when hard feed is needed) and free access to salt licks (Gut Lix and a Himalayan block) and seems very happy.
 
Are they not full of molasses?

A friends horse had one and licked it so much it made her tongue sore and swell up she couldn't eat, so it ended up very expensive as she had to get a vet out:(
 
I used to have a little one for a pony we had, we called it his "dummy" so whenever he was having the vet or something a bit nasty we'd hold it and he'd literally almost go into a trance! We could then do anything to him. He was pts slurping away at it :(
Not something I'd ever give properly though as above just a block of rubbish really.
 
Yep, use them if on box rest for ages. Billy has one but he likes to “climb” into the plastic box so instead I put it all into a rubber tub trug where it eventually moulds into.

I wouldn’t be feeding them constantly, but there fine as an occasional treat imo. He can’t get one now though as I imagine the alpacas and donkeys would never leave the licks side, one which will get sticky and affect teeth and the donks shouldn’t be on that much sugar!
 
I've used them for bribery purposes. I think that's all they're supposed to be for.
The mare picks up the container and bangs it off the ground so she can eat it. Apparently licking it takes too long. 😋
 
I use one for hogging H's mane as it makes him put his head down and it stays down! I tried using feed but he takes a mouthful and brings his head up to chew. The little hand-held ones are useful for injections/bloods being taken as well, but other than that I wouldn't allow him to have it ad-lib. Too much sugar. Good for a treat or distraction, though.
 
My tb's have them but one will last them months. They aren't daft with them after the first 15mins of getting a new one!

The natives aren't even allowed to so much as sniff them! They would literally lick, crunch, chew one down to nothing without coming up for air given half a chance!
 
i don't like a lot of the ingredients but some of them do sound great for breathing issues, ive purchased one and am letting him lick it for 5 mins in the morning and 5 mins in the evening before turn out and as he comes in to hopefully help open those airways. I am looking at it a bit like a human having a halls sweet but i am undecided if the bad outweighs the good :/
Seems to help clear his congestion that's for sure!
 
Horsekaren said:
i don't like a lot of the ingredients but some of them do sound great for breathing issues, ive purchased one and am letting him lick it for 5 mins in the morning and 5 mins in the evening before turn out and as he comes in to hopefully help open those airways. I am looking at it a bit like a human having a halls sweet but i am undecided if the bad outweighs the good :/
Seems to help clear his congestion that's for sure!
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30 mins after a 5 min lick he laid down flat out on his side in his stable for 15 mins which as a lot of you will know is very unusual for my boy ... wondered if there could be a link.
 
It isn't going to get anything useful into him by way of ingredients really, much better to feed an actual supplement.
 
I thought so too actually RR.

FH I love how they talk about maximum daily allowances like people are weighing their lickits to check ;).

Some people do have to be especially cautious because it is not the total sugar but the amount ingested at the time which is important for anything metabolically compromised.
 
Once during a spell of bad weather we got one of the 15kg ones for the group of four native types wintering out. Put it out in the evening, it was gone by morning. They never got another.
 
mule said:
I've used them for bribery purposes. I think that's all they're supposed to be for.
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Yep, that's what I use it for. Ernie hates the wash bay and if I tie him up in there he can pull back and panic a little. It's easier to put the horselyx on the floor, hold the lead rope and use the other hand to wash him. He has it for no more than 15mins twice a week at most, he doesn't get possessive of it (he's hugely food oriented)

I worry about it going bad because we have a big one (so he doesn't try to eat it whole) but he gets through it very slowly.
 
I bought the respiratory one for a horse that was coughing (since changed forage and cleared up) it was left in his stable but when the dentist spotted it I got a telling off! I cant remember exactly what she said but she said don't use again.

Edited to add that use Bizzy bites when need to bribe/distract a horse. I have three horses when I turn two out and then come back for the third and will chuck it in for the time the third is left on his own or if I bring one horse in to ride without the others as a sort of reward. If used in this way the bizzy bite is much tidier then the horsylx and also it spins so they cant do more than lick, I just chuck it on the floor in the holder. I have had the same lick for about a year as they don't use it for long at a time
 
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A few licks won't do any harm, assuming he's not super sensitive/intolerant to any of the ingredients/sugar.
I'll use mine for bribery purposes if I'm short for time and need to get something unpleasant done, or let the youngster have a few licks when she has a bit in, but that's about it. I think I've had the same two mini ones for years now, I use them that sparingly haha
 
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