Pre/probiotics... any suggestions?

Ali16

Ali16

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Looking into putting my naughty black boy on a suppliment comtaining both pre and probiotics as recommended by vet.

Nutritionist (from reputable company) and vet have recommended one, but looking at the price on the internet it looks like I'll be shelling out approx £75 (incl P&P) every two weeks, which made my vision blur... If this does prove to be the most popular/'best' on offer, I will take the plunge, but wanted to research a bit before.

Has anyone got any experience of feeding pre & probiotics to a competiton horse? If so, which one do/did you use?

He stresses when he stays away from home, but is quite level headed otherwise. Must be easy to mix in with feed - he's not too fussy but will leave anything he is suspicious of.

Tea/coffee and flapjacks on offer... :)
 
I personally have only ever used them after my eventer threw a splint and was on lots of bute. When he came sound and back into work, he was eating his field companion's poo. I spoke to Baileys and vet, who both said probiotic, and I went for the 10 day course from NAF. It did exactly what it says on the tin, and horse stopped eating poo and grew a much better coat.

Not used long term I know, sorry, but thought I would mention as it definitely works.
 
I'd use protexin given the choice. All their stuff is really good. That said, what do you feed? As most balancers contain probiotics, and some contain prebiotics too anyway.....no point in doubling up!
 
Contact Protexin, they do a gut balancer and may be able to send you a sample size first if you are cheeky enough to ask ;), I won a months supply but have not started him on it yet so can't comment on what I think to the product yet, however I have used NAF in the past with very good results.

I don't think some brands are anywhere near as expensive as you have been led to believe.

http://www.protexin.com/products/gut-balancer/5
 
My previous horse has a gut issue and he was put on protexin bio premium which can only be purchased through your vet. Which worked well for him. I was going to try the protexin Gut Balancer but the horse was PTS through a seperate issue so never got to try it.
I do have a tub of the gut balancer which I am going to try on my new horse as she gets upset gut when we go away and gets a dose of the poos. So was going to try this and see how we get on.

Have used pink powder too but I found the protexin stuff better for my horse so just stuck with that.
 
Thanks both.

He is on a cereal rich diet with alfa-a (as dictated by our nutritionist), with a balancer - the vet does not think that the balancer alone will be enough on it's own though as the horse does stress quite a lot when staying away.

Ideally I would just like to feed it before, during and after going away to an event, rather than constantly because as you pointed out SC, I think the balancer contains pro and prebiotics, but not to the level that he needs when staying away.

Bloomin horse. He'd be fine if he was allowed to live on the horse box and not go in a stable...
 
I've just put two of mine on Protexin and I'm seeing a difference in their behaviour and attitude to work. It works out about £12 a month so not expensive. I'd recommend giving it a go.
 
Scarlett said:
I've just put two of mine on Protexin and I'm seeing a difference in their behaviour and attitude to work. It works out about £12 a month so not expensive. I'd recommend giving it a go.
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Thanks - am going to order a tub now as most of the votes seem to be in favour of Protexin and it's much cheaper than the one that I was told to use (but looks like it has very similar ingredients!).
 
Sorry to hijack, was just reading about protexin as i've never heard of it! Had a look at their 'Quick Fix' suringe that they do. Would you feed that just before leaving to go to a show, or do you do it when you are at the show (excuse my ignorance!)? My mare is getting quite stressed out competing as shes had a 6 year break (bred 2 foals) and am wondering if that might help?
 
oscarwild said:
Which one did the vet advise you to try?
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Equitop Pronutrin - the cheapest I have found is £70ish incl P&P, a tub of which lasts 2 weeks on average apparently. So if he went away four/five times per year and I fed it the week before, during and after the comp, that alone would be £280 minimum, but it says that you should feed for a minimum of 28 days, which would require 2 tubs.
 
Ali16 said:
Equitop Pronutrin - the cheapest I have found is £70ish incl P&P, a tub of which lasts 2 weeks on average apparently. So if he went away four/five times per year and I fed it the week before, during and after the comp, that alone would be £280 minimum, but it says that you should feed for a minimum of 28 days, which would require 2 tubs.
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Be warned - I have heard of a lot of horses which won't eat this!

It's also not a pre/pro biotic in any way.

It does have a lot of pectin in it, which has been shown to lessen stomach acid, but for a fraction of the price you could have Feedmark's ulcer calm which has pectin and lethicin in it (the prinicpal ingredients in Pronutrin), plus other antacids which have had clinical trials (in another product) and so are proven to reduce stomach acid. Worth talking to your vet about?
 
What about Yea-sacc. Although not strictly pre/pro, it has a claming effect on the gut. Fed along with Mag Ox can have a calming effect on the horse.

I feed it to 3. 2 oldies and a skittery type TB, and it has had a great benefit on all of them. I bought the farm pack. £54 for 25kg and they get 100g daily for first week and now on about 50g each a day.
 
Tempi said:
Sorry to hijack, was just reading about protexin as i've never heard of it! Had a look at their 'Quick Fix' suringe that they do. Would you feed that just before leaving to go to a show, or do you do it when you are at the show (excuse my ignorance!)? My mare is getting quite stressed out competing as shes had a 6 year break (bred 2 foals) and am wondering if that might help?
Click to expand...

I have used protexin for years, it's brill. When I use quick fix on event horses I give 10ml before we leave, 10ml when we get there and 10ml an hour or so before I get on (depending on the day's timings) That seems to work for most horses and that is one tube's worth (30ml) that said, play around with your own horse and what works for her. You can't overdose it and it won't interact with anything else you feed her.

Also a word to the wise; all feeds that say they contain probiotics don't have much probiotic that will still work when it gets to your horses' gut as feed concentrates are slightly damp (by their nature) and so the bacteria can't survive. Also pink powder doesn't have anywhere near the levels of something like protexin (the little numbers on the back are in a log scale so hard to read! but trust me I have checked!) but it is a good all round multi vit :)
 
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