Supplements - how many?

I feed mine a complete one - I have done as fed analysis to work it out and can def tell the difference between when they are on one and when they are not. I haven't had a case of mud fever / rain scald and no vets bills either (think one for a cut knee in 24 years of horse ownership and 14 horses). I have cleared up cases of mud fever and rain scald on new horses by fixing diet.

Not all are actually complete and you do need one which fits your situation.
 
Darremi said:
I have evented horses up to CCI** level with no supplements.

They are overrated and peddled by feed companies as an absolute necessity.

Many people fall for it!
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Sorry, I was being my usual facetious self! Many apologies!

I had an "expert" here the other day who announced that my stallion needed supplements because he appeared to have a limp.

He has been cured by feeding the supplements recommended by Cortez (i.e. good hay, clean water, and a salt block)….and by carefully observing that he doesn't actually have a limp anyway!

We are in total agreement.

Edited to ask m if her success where others failed might not have had something to do with her better management and not the supplements at all?
 
None. He gets adlib hay with half a scoop of Dengie Healthy Tummy (which does have Protexin Gut Balancer in, but I don't feed it for that) with a big mug of linseed. The linseed is fed because he isn't a great doer, so it's an easy way to get lots of "calories" in without feeding buckets of hard feed.
 
Mine gets Pro Balance because he is on a permanent diet so just making sure he has all he needs, and lysine because he needs building up muscle wise so needs the extra protein.
 
I feed a good quality balancer so I don't need to add any additional supplements. Works out much more cost effective than feeding a supplement for this and a supplement for that. Suits my horse well!
 
Dry Rot said:
Edited to ask m if her success where others failed might not have had something to do with her better management and not the supplements at all?
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Not sure if I am the m you are referring to but a few times my horses have gone off to be babysat while I was on holiday and not wanting to inconvenience babysitters I have just left them without supplemens to keep everything simple (altho a scoop daily isn't really that hard) and you can certainly see the difference in coat / condition after two weeks of not having it.
 
Darremi said:
I have evented horses up to CCI** level with no supplements.

They are overrated and peddled by feed companies as an absolute necessity.

Many people fall for it!
Click to expand...

Correct!
My horse evented (successfully) up to CCI* with just grass, hay and barley and sugar beet. He also *shock horror* lived out.

My current horse eats grass. He's fine too.
 
Darremi said:
They are overrated and peddled by feed companies as an absolute necessity.

Many people fall for it!
Click to expand...

But it's soooo hard to resist being sucked in by the marketing claims made by the supplement manufacturers (and I'm a scientist and know that most claims are a load of hogwash). Especially when vets and famous riders endorse the supplements - of course that doesn't have anything to do with the fact that they get paid lots £££ to say how fabulous product X is, does it???
 
I only use Pro Balance as I know after grass analysis its what they are short of in their diet. I wouldn't bother wasting my money on other supplements unless I had proof they needed it.
 
Mine is on a general supplement (super codlivine), plus top spec calmer but I'm going to swap him back to magnitude (the grazing is deficient in magnesium and he no longer needs a more expensive calmer now we're getting out more and we both have more confidence). He has access to a salt lick.

I also feed oil but I count that as food rather than supplement.
 
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