Suppliments

Tempi

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Ok, so was just reading someones post further down and it does seem that some people feed a ridiculous amount of suppliments - some of which are unnecessary, and some which do the same thing as another suppliment also being fed
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So what suppliments do you feed your horse and why?

I want people to justify what they are feeding, not just write 'because he/she needs it'.

So here are the suppliments my two are fed:

Blossy:

- Global Herbs Scratch and Zephyr for her pollen allergy
- Instant linseed because she has fluid on her hocks and it helps with her mobility as she also has mild arthritis.

Archie:

- NAF Pink Powder to help aid digestion as he is a bit of a stress head and i want him to 'use' his food correctly. However im contemplating taking him off it as im skint and im not sure if it does anything anyways.
- Equifeast Cool, Calm and Collected as a calmer (obviously!) hes only just started this, im going to do the 5 week loading period and then a month as normal, if no difference then he will come off it.

So thats it!! Both mine have just two each and Archie will be down to just the calmer soon..........
 
My girl has nothing apart from Codliver Oil but all the liveries get that, but once she goes out to grass next month she won't be getting anything!!
Im of the opinion that if your grazing is good and you have good quality hay/haylage they shouldn't need much supplementing, unless they have a specific condition which needs to be controlled. I have always found feeding a good feed balancer gives them everything they need!!
 
my thoughts exactly - but it just seems there are so many suppliments out there these days that people get 'sucked in' and buy them for the sake of it when noone really knows whether they do anything or not
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My mare has NAF general purpose supplement just to make sure she's getting the right vits/minerals as she has very little hard feed. She also gets garlic as she has COPD and it definitely helps.
 
Barney-nothing, he was on pink powder when I first had him for condition but doesn't need it now.
Molly-Soluble superflex,she was run over by a van a few years back and has ever since had arthiritis in he stifle.This is the only thing that seems to work for her.
Titch-nothing.
 
Mac has glucosamine and instant linseed to help with artritis.

I give Dolly instant linseed as well. She has nothing wrong with her joints, but she is a heavy girl, so I give it as a preventative measure really.

Both also have garlic powder to help with the flies!
 
Miss. S is on the following ..

Baileys garlic powder with oil: To help repell the flies. I also thought that with the added oil it would help with a shine to her coat.
Equivite: As the feed shop I went into didnt have TopSpec No2, so I settelled for this. On the basis that she isnt on hard feed at the moment so I wanted to ensure she had all the necessary vitamins and minerals.

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I think supplements are a bit of a faddy thing at the moment - (will probably be shot down for this!!!) but like Fantasia says if you have good forage the horse shouldn't need them, the last yard I worked at while at uni was more like a pharmacy at feed time it took me longer to dish out the supplements than it did to muck out the beds, some horses had 6 or 7 different powders or liquids in one feed and the owners were completely neurotic about them, one even said she couldn't ride her horse because she'd ran out of moody mare and she daren't incase she misbehaved, I wouldn't stuff myself full of vitamins and herbal meds every mealtime so I don't do it to my horses.
 
G horse gets Topspec balancer as it has Biotin for his crap feet, pro biotic for condition and stressyness and also high protein for developing muscles! He also gets very little hard feed in summer, so makes sure he gets everything he needs. He gets garli for flies, oil for his feet as farrier said can help when combined with biotin, and when competing is on comp dose of Magic calmer, but he only goes on that the week before an event. It helps keep him manageable!
 
Well you know whats it like............lazy Saturday and you're at the feed merchants browsing away and you think "wow, look at that new colourful tub, haven't seen that before, wonder what it is does?" You pick it up and read the back and it seems to answer your horse's current problems, you look at the price and think "well if it works it worth it" so you start buying it!!! You never really notice a difference but you carry on feeding it anyway!!
 
Top Spec Comprehensive powder, plus sugarbeet and a handful of condition cubes "for flavour", and haylage. Basically because I'm rebuilding my girl from greyhound to horse-shaped and don't want any explosions on the way. Can't "Do" photos, but they speak for themselves! She dropped to "half-dose" after 1 1/2 tubs, would stop altogether now if we had any grass.
 
Mine is on grass....but due to him being a fatty he is now on very restricted grazing, so he'll probably either start having some happy hoof, or I'll feed him a multivitamin. But at the moment he is very shiny!
 
zephyr pollenex for his headshaking
so calm because he is a very tense horse
acid x he is often tucked up and grumpy around girth area and even though he goes to graze for 15 hours a day and has alot of fibre I worry about acid
yeast extract because he gets eaten alive
soya oil for his calories
sunfower kernals as above but take longer to digest
balancer [not on at present as grass is good]

He has a problem keeping weight on and gets lymphangitis on alot of feeds but at the moment he looks the best he ever has.
 
Im not a huge fan of giving suppliments but all mine seem to be on something
So:
Flighty
*Laminaze - as shes a lammi, dont know whether or not is helps so finishing the tub off then will have to see how she is after that.
*Mirra coat - to help stop her skin being dry, flaky etc
Chantin
*Mirra coat - same as Flighty
*Marmite - to help with the flies
*Blue Chip Karma - shes a stress head and needs something to help her chill a little
Sasha
*Mobifor for her joints
*Danilon for her pain
Ebi
*Mobifor for her joints
Willow
*nowt at all
 
Spider - Electrolytes, Biotin, No bute, Soya Oil

Connor - Soya Oil, no bute, Electrolytes, Biotin, Natural calmer and Equine America's More muscle
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mine has a mug full of Black oil sunflower seeds for his coat condition and feet
thats it. he doesnt need anything else and couldnt justify spending the amount of money of some of the supplements that are on the market.... not sure i could even if i wanted too!
though he does have an original horslyx in his stable which ontains vit/mins

Id rather spend more on a good bag of feed rather than adding in supplements.
 
It was my post! Here is the thinking behind all my suppliments.

I have a very stressy TB who finds it difficult to maintain weight, drops weight very quickly and will not eat a huge amount of food so I need to feed things that are very nutrient/calorie dense but will not make him fizzier.
Pink powder - I started giving him this when he was off his food and he started looking good so I kept him on it as not v expensive.
Soya oil - for condition & shine
Baileys outshine - Provides a lot of slow release calories in a very small amount so helps with condiiton and shine.
Biotin - rubbish TB hooves although he had the biotin before the pink powder (which contains biotin) so will probably stop feeding this once the HUGE tub I have is finished.
Mint - to tempt a fussy eater
Naf Magic - Very spooky and excitable with all the grass at the moment and it was suggested it could be a lack of magnesium, he has been much better since taking this.

It is getting to the point where it takes longer to do all the additives that to make up the rest of his feed so I would like to reduce.
 
Cairo and Chancer both get:

Black sunflowers seeds - for their coat and feet - both are vastly improved since having it.

Total eclipse balancer - they are on grass at the moment and have mainly hay and chaff in winter, so need some form of vit and minerals as one is old and the other young.

Instant linseed - excellent for Cairo's old joints and gives Chancer an extra glossy show coat.

Corta-flx for Cairo only - again to help his old joints.

Brewers yeast - in the summer - helps with Chancer's mild sweet itch and Cairo's generally itchy body.

Salt - both are hairy sweaty types.

Garlic - in the winter for keeping their immune system healthy.
 
Sparky gets
- Soya oil for a shiney coat
- Moodaid/oestress/moody mare for spring/summer- whichever is on offer, as she's a slutty, squealy tramp over the summer without it.
- Ventil-ate as and when she needs it (starts coughing, has lung damage from abcesses when she had pneumoniea)
- SureGrow as a feed balancer due to her getting under the recommended feeding amount of her mix

Bob gets
- Acidex as he had/has ulcers and has acidosis
- veg.oil to add more calories to his feed without bulk. (also for coat)

Oscar
- Soya oil for his coat
- Topspec Youngstock to ensure he's getting a fully balanced feed ration
 
zakkie gets sunflower seeds for his coat and hooves, topspec balancer to aid digestion, biotin for hooves etc (and ive also found that he needs much less hard feed now) and apple cider vinegar for his joints-oh and feel good 30 calmer which i have just started. I desperately try to find something that includes all of these (i.e a joint,coat, hoof and calming supplement would be nice!!)as he doesnt like lots of stuff put in his feed, and its such a pain to open all the tubs and put in the supllements-time consuming!!but its quite hard....if anyone has any suggestions on how i can cut down on his supplements please tell me!
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i was thinking of cutting out the BOSS because ive got the balancer, but his coat is so healthy
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It sure does.....but unfortunately Connor cam eto me in a terrible state...NO muscle NO weight and NO condition.

And I have BYEH in a few weeks so he will stay on this for one bottles worth probably. He is fed good food, good grass and haylege at the mo and is being worked properly daily, just hoping it helps him along alittle
 
Extraflex HA - at 26 with previous serious knee injury have found it helps with his general stiffness and has proved especially good for the bad knee as he can now move it much better.

Winergy Ventilate - he has compromised breathing, age related, and suffers when pollen count is high, rape seed is about, when its dry and dusty and also when we have sudden changes of temperature. Helps to keep his airways open and its also full of antioxidants which help gobble up all those nasty free radicals which the older horse produces lots more of and can't break down as effectively as the younger chaps. Have definitely seen a difference in his overall health since being on this supplement.

Global Herbs Garlic - helps keep the midges away as he gets 'lumpy' when bitten and also helps with his airways for reasons as aboveas above.

Cod Liver Oil - as he's an oldie it helps lubricate all the inside 'bits' and for want of a nicer phrase - keeps the poo flowing!! He gets plenty of fibre in his diet but due to his age obviously his body just doesn't absorb as much of all the good stuff as it used to so this has helped enormously. Even if I took him off everything else I would still keep him on the oil.
 
Mac just gets grass and pony nuts

Atty gets grass, hay, lucerne in the form of simple systems feeds and he gets their Total Eclipse balancer as well just to make sure he gets all his vits and mins.
 
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