What supplements do horses really need?

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Daisy1905

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I thought I was doing a good thing feeding Pink Powder but my mare has told me I was wrong (lumps all over her sides and back).

Looking for an alternative and after reading a little bit I was wondering what minerals and vitamins she would actually need?

She is on 2kgs of pasture cubes, chaff, vegetable oil, hay and goes out from 8-3pm every day.
 
TBH if she is getting plenty of good quality grazing most of the mins and vits she needs will be in the grass. What makes you think she needs any thing extra? Is there anything in particular that you feel she is lacking from how she looks?
 
The grazing isnt great I think. The horses are on it all year and the yard doesn't look after it that well.

Also trying to put weight on her and her feet are quite bad.
 
Mine has garlic all year in summer it helps against flies and both winter and summer it does seem to help with his breathing from dusty bedding and soil. He has seaweed late autumn as lack of nutrients in the grass. He is currently on biotics as he is on haylage and being in has upset him but once he has finished this concentrated course he will be finishing that. I have been told garlic and seaweed provide all essential nutrients. Not sure if its true but stopped him eating soil!! My pony has his sweetitch supplements also. Two loan horses have biotin for the hooves!
 
its been quite a few years since i owned but when i did you didnt rug natives and you didnt feed supplements apart from a salt lick my mare was on pony nuts, bran mash and hay! Its all so different now,i would probably get lynched if i did that now.
 
To be honest with you what you are feeding will have everything she needs.

Pasture cubes i think you'll find if you read the bag will have a comprohensive list of the vit and mins in them.


If you are worried get a field pasture lick, they contain everyhting that modern day pastures lack, the horses help themselves as and when they need something extra.

A sign to look out for is her starting to chew wood or lick mud, this is a sign of a lack of something.


Hope this helps. No need to fall into the trap of feeding your horse everyhting under the sun. :D
 
Sammii819 said:
Hope this helps. No need to fall into the trap of feeding your horse everyhting under the sun. :D
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I think thats what happened with the PP. ;-) I felt like I need to add a balancer.

You get different opinions for Biotin as well. Does it work or not?
 
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If you mean Biotin then yes it is really good if you have a horse with really bad feet. But if they are ok then another pointless purchase.

Don't get me wrong i'm not against supplements, i have five horses all of which are on Garlic in the summer to help with the flies and a TB who is always on Seaweed as it's good for Ulcers, she has since not been seen cribbing and windsucking half as much since she has been on it.

All of them are fed on varying amounts of Mollichaff, sugar beets and high fibre nuts and TB on Balieys Lo-Cal. They also have access to a pasture lick.
(Thought i'd add that in case i came across as anti supplements)

They have there place IF and WHEN you need them.:D
 
With the lack of weight you would be better feeding a build up or conditioning feed. Balancers tend to be very low in calories and not particually helpful to poor doers. Maybe something with a high oil content for conditioning aswell as weight gain rather than feeding straight oil. Biotin will improve the feet but I have found farrier formula brilliant. Maybe have a word with your farrier and see what he recommends foot wise
 
All of our horses are fed garlic all year round, cod liver oil for joints, and biotin just maintain good hooves. The competition horses get linseed oil in the summer just to help their coat shine that bit more.
But the supplements you feed your horse are completely up to you. Does you're horse need anything specific or just looking for a healthier horse?
 
Caz89 said:
With the lack of weight you would be better feeding a build up or conditioning feed. Balancers tend to be very low in calories and not particually helpful to poor doers. Maybe something with a high oil content for conditioning aswell as weight gain rather than feeding straight oil. Biotin will improve the feet but I have found farrier formula brilliant. Maybe have a word with your farrier and see what he recommends foot wise
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Most conditioning feeds contain Barley and she can't have that :-(
 
No1 is good for weight gain as is 4 but i think better for older horses and those with teeth issues.
4 is great for those in work, i didn't realsie it was Barley free...as it is then that will be better than 1. :D
 
You would be better off with the top line cubes... It has a higher oil content so you could cut out the straight oil which some believe can actually be bad when trying to get weight gain as it can coat the gut allowing less nutrition absorption... Whether that is true or not I dont know but speaking from experience the top line cubes have been fab and couldn't recommend them enough
 
If you are looking for something for weight gain, I have found Fast Fibre (allen and page) is amazing stuff! I fed it for a year and my old TB looked fab, the next year I couldnt get hold oif it without driving for miles so decided to try diffrent feeds, I regret this so much, He was a total mess and nothing that I tried worked until the grass came back through in the spring. This winter he is back on fast fibre and looks amazing again.

He has access to adlib hay all winter but will only eat a bit so getting fibre into him in larger amounts was a problem, the fast fibre answered this problem as it can be used to replace hay totally if needed (not that i would do this) so his normal sized feed gives him more fibre than normal = fat horse and happy owner :-)
 
To find out exactly what your horse needs, you really have to have your forage (grass and hay/haylage) analysed, and then look at how to correct any deficiencies there are. I had mine done by a local company that produces supplement blocks and things for our area, so you could ask around to see if you have an equivalent, or look on the UKNHCP forum for the service that one of it's founders has set up.
Mine now get magnesium, copper and zinc added to their feeds, and I discovered that we have high iodine levels so have to be careful about feeding things like seaweed, which is often recommended as a staple supplement. It was very interesting - would recommend having it done!
 
Hiya,

I am doing a survey on equine joint supplementation and the public's experience with using them for my dissertation. I think this is a very important area in need of research. There are hundreds of products currently in the market and I want to highlight the products that do work from the products that don't. Then try to isolate the specific ingredients from your results, to work out why the products that do work do!

If guys have any experiences at all with joint supplements, I would be super greatful, if you could complete my quick survey. You will be helping to remove products that don't work from the market.

To complete my Survey please go to the following website:
http://FreeOnlineSurveys.com/renders...x7m9nttt860195

Thankyou,

Emily Johnson Bsc(hons) Equine Science
 
lucy_jw said:
its been quite a few years since i owned but when i did you didnt rug natives and you didnt feed supplements apart from a salt lick my mare was on pony nuts, bran mash and hay! Its all so different now,i would probably get lynched if i did that now.
Click to expand...

but you would have a healthy horse!!!
 
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