Let's Talk Supplements

I've noticed that while I carry an enormous selection of equine supplements in my store, not many people seem to purchase any for their beloved equine family member(s). I have a 21 year old qh mare whom I religiously feed her joint supplements to. A rescue pony who gets 2 daily servings of a weight builder supplement and 2 performance horses who get a join supplement (b/c I barrel race and as we all know those quick turns have a tendency to be hard on the joints) and they also get a coat supplement. What gets me about it is people are fanatic about stuffing themselves full of things like calcium , msm , chondrotion and glucosamine yet they don't think that horses might need that to be comfortable too...... I figure it's because people don't really know what supplements are for what , what they do or are used for.. etc etc etc. So With that said lets learn :)

Hoof Supplements
An inadequate diet eventually will make itself felt throughout the horse's body. He'll usually have a dull, staring coat, poor muscle tone, no energy, and the growth of his hooves will be slower than normal, resulting in splitting, cracking, and difficulty holding a shoe.
Hoof supplements usually contain biotin as the main ingredient. Biotin also known as vitamin H or b7 has the chemical formula C10H16N2O3S. is a water-soluble B-complex vitamin which is composed of an ureido (tetrahydroimidizalone) ring fused with a tetrahydothiphene ring. A valeric acid substituent is attached to one of the carbon atoms of the tetrahydrothiophene ring. Biotin is a cofactor in the metabolism of fatty acids and leucine, and in gluconeogenisis. Biotin is also helpful in maintaining a steady blood sugar level. Biotin is often recommended for strengthening hooves and hair coat. As a nutrient, biotin is involved in glucose metabolism, the processes of cell growth and division, and the utilization of other B vitamins such as niacin. And because it contains sulfur, an element needed for the formation of the reinforcing bonds between strands of collagen, biotin plays a role in the health of all connective tissues as well as the hair coat and the hooves. Reliable research supporting the use of biotin to encourage better hoof growth in horses has been slow to surface. Most of the reasoning behind supplementing equine diets with this vitamin comes from studies in other species. In many animals, various types of hoof and/or foot lesions have been treated well by supplementing biotin, therefore it's a reasonable assumption that it could in fact provide the same results in horses, in the past 10 years research has shown this to be correct. In a 1991 study, for example, 42 Lipizzan stallions at the Spanish Riding School in Austria participated in a double-blind examination of biotin supplementation. Over two years, 26 of the stallions received 20 mg of biotin daily in their feed, while another 16 stallions received a placebo. The conditions of the horses' hooves - which had been crumbly, thin, and had a tendency to crack at the weight-bearing border - showed significant improvement after they had been on biotin for nine months. There were fewer hoof cracks, less crumbling of the horn and greater measurable tensile strength. This and other similar studies have at last demonstrated that there's something to this biotin stuff.Feeding biotin at a level that has an impact on hoof growth is not really a matter of correcting a deficiency. In essence, it's taking a nutrient and feeding it at a level beyond normal requirements, at which it really becomes a therapeutic medication. Fortunately, biotin, like all B vitamins, is water soluble, which means it's not stored in the horse's tissues. The body uses what it needs and eliminates the rest in the urine. So there's very little chance of a horse developing biotin toxicity. (This bit of info came from the following website http://www.petplace.com/horses/do-supplements-give-horses-healthier-hooves/page1.aspx)

There are many various brands of biotin based goof supplements
Farnam has
Horseshoers Secret which contains 15mg of biotin per 6oz scoop
Horseshoers Secret Concentrate = 25mg per 2 oz scoop
Vita-min Biotin = 6.25 mg per scoop
H.B. 15 = 15mg per scoop

Select Supplements
Nu-Hoof Accelerator = 20mg per 2 oz scoop
Nu-Hoof Max = 30mg per 2oz scoop

Those are just a few of what I offer in store. There are many many others.

Joint care



The harder a horse works or the older they get, the more stress is placed on their joints. Stands to reason that you would want to protect those joints. Most joint supplements are now a combination of ingredients for optimum joint health and repair, though you can still purchase each ingredient separately. We'll start with the main ingredients

Glucosamine helps to repair damage to tendons , joints and/or cartilage. Glucosamine is a type of sugar charged molecule used in the production of proteoglcycans. Proteoglcyans are essential for the building of joint cartilage as they maintain the amount of water found in cartilage. Cartilage needs to be squishy and absorbent, bouncing back to it's original shape when compressed, or you are left with dry, brittle cartilage in knees and hips that can be painful.


Chondroitin is a natural component of joint cartilage and chondroitin sulfate is believed to block certain enzymes that tend to break down cartilage. While experts disagree on how much chondroitin is actually absorbed when taken orally, preliminary findings suggest that chondroitin supplements are linked to the stabilization and sometimes the functional restoration of certain arthritic joints. Chondrotins and hyalurionic acids are used to "lube" the joints. They help to replace the fluids in between the joints to stop the popping and creaking often heard when a senior horse moves.

MSM
in a nutshell MSM is a great supplement that helps with the joints and also helps to "push" other supplements into the horses system at a quicker rate. B/c there is such vast information on MSM, instead of typing all of it out or copying and pasting from another site and referencing it I'm taking the lazy way out and just posting a link :)
http://www.sheld.com/sehorses.html

Basic Everyday Health Supplements.

There are many supplements used for just overall health. There's Nu-Image which is a skin and coat conditioner , Clovite , Nu-Image dark , Red Cell , Yucca , Healthy Coat by Manna Pro , and many many more. As I said above, we as humans are constantly showing vitamins and minerals into ourselves to make us feel better and perform better. Why not do the same for our horses?