# Horse supplements! so confused



## missmare (4 December 2017)

so Im pretty sure my horse has. Very mild case of thrush &#128561;
Im not 100% as Shes never had it before so the Farrier will be coming out to look at her tomorrow.
Ive been thinking of maybe getting some extra supplements to help her hooves and her immune system.. give her an extra boost
I only give her glucosamine and garlic and thats it 
Ive looked and researched so many products my brain is turning to mush &#128514; 
Can any one recommend any good ones? 
Preferably no more the £35 if possible &#128514;
Thanks in advance!


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## Leo Walker (4 December 2017)

Stop the garlic, it serves no real purpose and is terrible for their stomachs. I'd then go for a powdered mineral balancer with no iron and high copper and zinc. I use Progressive Earth, but there are others that are basically the same. The only time I have issues with thrush is if I stop feeding it. 

Linseed is cheap and good for joints and making coats shiny so would probably be worth giving as well. It will put weight on a poor doer but I've never seen any weight gain at 50gms a day. Add 10gms of salt per 100kgs of horse body weight as well. Its incredibly good for all sorts of things including feet


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## Shay (4 December 2017)

Supplement companies make their money from you being confused!  As a good caring owner you need to spend hundreds on this, that or the other.  I am not anty supplements in any way - I use them too.  But they are widely overused with owners throwing away money.

Thrush is one of those things.  It happens from time to time.  Be sure to pick out feet at least twice a day and keep bedding clean.  But its muddy.  Damp hooves are more thrush prone.  You are better off getting a silver spray or other hoof dressing to use to combat the bacteria on the foot surface than feeding something.

That said - I am with Leo on the Garlic.  It has no possible purpose at this time of year and continuous feeding can have detrimental effect.  I'm not in the anti garlic camp - I do feed it in summer. But horses need a break from it or it can result in liver damage.

If nothing else is wrong and you are feeding to the manufacturer recommended amount of a feed then you should not need to supplement.  Spend your money on a hoof spray instead.


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## AFB (5 December 2017)

I was recommended Red Horse Products recently for thrush - I bought some sole cleanse & really happy with the progress


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## hopscotch bandit (6 December 2017)

missmare said:



			so Im pretty sure my horse has. Very mild case of thrush &#55357;&#56881;
Im not 100% as Shes never had it before so the Farrier will be coming out to look at her tomorrow.
Ive been thinking of maybe getting some extra supplements to help her hooves and her immune system.. give her an extra boost
I only give her glucosamine and garlic and thats it 
Ive looked and researched so many products my brain is turning to mush &#55357;&#56834; 
Can any one recommend any good ones? 
Preferably no more the £35 if possible &#55357;&#56834;
Thanks in advance!
		
Click to expand...

It can take months feeding a supplement to show any improvement to feet as the horn is very slow growing, but anything with biotin in will encourage healthy horn - I think Farriers Formula even admit about improvement being slow, on their sales platter. As others have said its probably cheaper in the long run to manage the condition and prevent it happening in the first place - not easy when a horse is stood in a wet muddy field all day or soaks its bed with urine. And as others have said again, probably a foot dressing would be of more benefit - Stockholm tar for example which has antibacterial properties and will help with thrush as a first point of call.


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## SallyBatty (6 December 2017)

I agree with the others concerning garlic - so would stop giving that.  As far as improving hoof quality is concerned then I would recommend straight biotin (much cheaper than getting a supplement which contains biotin as only part of its ingredients) - one of my mares came to me with really poor feet and my farrier at the time recommended this and there was a terrific improvement within 2/3 months.  For the thrush, just try and keep the feet as clean and as dry as possible and use the Red Horse products.


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## tallyho! (6 December 2017)

hopscotch bandit said:



			It can take months feeding a supplement to show any improvement to feet as the horn is very slow growing, but anything with biotin in will encourage healthy horn - I think Farriers Formula even admit about improvement being slow, on their sales platter. As others have said its probably cheaper in the long run to manage the condition and prevent it happening in the first place - not easy when a horse is stood in a wet muddy field all day or soaks its bed with urine. And as others have said again, probably a foot dressing would be of more benefit - Stockholm tar for example which has antibacterial properties and will help with thrush as a first point of call.
		
Click to expand...

I don't rate FF... for what it is, you can get better quality, cheaper alternatives. 

To prevent thrush happening in the first place, diet plays a huge part. Plastering oily barriers actually keeps the microbes in there and gives them a lovely home to live in. 

Try ForagePlus, Progressive Earth, Equimins - really good quality supplements. Avoid anything with Iron in it. Basically I agree with everything Leo Walker said. Good feet starts with the gut and healthy feet can withstand any mud.


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