Supplements

One of the many things that surprised me about keeping the horses 'sound' is the number of variations to what they eat. We had a professional come in and take a sample of the pasture hay, our bought hay and some info on each horse (I can't remember how she did the analyis that tailored the feeding program to each horse but I remember being impressed at how scientific it was). We have 5 or 6 different types of grain and each horse has their own tailored morning and evening feeding.

A job I do that I am really good at is putting the grain 'up' -- basically filling the buckets for the next feeding according to the elaborate grid on the wall. This is also one of the activities that riders enjoy learning to do and helping to do.

Tonight, as I finished preparing the buckets for the late night feedings and morning feeding, I wrote down all the different supplements and consulted with Chuck as to what they do. Here is a brief list:

1. Minavite: Almost every horse gets this twice a day: it is bascially a multivitamin
2. Horseshoers Secret: most of the horses get this daily as well: a pelleted hoof supplement
3. U Gard (calcium magnesium dietary supplement): about half the horses or less get this -- it is to protect against ulcers (think Pepcid)
4. Tandem (hyaluronic acid and chondroitin sulfates C4 and C6 AND N-acetyl D glucosamine): about half the horses get this once a day -- it is a joint lubricant.
5. Vitamin E tabs: actually the same stuff people use, but in horses (only two or three of our horses get 6 tabs a day) it is supposed to be good for their coats.
6. Tri-Hist: only two horses are getting this right now, and they only get it when needed for breathing and allergies. Believe it or not, even some horses get wheezy with the high pollen counts!

And like supplements for people, none of this stuff is cheap! No wonder we have such beautiful and healthy horses.