The foundation of a balanced diet is good nutrition, which provides all the vital nutrients for the horse’s needs on a daily basis. However, due to its complexity, it is commonly misinterpreted. Two vital elements that horses require are vitamins and minerals. A deficiency in either of these nutrients can be harmful to your horse’s general health and performance. If food is not processed properly, problems like gut pain and discomfort may develop. It will, in turn, cause the horse to act out. In order to avoid that, you may need some supplements like a gut health supplement for horses. Here are some of the benefits that you can get from different types of health benefits:
Supplements to Increase Weight
Even if you feed your horse a lot of top-quality forage, it won’t put on weight. Despite your best efforts and your veterinarian’s approval, you might get the intended results. So you will definitely think about using a weight-gaining supplement. In order to provide a high concentration of calories, they are typically produced with high-fat content. Common ingredients include rice bran, flax meal, amino acids, and vegetable lipids.
Vitamins and minerals supplements
If you give your horse commercially produced horse feed, it is already supplemented with vitamins and minerals. Horses should get all the vitamins they need if they eat on fresh grass rather than commercial horse feed. However, these nutrients are lost during the curing and storage of hay. So, it will be advantageous if you use vitamin and mineral supplements. Verify that your meals and supplements have the same ingredients before giving them to your horse. Be careful not to give too much of any one vitamin or mineral.
Hoof support supplement
One of the most common categories of horse supplements is hoof health supplements. Hoof health supplements could be used to make up for dietary deficiencies that lead to unhealthy feet. The list of components includes biotin, lysine, methionine, threonine, zinc, copper, cobalt, MSM, and Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids. To see a difference, though, you will need to utilize them for 6 to 12 months as the hoof matures.
Skin and Coat Nutrient supplements
If you want your horse to have a more excellent coat, consider giving them skin and coat supplements. You should only give them very small amounts of skin and coat supplements. It is because the fat content of weight-building supplements may encourage shiny coats. This supplement’s ingredients include flaxseed, chia seeds, zinc, vitamin E, biotin, and amino acids.
Supplements for digestive support
If your horse frequently experiences colic, a very painful stomach condition, you can give gut health supplements for horses. The first line of defense, like with ulcers, is management adjustments like reducing stress, improving turnout, and increasing feed supply. If you decide to take a digestive supplement, search for one that combines probiotics and yeast. Or you can also search for oligosaccharides that encourage the growth of good gut bacteria and digestive enzymes.
Gastric support supplements
One of the many similar medical conditions domestic horses experience is gastric ulcers. Giving your horse vitamins for stomach support is an excellent idea because prevention is preferable to therapy. Examples of stomach supplements include soluble fiber, collagen, and antacids. Reduced stress, longer turnout times, and continuous provision of food might also help you avoid ulcers.
Joint supplements
Horse hip and joint supplements may be ideal for your horse, whether it is a young or active horse. It can be mainly beneficial if it is an older horse with osteoarthritis whose joints might use some protection. You can choose from a variety of formulations, try one for 30 days and see if you notice any differences. Horses’ joints can benefit from glucosamine, chondroitin sulphate, hyaluronic acid, devil’s claw, vitamin C, ester C, collagen, and silica.
Overall benefits of using supplements
Each horse has different advantages to using equine supplements. Giving digestive supplements that contain probiotics, fiber, and yeast to a horse who is unwell will be beneficial. Methionine, biotin, zinc, and other nutrients that maintain healthy hooves will be beneficial for a horse with shelly hooves.
Bottom Line
These are the different types of supplements that can benefit the various parts of the horse’s body. You can try these supplements and give some time and space for the supplements to work out.
