Horse Supplement Guide | Help & Advice | Houghton Country

Guide to Horse Supplements

 

There's such a huge range of horse supplements available and that number seems to be growing weekly, it can seem impossible to know which ones are suitable and which are best for your horse.

The following guide is designed to give you all the information you need to decide whether your horse needs additional vitamins and minerals and if so which is the best option for your horse or pony. We also discuss some of the conditions that can be alleviated through the targeted use of top quality supplementation including:

Why do horses need supplements?

Why Do Horses Need Supplements?

 

Many horses are fed additional vitamins and minerals in the form of horse supplements. These are added to a horses diet for three main reasons: to ensure nothing is lacking from the horses diet, to address a specific health concern or to enhance performance.

Modern horses are reliant on grazing and hard feed to fulfill their nutritional requirements. In the wild horses would graze thousands of acres of land with different types of grasses, herbs and soil types. This variation of diet ensured they ate everything they needed. Modern grazing is often less diverse and can lack the vitamins and minerals required to keep a horse healthy. Supplements bridge this gap, providing a balance of nutrients to ensure nothing is missing in your horses diet.

High performance horses, or horses regularly undertaking strenuous exercise may also benefit from supplements to quickly replenish nutrients lost to the body whilst exercising. These can include stamina boosting supplements, electrolytes and supplements designed to aid quick recovery of muscles and joints.

Supplements can also be used to help address a specific health concern, for example weak hooves, laminitis or reduced flexibility in older horses. There are a huge range of horse supplements available, some providing very targeted, specific nutrients and others that contain a wider spectrum of vitamins and minerals. Many are herbal horse supplements or natural horse supplements containing herbs your horse would naturally seek out whilst grazing.

Does my horse need a supplement?

Your horse may be getting everything it needs already from its diet. It’s important to make sure that any supplements you feed your horse are benefitting their health, and there are a few useful questions to ask yourself: Does my horse have a condition I need to treat? Is my horse getting old? Is my horse on a restricted diet and therefore missing out on essential nutrients? Is my horse being exercised heavily?

If your answer to any of these questions is yes, it may be worth considering supplementation for your horse. Before adding or changing a supplement we recommend speaking to either your vet or an equine nutritionist to ensure you’re feeding the best option for your horse. All horses are different and what works for one horse may not work for another.

It can take some time to find the best solution for your horse. Whether your horse requires calming supplements, something to aid digestion, help maintaining healthy hooves or assistance for ageing joints it’s essential to monitor your horse to see how they respond to their supplemented diet. It’s best not to regularly change your horse's diet but at the same time there is no point continuing to feed a supplement that is having no beneficial effect.

There are a huge range of horse supplements on the market, available in numerous forms including powders, liquids, tablets and pellets. Some provide an instant boost whilst others are designed to build up in the horses system over time.

What can supplements help with?

What Can Supplements Help With?


Horse supplements can assist with a huge range of health concerns and performance needs as well as support a healthy balanced diet. At Houghton Country we stock a comprehensive range of supplements including horse calmers, joint health solutions, digestive health supplements, and options to support peak performance and nutrition for healthy hooves. 

Horse Calmers

At certain times in a horses life it may be necessary to use horse calmers whether as an instant boost to keep them calm during times of stress or to make them more manageable and happy on a longer-term basis.

Finding horse calmers that work for your individual horse can take some time, it’s important to work out what is causing the initial stress when seeking a solution. It may be a number of factors which are leading to stress, tension and anxiety, from being overfed, underworked, overworked in a particular area, having a previous bad experience, learning a particular behaviour will result in what they want (this one takes more time and patience to resolve but a calmer may help the reaction be more manageable), spring grass, returning from injury as well as many more.

If you are lucky then the first product you try may give you the results you are looking for, usually, you will need to try a couple of different products. It is important to use products for the recommended amount of time before assessing the effects, many have a loading phase and it is only after this time a fair assessment can be made.

Equine calming supplements are formulated to target multiple causes of tension, including hormonal and diet-related issues. They are all designed to help reduce stress in your horse, helping your horse to maintain an even temperament and hopefully resulting in good behaviour all day long!

Horse calmers come in a variety of forms including powders, liquids, gels and tablets. They can be fed directly for example using a syringe or mixed into a horse's normal feed.

Always remember that over-the-counter options are generally formulated to "take the edge off" the anxiety and stress of a horse, they are not sedatives.

The majority of horse calmers are magnesium-based, organic magnesium (chelated magnesium) has been used for many years because of its role in both nerve excitability and muscle contraction with the idea that a nervous horse may have a Magnesium deficient diet. Natural occurring magnesium varies widely throughout the UK, if you find that magnesium-based products are not proving effective or showing a negative effect, it may be that your horse's diet is already providing enough magnesium and you may need to try a different active ingredient.

There are calmers available that use combinations of herbs and biotics to help reduce anxiety without relying on magnesium, these can be a useful option for horses that do not respond to a magnesium-based calmer and have been proven to be as effective.

Other ingredients to have a look out for are:

B vitamins: There are 8 B vitamins that assist your horse in a number of functions of health and the nervous system. At times of stress, high starch diets, and illness B vitamin production may decrease,a supplement with B vitamins can help level out the deficiences and have a calming effect.

Ashwagandaha (Withania Somnifera) also known as Winter Cherry: An adaptogenic herb that can help to balance mood. It has anti-depressant qualities and can be helpful in stress reactions such as cribbing and weaving.

L-Theanine: An amino acid derivative not commonly found in your horses diet but it is found in green tea. It has been found to increase the levels of serotonin and dopamine to promote calm and relaxation. Highly effective in dealing with anxiety and shown to reduce stress reactions.

L-tryptophan is an essential amino acid that leads to serotonin synthesis in the brain. Most effective when fed separately from the horse's feed.

Instant horse calmers help a horse respond to a situation they find stressful, for example having their teeth checked or being shod. They are sold as syringes or gels that can be administered easily with or without food. These should probably should be called short-term intense calmers as their effects are not instant. They usually need to be given an hour or so before they are expected to work and they should be given when a horse is calm and not in a heightened state of alertness. Sometimes a calmer may not be enough and your horse may remain unmanageable then sedation may be the only option to keep everyone safe. These short term calmers can also be handy before lessons and competitions to help your horse focus and reduce tension espcially in a new environment.

When using a calmer on a horse displaying anxiety or challenging behaviour it is useful not to change too much so that you can narrow down what has the most effect. For example, changing the feed or amount of feed your horse is getting may have a big impact and it was this diet change that made the difference. At other times improvement can go hand in hand so if feeding a calmer allows you to hack out further or school properly your horse will be expending more energy than they had previously and their behaviour may be calmer.

If you own a mare you’ll know there’s certain times they can be a little more testing than others! Horse calmers for mares help to address hormonal changes that can result in mares becoming difficult to ride and handle. These calmers support a mares natural hormone cycles by encouraging regularity and providing extracts from herbs useful in supporting hormone balance. These help your mare relax and feel more comfortable. They can be fed year round. Some of these horomonal supplements can also be useful for moody geldings and geldings that have been cut late.

Some horses are naturally more nervous than others and simply need a little extra support to keep them happier in their daily life. Feeding an everyday calmer that helps to calm worry and nervousness can be the ideal option if you’re looking for horse calmers for spooky horses. They are available in both powder and liquid form with the liquid option often more palatable for fussy horses. These calmers usually need to be fed at a loading rate and then at a maintenance rate, with the rate being able to be adjusted when a more challenging situation is coming up such as a competition. Due to the loading time it is very difficult to take your horse off and put them back on the calmer so it is usually recommended that the horse stays on the calmer if the effects are positive.

At Houghton Country we offer a comprehensive range of horse calmers so you’re sure to find a solution that works best for your horse.

Joint Supplements for Horses

It’s incredibly important to look after your horses joints and look out for signs that your horse may be uncomfortable. If you have any worries about lameness then your vet should be called to check them over. To help keep your horse sound it is always be aware of the demands you and your horse are putting on their joints and avoid adding unnecessary strain wherever possible.

There are numerous reasons you may need to feed horse joint supplements, including, specific health conditions, to support an ageing horse, or to maintain comfort and performance in a sports horse.

Joint supplements for horses contain nutrients that are proven to support joint flexibility as well as reduce inflammation. For performance horses these focus on the recovery of tendons and ligaments to ensure the horse is comfortable after strenuous exercise and limit any long-term damage to the joints.

The ingredients list of a joint supplement can vary widely between types, usually, you will see one or more of the following:

MSM (Methyl Sulphonyl Methane) - found to be vital for the maintenance of strong joints for all ages of horse as well as having anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. Sulphur plays an important role in making collagen and glucosamine.

Glucosamine - supports horse joint health by assisting in the production of cartilage.

Chondroitin - helps to reduce cartilage deterioration by drawing fluid into the connective tissue and also blocks enzymes that can break down cartilage. Usually appears with Glucosamine in supplements.

Devil's Claw Root - used for generations as an anti-inflammatory and analgesic especially in the treatment of arthritis and muscle pain. Usually used in older horses. On the banned substance list for FEI and most organisations, must be withdrawn at least 3 days (72 hours) before a competition.

Curcumin - the active ingredient in turmeric with powerful anti-inflammatory effects and a strong anti-oxidant. Usually, this has been extracted from turmeric for a higher concentration, turmeric alone is not as effective.

Boswellia, Boswellia Serrata (Indian Frankincense) - anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties, especially useful for arthritis but is in more and more standard joint supplements.

Supplements for the joints can also be used to keep horses comfortable as they age as well as target specific health concerns found in older horses. Joint supplements for horses with arthritis for example focus on soothing the joints ensuring comfort and reduced pain whilst also helping to restore tendons and ligaments so that your horse can move more freely again. A joint supplement is usually part of a wider management of an arthritic horse to keep them comfortable and happy.

Our range of joint supplements for horses include leading brands NAF, Global Herbs, Animalife and Equine America so you’re sure to find the best solution for your horse.

Hoof Supplements

Hoof Supplements

 

Keeping your horse’s hooves healthy is vital. The quality of a horse’s hoof is heavily influenced by genetics and diet, whilst climate and care of the hooves can also have an impact. Your horse's diet can have a significant impact on the quality of their hooves, and both farriers and nutritionists agree that supplementation can help to vastly improve hoof quality.

Poor quality horn, cracking in the hooves and slow growth can all be indicators of a nutritional deficiency in your horse's diet. The good news is that feeding targeted horse hoof supplements can help to address this, and improvements in the quality of the hoof will be evident. Addressing the issue from the inside first and then supporting this with external hoof care using creams or oils will ensure your horse's hooves are healthy in the long run.

There are also a number of horse feeds on the market which include a hoof supplement, so if it is a particular concern then it may be more economical to use a feed with a hoof supplement.

At Houghton Country, we offer a huge selection of hoof supplements as well as external hoof care products ideal for daily use during your grooming routine.

Digestive Health

Good digestive health is the key to a happy, healthy horse. Digestion supplements assist with a range of needs including providing a full spectrum of vitamins and minerals for a healthy gut, probiotics for gut stability, ensuring good do-ers have all the nutrition they require, and keeping senior horses in perfect condition.

Your horse’s digestion system impacts everything else in the body, so horse gut supplements are the perfect place to start if you’re looking to improve your horse's overall well-being. Balancing the good and bad bacteria in the gut will support digestive function and efficiency and many digestion supplements can be fed alongside more targeted supplements for other areas of the horse’s body.

Digestive supplements are usually either, prebiotics and probiotics or more targeted support for ongoing digestive problems such as Equine Gastric Ulcer Syndrome, many on the market combine both. They usually are powders or pellets but can also be liquids.

Most horse feeds will include vitamins and minerals as standard but not a broad spectrum, more are including pre and pro-biotics, and some are specially formulated for digestive health with targeted support. These feeds tend to be the highest in price because they include these extras. It's also always worth keeping an eye on the estimated digested energy/calories on the label as some are aimed at competition horses in full work and/or have conditioning properties and are not suitable for good do-ers or laminitics.

Horse feed balancers contain vitamins and minerals as well as prebiotics and probiotics. Some are included in feeds while most are separate and need to be mixed with feed others can be mixed with feed or hand feed. There is a large range on the market that targets specific types and conditions as well as also contains other supplements.

The most common reason to use a digestive supplement is to improve health and condition they are useful for horses in and out of work but are particularly useful for horses and ponies that spend time stabled or on a restricted diet as both disrupt the natural grazing nature and disrupt digestion.

There are a number of digestive supplements that are suitable to help the gut recover from major disruptions such as worming or illness and help the microflora in the gut recover more quickly, especially useful in older horses where the gut doesn't work as well as a natural part of ageing. Many of these are available as syringes for a quick action.

To keep your horse's digestive system in tip-top shape it is important to look at all aspects of your horse's life and routine from feeding, ensuring they aren't been fed too much starch for example, the quality of grazing to exercise all can have a major impact on your horse's digestive tract and their well being.

Our range of horse gut supplements at Houghton Country includes leading brands Equine Products, Protexin and Dodson and Horrell.

Breathing

In the wild horses would roam on wide open plains, which is quite a contrast to the comparatively enclosed spaces they now live in. This can put a strain on the airways, particularly through dust and pollen in the atmosphere. Management can make a huge difference to the health and integrity of the respiratory system but nutritional support can also help your horse cope with these stresses.

Breathing supplements are usually formulated to help care for and support healthy airways, most but not all have a minty smell. Some help to support the respiratory system deal with irritants more effectively.

The management of a horse with a breathing query is usually extensive with considerations given to the entire environment that they are in contact with, the food they eat, the bedding they are exposed to, and the grasses and flowers in the field they are kept in to name but a few to find the source of the issue and minimise exposure.

At Houghton Country we offer horse respiratory supplements to help keep your horses lungs and respiratory tracts as clear and healthy as possible.

Performance

Horses that perform at high levels or have heavy exercise regimes can require additional nutritional support to keep them performing at their best. Horse performance supplements provide the nutritional support needed by equine athletes, whether that’s an energy boost or horse electrolytes to aid recovery and replenish lost salts.

Performance horses use a lot of energy between their everyday needs, training and competition and for some horses, a higher calorie feed is not a solution, whether due to the amount they would need or the effects not being on a long enough slow release timeline for a full day of competition. Energy boosting supplements have a wide range of effects and target different areas for energy stores. Energy boosters can be useful to help improve stamina and endurance and can help horses that have lost or need a little sparkle, usually towards the end of the season but it can be seen during the season after a hard competition or during heavy training periods as well as those more tailored towards recovery to help replenish energy levels and can be used after an illness. There is a number on the market that can also be useful to help lethargic horses be more lively too.

There are a number of supplements that are aimed at supporting the blood in ensuring there is enough iron in the horse's diet to help aid the production of red blood cells. These supplements are popular with racehorse trainers, eventers and endurance riders.

Vitamin E is also a popular supplement for horses in high levels of work to aid with muscle soreness, the immune system, it is also a primary antioxidant in horses and ponies, especially during exercise without the correct levels of free radicals can be damaging to your horse's cells. Vitamin E is best sourced from green pastures. Vitamin E is shown to degrade in the grass as soon as it has been cut, so the longer hay is stored the less Vitamin E it offers to your horse. Horses that can benefit from Vitamin E supplements include those in heavy work, those kept stabled without access to grazing (green pasture is the best source) and horses on restricted grazing or on poor grazing. 

Electrolytes for horses are a way to help replenish body salts lost by the horse in heavy exercise or on hot days, they can also be mixed with energy sources to act like a horse sports drink. Electrolytes can be bought as powders, liquids or gels. Powders can be mixed in horse feed, while liquids can also be mixed into feed or syringed into the horse's mouth. It is vital that the horse has access to clean fresh water if being feed electrolytes as encourages horses to drink more.

At Houghton Country we offer a comprehensive range of performance supplements including energy aids and electrolytes for horses that can help to improve performance, support energy levels and promote natural recovery.

Horse Skin Supplements

Throughout the year your horse’s skin can become prone to seasonal conditions that can cause discomfort, itching and bumps. Skin supplements help support your horse from the inside to reduce the impact of seasonal variations on the skin, coupled with external applications they can ensure your horse is comfortable and healthy throughout the year. Skin supplements are perfect for horses that display lumps or itchy and flaky skin as a response to insects, mud or hot weather. Our comprehensive range includes mud fever supplements and supplements designed to repel flies, keeping sweet itch and summer itching to a minimum.

What to consider when buying horse supplements

Buying Horse Supplements

 

The main thing to consider before adding anything to your horse's diet is whether your horse or pony requires additional vitamins and minerals in the first place. If your horse is already receiving everything it needs from its diet then there is no need to add anything else. If your horse has a particular health condition or there is a certain area that you believe requires targeted support then supplements may be the ideal choice.

To find the best solution for your horse we recommend speaking to an equine nutritionist. Many feed providers and horse supplement brands offer free helplines that you can call and discuss your horse's individual needs. These are a great place to start. It can be useful to call a couple of different brand helplines as this will give you a better idea of the products on offer and the specific, targeted support they offer.

When thinking about supplement use be honest about your horse's weight and level of exercise. Think about their age and the environment they live in. Supplementation should be considered in conjunction with their wider diet, management and daily care routine, and this will ensure you horse is happy and healthy throughout the year. Many supplements have complementing ointments and grooming sprays that are perfect to use alongside them for a complete approach.

Always choose a reputable brand when feeding a new supplement. This ensures full traceability of all the ingredients used and guarantees everything in the supplement is of the highest quality. Not all horse supplements are legal for competition use so if this is a concern always ensure you check the regulations and ingredients you are using carefully to be sure you are compliant. We stock a huge range of health and supplement brands at Houghton Country as part of our wider horse care selection, so you’ll always be able to find a product that suits your horses needs.

 

We hope you’ve found this guide to horse supplements useful. If you’re interested in learning more about wider horse care you can also check out our guide to horse grooming and browse our range of horse grooming products.

If there’s any more information you require please don’t hesitate to contact our knowledgeable team who can assist in advising the products we have available or provide you with the details for numerous feed and supplement helplines to aid you in your research.