Let Freedom (from supplements) Ring

I've been changing my horses' supplements A LOT over the past few months. That's not something I take lightly. Changing what a horse eats can cause all sorts of problems, but it needed to be done.

The first thing I phased out was Speedy's Platinum Performance Healthy weight, a flaxseed oil. He's been eating this year's alfalfa with so much more enthusiasm that I decided to see how he'd do without the extra calories provided by the oil. So far, so good.

After that, I decided to cut out the Platinum Performance itself. I spent a couple of weeks bringing Izzy off of it by cutting the serving in half once a week. With a full bucket still in the feed room, Speedy is getting a half serving for the next two months until that bucket, too, is finished. 

Both boys have been on PP's Hoof Support off and on over the past year and a half. That was always meant as a short term solution anyway, so I am thrilled that the tub is finally empty. I can now check that supplement off the list.

Six supplements?!

While I was in the middle of phasing out supplements, I suddenly found that Izzy's once very simple bucket had become unnecessarily complicated. As I eliminated one supplement, I found that I had added two. I only gave the UlcerGard for one month, so that is now done. After a lot of thought, I cancelled all future shipments of the SmartGI pellets. He will have had more than two months of "gut support": there was one month of UlcerGard followed by two months of SmartGI Pellets which began in the last week of the UlcerGard. That will have to do. 

I think that supplements can be quite useful. Yellow Dog has been on a few lately. As a two-year-old, she started to become quite lame. We worked through a variety of things until they no longer worked. This year, she received a month long series of Adequan shots along with a vet recommended joint supplement. She's doing much better.

My horses, on the other hand, are healthy. They were healthy before the supplements, and I feel confident that they will continue to be so. I just got to the point where shipping and organizing and feeding got to be just too damn complicated. It is a very liberating feeling to be free of monthly buckets, wells, and tubs. Once the Platinum Performance and SmartGI Pellets run out, it will be just alfalfa and grass hay twice-a-day with LMF Senior for Speedy and a bit of beet pulp for Izzy.

And candy of course, peppermints for Speedy and butterscotch for Izzy. I am looking forward to a more simplified 2019.