Information on Digestive supps and packs
Digestive health is very important and knowing what you can do to support its health and function and be overwhelming.
Hopefully this will help make it a little easier.
I now have several options for Digestive packs available. As all horses are different in the way they cope with the environment, toxins, medications, sickness etc it's not always as simple as one size fits all or in this case one supp fits all.
Some horses are stomach sensitive to changes in pasture as the seasons change and some have no problems at all.
Also we cant predict that dreaded day we turn up to find our horse sick or injured and may need a course of medications such as bute, anti biotics etc. Medications usually have a negative effect on stomach health (damaging good bacteria, causing stomach ulcers etc) so protecting the stomach will avoid other issues down the track.
There are many different reasons to include digestive supplements in your feed and please feel free to message me and discuss your own horses needs so we can tailor the right diet and support.
Most of the time changes in the digestive system can be seen by changes in the manure (but not always). Keeping a close eye on your horses manure texture, colour, consistency, smell etc can tell you a lot about your horses digestive system health.
If your horses stomach environment is not healthy it can make it hard for your horse to digest its feed properly. If your horse is having trouble putting on weight or keeping weight on regardless of how much you feed then his/her stomach may need help to correct the environment and improve his/her digestion.
I am a huge advocate for low sugar/starch, high fibre, no grain (oats the exception), balanced diets that don't have to be over complicated or over priced. I make sure I know everything I feed my horses (including all ingredients in mixes) to make sure I am not creating unnecessary issues.
The choices you make on what you feed your horse will determine their long term health.
For example I see a lot of people that need to gain condition/weight on their horse feeding high sugar/starch feeds because they may get fast results but are these results healthy?
The same goes for an overweight horse, locking up a fat horse and starving it to try lose weight and avoid laminitis is not healthy for your horse and will just create other issues. Horses are designed to constantly have forage going through their digestive systems. This does make losing weight hard but you can help the stomach/body deal with sugar/starch/grains (which should be avoided) easier by supporting it.
So these are some of the choices to aid and support the digestive system that I stock and sell and the various packs they are available in. These are very brief explanations of their purpose and included at the bottom of this post is links to more indepth information on each
Yea-Sacc (probiotic)
Probiotics are live bacteria and yeasts that are good for the body, especially the digestive system. We usually think of these as germs that cause diseases. But the body is full of bacteria, both good and bad. Probiotics are often called "good" or "helpful" bacteria because they help keep the gut healthy.
Bio-Mos (prebiotic)
Prebiotics are a type of fiber that the body cannot digest. They serve as food for probiotics, which are tiny living microorganisms, including bacteria and yeast. Both prebiotics and probiotics may support helpful bacteria and other organisms in the gut.
Mycosorb A+ (toxin binder)
Toxin Binder - A mycotoxin binder is a substance that is added to feed in small quantities in order to trap mycotoxins, preventing them from entering the blood stream where they can cause serious harm to your animals.
Lecithin for stomach ulcers
Lecithin strengthens the epithelial lining of the stomach treating and preventing gastric ulcers and allows for the proper absorption of nutrients in the small intestine
Ker Equishure (hindgut supplement)
Equishure promotes normal digestive function by aiding in the maintenance of an optimal hindgut environment and is designed for horses suspected of suffering from or that are at risk of developing hindgut acidosis.
It is also very useful and recommended for laminitis prone horses to help the hindgut cope with high sugar, starch and grain intake.
The microbial mix and pH of the hindgut varies in response to the horses diet. Imbalances of this microbiome can result anytime fructan levels in pasture increase or when large quantities of carbohydrates are fed. In research trials, EquiShure®, a KER-exclusive time-released hindgut buffer, prevented the drastic drop in hindgut pH associated with high d-lactate production resulting from rapid starch and sugar fermentation after sudden pasture access or a large grain meal.
All digestive supplements available in store can be found here: Click here
✦✦ PACKS AVAILABLE ✦✦
These packs are designed to make using several of these supps more cost effective. We all know poverty is owning a horse so the different options help with basic gut health to more indepth support depending on your horses needs.
✦ DIGESTIVE PACK ✦
This pack includes the Yea-Sac probiotic to replenish good bacteria and support the whole digestive system and also the Mycosorb A+ toxin binder to prevent any toxins causing negative effects on the body. It is great for an all round maintenance pack to support the digestive system. 10g of each supp daily so a normal pack lasts 1 horse 100 days
It is available in two sizes:
- Digestive Pack: 1kg Mycosorb A+ & 1kg Yea-Sacc
- Large Digestive Pack: 2kg Mycosorb A+ & 2kg Yea-Sacc
Digestive pack available here in store: Click here
✦ BIOTICS PACK (Pre & Pro Biotics) ✦
The Biotics back includes both Yea-Sacc probiotic and BioMos prebiotic. These support and replenish the bacteria in the stomach. For those more sensitive horses or horses on medication I recommend this pack.
Its ideal as maintenance for horses that are hard to maintain weight or need to gain weight.
Horses that are going through sickness, injuries, medications etc
Older horses
10g of each supp daily so a normal pack lasts 1 horse 100 days
It is available in two sizes:
- Biotics Pack: 1kg Yea-Sac & 1kg Bio-Mos
- Large Biotics Pack: 2kg Yea-Sac & 2kg Bio-Mos
Biotics pack available here in store: Click here
✦ COMPLETE DIGESTIVE (Prebiotics, Probiotics & Toxin Binder) ✦
This pack includes Yea-Sacc probiotic, BioMos prebiotic and Mycosorb A+ toxin binder. It is recommended for complete digestive support pack. Either as maintenance or support through stressful times. 10g of each supp daily so a normal pack lasts 1 horse 100 days
It is available in two sizes:
- Complete Digestive Pack: 1kg Yea-Sac, 1kg Bio-Mos & 1kg Mycosorb A+
- Large Complete Digestive Pack: 2kg Yea-Sac, 2kg Bio-Mos & 2kg Mycosorb A+
Complete digestive pack available here in store: Click here
✦ ULCER AID PACK ✦
This pack includes Yea-Sacc probiotic and Lecithin. If your horse is showing signs of ulcers, has been diagnosed with ulcers or is ulcer prone then I highly recommend this pack. As ulcers can be caused by several reasons its best to find and eliminate the cause to prevent further reoccurance. Lecithin can protect the stomach lining and aid the symptoms of ulcers while the Yea-Sac supports the digestive system from the damage ulcers can cause.
Available in:
- Ulcer Aid Pack: 1kg Yea-Sacc & 4kg Lecithin
Ulcer Aid pack available here in store: Click here
Individual supplements available in store with more information at the following links
● Mycosorb A+ (toxin binder) click here
● Yea-Sacc (probiotic): click here
● Bio-Mos (prebiotic): click here
Why do the supplements in my packs come in separate bags and not in a mix?
I have a few reasons for this firstly to ensure correct dose of each supp is given daily, you cant guarantee this with a mix. Secondly I find when looking at the ingredients of a mix there is supps or fillers in there that are not necessary or that your horse is already receiving in their vitamin and mineral mix or other feeds.
The main reason people choose mixes is for convenience in only having to add one thing and this saves time yes but not necessarily saves money. What I do is get some zip lock bags or containers and make up a weeks worth of supps at a time to mix in daily feeds.
Pictured: I have included pictures of two of my own horses progress Loki and Luna, both had completely different issues which with both I started with improving their gut health and digestive system support before anything else.
Loki needed to gain weight, he was very flat, skinny and dull. His manure was dark, hard and small which showed his stomach health was not in a good state.
Luna was severely overweight and had been abandoned in a paddock with knee high grass and had severe laminitis. She could barely walk and her manure was runny and very smelly.
If you need help or have any questions please feel free to message me to discuss your particular horses supplement needs