The term “hard keeper” refers to horses who struggle to maintain enough fat cover and/or healthy muscle tone. These horses can benefit from extra care and support year-round, but winter can be an especially challenging season for them. While there are some common reasons horses might struggle to maintain a healthy body condition, there are ways you can help to support a healthier, happier hard keeper horse this winter.

If you’re concerned about your horse’s weight, your first step should be to call your veterinarian. Ask your vet to perform a complete physical examination to ensure there isn’t an underlying medical cause for your horse’s weight troubles. Some of the health reasons that your veterinarian may check for include dental issues, gastric ulcers or other digestive problems, a chronic infection, or parasites.

Next, take a look at your horse’s diet. Whether it’s from fresh pasture, hay, or a combination of the two, your horse should be eating 1–2% of his body weight in roughage every day. When evaluating your horse’s daily serving of hay, keep in mind that horses burn more calories in the winter staying warm. Even if he’s getting 1–2% of his body weight in forage already, an increase in hay may be warranted to make up for what he’s using to maintain his core temperature.

It’s also important to look at your horse’s grain ration. While many horses don’t need a full serving of grain to maintain their ideal weight, every horse is an individual. Hard keepers or horses in heavy work may need the full recommended serving of grain to get the calories they need.

Once you have your horse’s diet squared away, take a look at where he spends his time. His living environment can play an important role in how well and how much he eats. For example, if he spends most of his time in a stall where he can’t see any other horses, he may be stressed about being alone. On the other hand, if he’s at the bottom of the herd pecking order, he may be using up valuable energy scrounging for food. If your horse sounds like one of these examples, think about whether you can help eliminate the stress in his life. If providing more turnout isn’t possible, see if you can use a stall guard so your horse can look out his door and check out his neighbors. If your horse can’t get his share of food in his herd, consider bringing him inside for meals or moving him to a different turnout group.

If your horse still needs extra support after you’ve ruled out health issues, checked his hay and grain ration, and eliminated environmental stress, you may want to try a weight gain supplement. For a comprehensive approach to weight gain, consider SmartGain. This formula provides a “cool” source of calories from healthy fats, which provide energy without causing a spike in blood sugar, as sugars and starches can. It also provides amino acids for lean muscle development, and prebiotics, probiotics, and enzymes for digestive health of the horse, two areas where a hard keeper can benefit from extra help.

Further Reading

• October 2020 SmartPak SmartTip of the Month: Senior SmartSupplements
• September 2020 SmartPak SmartTip of the Month: Supplements for Equine Respiratory Health
• August 2020 SmartPak SmartTip of the Month: Supporting the Horse’s GI Tract
• July 2020 SmartPak SmartTip of the Month: SmartSalt and SmartLytes for Salt and Electrolyte Loss
• June 2020 SmartPak SmartTip of the Month: Important Ingredients for Joint Support for Horses
• All SmartPak SmartTips

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Dealing with respiratory problems can be stressful, especially since they can impact overall health and performance. In addition to veterinary care and a management plan, the right combination of ingredients in an equine respiratory supplement can also help support healthy lung function in horses with respiratory issues, so you and your horse can enjoy your rides!

Equine respiratory supplements primarily work by supporting healthy tissues and structures throughout the respiratory tract, including the trachea and the lungs. Additionally, because seasonal allergies can cause difficulty breathing, some respiratory supplements contain herbs to help support a normal immune response (allergic reactions are a result of hyper-sensitivity in the immune system).

When looking at a respiratory supplement, there are certain ingredients to look for. MSM provides support for a normal response to inflammation throughout the body, including in the respiratory tract. Meanwhile, grape seed extract, super oxide dismutase, vitamin C, and bioflavonoids offer support for respiratory cell health. Finally, there is N-acetyl cysteine, which has been shown to help protect airway tissues from seasonal respiratory conditions.

SmartPak’s SmartBreathe Ultra Pellets provides comprehensive support to help soothe and maintain your horse’s airways. This equine respiratory supplement offers those ingredients, along with spirulina, a freshwater blue-green algae that has been reported to help horses prone to respiratory issues, and DHA, a specific type of omega-3 from fish oil, which was shown in a recent study to provide benefits to horses with airway syndromes.

Further Reading

• August 2020 SmartPak SmartTip of the Month: Supporting the Horse’s GI Tract
• July 2020 SmartPak SmartTip of the Month: SmartSalt and SmartLytes for Salt and Electrolyte Loss
• June 2020 SmartPak SmartTip of the Month: Important Ingredients for Joint Support for Horses
• May 2020 SmartPak SmartTip of the Month: How to Help a Nervous Horse
• All SmartPak SmartTips

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Your horse’s gastrointestinal (GI) tract has a number of critical roles to play, including breaking down food, absorbing nutrients, and housing a large portion of your horse’s immune system. Unfortunately, many common elements of modern horsekeeping like training, travel, large grain meals, and increased stall time can be detrimental to GI health.

Horses in heavy training or those who travel regularly, particularly for competitions, may benefit from a daily gastric health supplement. While supporting the horse’sGI tract is a smart choice for any horse, it’s especially important for those dealing with these stressors, or for those with a history of GI issues. With any health concerns, it’s important to work alongside your veterinarian to determine the best course of action for the horse, which may include prescription medication.

You can provide additional support for your horse’s GI tract with a gastric health supplement, which works in three primary ways—by providing ingredients to support the normal structure and function of your horse’s stomach, by serving up ingredients that can help buffer sensitive stomach structures against acid, and by offering ingredients that can help soothe existing irritation.

Ingredients to look for in a gastric support supplement include calcium and magnesium, which can also help neutralize excess stomach acid. Glutamine is an amino acid that helps to promote healing and the normal repair of intestinal issues, including the stomach lining. Finally, sea buckthorn provides a wide range of compounds whose antioxidant properties assist in normal GI tissue healing and repair.

SmartGI Ultra utilizes these ingredients to provide comprehensive support—not only for gastric health, but it also offers ingredients for digestive health, too. This formula combines two of SmartPak’s most popular supplements, SmartGut Ultra Pellets and SmartDigest Ultra Pellets, both of which are backed by research. Plus, if you order SmartGI Ultra Pellets in SmartPaks and you may be eligible for up to $10,000 of colic surgery reimbursement through SmartPak’s ColiCare program!

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Salt (aka sodium chloride) and electrolytes play a key role in the health and well-being of your horse, so it’s important to ensure that his daily requirement is being met. However, pasture, hay, and fortified grain provide very little sodium chloride, which means many horses’ diets come up short. A salt lick may help, but some horses don’t lick them at all, and others lick them excessively or bite off chunks, so you never know if they’re getting the correct daily amount.

Adult horses in no work need at least one ounce of salt per day, and that need goes up with exercise and warm weather because of the loss of these minerals in sweat. There are two types of supplements that can help meet your horse’s salt requirements consistently, day in and day out: salt supplements and electrolyte supplements.

Salt supplements provide the two macro-minerals that make up salt (sodium and chloride), ensuring that your horse is always getting a consistent amount to help meet his daily requirements. In addition to supplying the salt your horse needs, a salt supplement may help encourage normal drinking. Proper hydration is essential to your horse’s digestive function, muscle performance and recovery, and overall health, no matter what season it is.

When your horse sweats, he loses salt and other key minerals—including potassium, calcium, and magnesium—that are essential to normal nerve and muscle function, If these macro-minerals aren’t replenished, your horse could be left with a nutritional imbalance and won’t be in optimal health or able to perform well.

Electrolyte supplements are a smart choice when your horse is sweating, because they are carefully formulated to mimic the mineral losses in equine sweat, helping to bring your horse back into balance. Along with replacing the minerals your horse loses in sweat, the salt in these supplements may also help encourage your horse to drink.

While sweating is most common during the hot days of summer, horses that compete heavily throughout the winter or live in warm climates may benefit from a comprehensive electrolyte supplement all year round.

SmartPak offers both supplements in convenient, easy-to-feed solutions. If you’re looking to provide your horse with strictly salt, SmartSalt Pellets provide the daily needed 1 oz of salt in a tasty apple-banana-flavored pellet.

If you’re looking for an electrolyte, SmartPak offers SmartLytes in pellets, powder, and even paste. This comprehensive formula not only supplies the sodium chloride your horse needs, but it also includes the addition of other electrolyte minerals that are lost in sweat—potassium, calcium, and magnesium.

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The landscape for equine supplements is constantly evolving, and SmartPak is committed to staying on top of the latest trends and ingredients. One category of supplements that has seen increased use of novel ingredients — such as turmeric, resveratrol, and collagen — is joint support for horses.

Your horse’s body is designed to manage the normal “wear and tear” to joints that comes with being a horse in its natural state. However, the increased demands of riding, training, and competing can put additional stress on your horse’s joint tissues.

Joint supplements help ensure your horse’s body has a consistent, ready supply of the ingredients it needs to cope with the stress of exercise and maintain healthy joints. And because joint supplements are designed to support normal, healthy joint tissues, the best time to start supplementing is BEFORE your horse starts displaying signs of joint problems.

◆ Turmeric is a plant in the ginger family whose root has been prized for its health benefits for thousands of years. It’s been wildly popular in human supplements in recent years, and that popularity has started to transition over into the equine supplement space. The compound of interest in turmeric is called curcumin, and the ingredient is most typically used to help manage a normal response to inflammation and to support comfortable movement.

◆ Resveratrol is an antioxidant that naturally occurs in red grapes, Japanese knotweed, and a few other plants. Similar to turmeric, resveratrol is well known for its ability to manage a normal inflammatory response in the body, and therefore can support a variety of body systems, from joints to skin and more. Resveratrol is starting to be used more in more in horse supplements for joint health and comfortable movement.

◆ Collagen is the main structural protein in the body’s connective tissue. It can be found in cartilage, tendons, ligaments, hooves, skin, the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, and other tissues. In recent years, collagen has become popular as an ingredient in equine supplements, particularly for supporting the integrity of joints, tendons and ligaments, as well as gastric tissue.

SmartPak’s revolutionary supplement SmartStride Ultra Pellets combines these three novel ingredients with others to provide the next generation of joint support. SmartStride Ultra is a smart choice for hard-working horses in need of joint, tendon and ligament support. It is also a great option for horses experiencing stiffness and discomfort, or those who have not responded to other joint supplements.

This supplement provides those revolutionary and new ingredients, including turmeric and resveratrol for supporting a normal response to inflammation, and boron for maintaining bone health. It also includes collagen and silica for resilient tendons and ligaments. Finally, it combines “tried and true” ingredients, such as glucosamine, chondroitin sulfate, and hyaluronic acid for joint support in horses.

In a recent university study, SmartStride Ultra was shown to support joint health in horses by demonstrating a significantly increased range of motion of the hock at the walk and a tendency toward increased range of motion in the hock at the trot.

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It’s important to first work with your veterinarian and trainer to get to the root of the problem, whether it’s medical, physical, or behavioral. These concerns could range from gastric ulcers, to improper saddle fit, and lack of turnout time, respectively. If you’ve worked with your veterinarian and your trainer to cross off the possible health and management reasons for your horse’s bad behavior, adding a calming supplement to your horse’s diet may be a smart choice. There are three types of calming supplements to consider: nutrient-based, herb-based, and those for moody mares.

Horses may be anxious if their diet does not provide enough of the nutrients necessary for proper nervous system function. Nutrient-based formulas are designed to bring your horse’s dietary levels into the optimal range for a correctly functioning nervous system. These supplements provide ingredients like vitamin B1 for normal transmission of impulses along nerves, magnesium to support nervous system function, and tryptophan, which is converted by the body into serotonin and may help increase feelings of well-being and contentment. SmartCalm® Ultra Pellets is one of SmartPak’s SmartSupplements, which offers all of these ingredients to support a healthy nervous system!

If you’ve tried a nutrient-based supplement and didn’t see the results you were hoping for, consider trying an herbal formula. Herbal ingredients can provide soothing support for tense, anxious horses. These supplements include ingredients like valerian to help balance the nervous system and address muscle tightness associated with tension, chamomile to help horses who process their nervousness through their GI system, and vervain, which may help balance the nervous system of horses who have unfocused energy. This category of calming supplements combines herbs with the nutrient-based ingredients, too. SmartTranquility® Pellets provide a comprehensive formula, including these herbs, to offer support for a more balanced temperament.

Finally, if your sweet mare turns into a moody monster during or around her heat cycle, her unpleasant attitude could be related to hormonal fluctuations or discomfort in her reproductive tract. There are formulas that provide ingredients that support balanced hormones and an even disposition. These ingredients include raspberry to support smooth muscle tone and help relax muscles in spasm, passionflower for muscle tension in smooth and skeletal muscle, and chasteberry to help maintain a balanced hormonal system. SmartMare® Harmony Pellets is an ideal formula to help take her from moody to mellow!

Read more tips from SmartPak.

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Some common concerns include allergies, hives, Sweet Itch, and Summer Sores. Horses can develop allergies and/or hives from a wide variety of environmental factors, including insects such as black flies, horn flies, and stable flies. Sweet Itch, also known as “summer itch” or summer seasonal recurrent dermatitis is an allergic reaction to the Culicoides biting midge or “no-see-um” gnat. Summer Sores or “Fly Sores” is caused by infection of the skin by the larvae of the large-mouth stomach worm Habronema (and Draschia).

A comprehensive fly control program incorporates strategies like manure management, protective clothing for horses, fly sprays, etc. Daily supplements like IGRs (Insect Growth Regulators) and defense supplements are another smart addition to building your horse’s no fly zone.

An IGR supplement is a feed-through option that prevents the development of house and stable flies. The supplement safely passes through the horse’s system and is excreted in the manure, regulating house and stable fly egg development and as existing adult flies die off, the overall fly population is significantly reduced within just 4 to 6 weeks.

An insect defense supplement can help to provide extra support against flies by making the horse unappealing to these biting bugs. The formulas for these supplements often include garlic, apple cider vinegar, and brewer’s yeast. (But, contrary to popular belief, they won’t make your horse smell like an Italian restaurant; most riders don’t even notice a difference!) SmartBug-Off Ultra Pellets provide the most comprehensive support available for horses who are bothered by flies and other pests.

This multi-pronged approach:

◆ Provides higher levels of key ingredients in the original SmartBug-Off formula
◆ Supports resilient skin and a normal inflammatory response with increased levels of MSM and Omega 3s
◆ Can be used for just one horse, or the entire barn!
◆ Comes in a tasty pellet with no added sugar!

These supplements reach their full benefit in about 4-6 weeks. It’s okay if it doesn’t kick in right away. Just keep an eye on your horse over the first several weeks for how he looks and feels in spite of the bugs.

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There can be a lot of confusion between your horse’s foregut health and hindgut health. While the entire process of breaking down food and absorbing nutrients is all commonly referred to as “digestion,” the organs in the foregut and hindgut have very different functions, and each area has unique health concerns.

Horse Foregut Health

The term “foregut” refers to the stomach and small intestine. Accounting for less than 10% of the horse’s total digestive capacity, your horse was designed to graze throughout the day, and the stomach was designed to continuously produce acid to help digest all this forage. Add to this the challenges of modern horsekeeping, and the stomach can be at risk for gastric upset. This can include excess acid building up, which can lead to irritation of the stomach lining as well as creating painful sores in the stomach lining. It’s important to work with your veterinarian on a management plan, especially if you suspect issues with your horse’s gastric health.

When developing a plan to maintain your horse’s gastric health, consider his diet along with other management strategies. Focus on hay and other forage, ideally allowing your horse pasture grazing or free-choice access to hay 24/7. Large grain meals have been identified as a risk factor for gastric upset, so feed only the minimum amount of grain (if any) your horse needs to maintain weight and performance. Ensure he gets his recommended protein, vitamins, and minerals with a ration balancer.

You can also provide additional support for overall gastric health with a supplement that supplies ingredients such as calcium and magnesium to help neutralize gastric acid, as well as glutamine, glycine, and soothing herbs to support a healthy stomach lining. SmartGut Ultra offers these ingredients to provide the “ultra” in gastric support.

Horse Hindgut Health

The term “hindgut” refers to the section of the GI tract containing the cecum and colon. The hindgut’s primary digestive function is fermentation, which makes it responsible for digesting the complex carbohydrates or fiber your horse eats, including all of his forage (hay, pasture, and other roughage).

Much like the foregut, the hindgut was built for constant grazing, and therefore, constant digestion. However, when large meals are fed infrequently, an unhealthy cecum and colon can develop, resulting in excess gas, impaction, loose stool, and other types of digestive upset. Even more concerning, digestive upset can lead to colic, which can be fatal.

While nothing can prevent occasional digestive upset, working with your veterinarian to ensure your horse is being managed and fed appropriately may reduce his risk level. One approach your vet may recommend is daily support from a supplement to help your horse cope with digestive stress.

When choosing a supplement that targets the cecum and colon, look for a formula that provides comprehensive support for a healthy, balanced hindgut from ingredients, such as probiotics and prebiotics; yeast, which has been demonstrated to improve fiber digestion and assist in adjusting to feed changes; and enzymes, which have been shown to increase proper digestion of starch in the foregut. SmartDigest Ultra Pellets provide unparalleled hindgut support for every horse, to help maintain GI balance and manage digestive stress caused by hay fluctuations, training, travel and more.

Read more tips from SmartPak.

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There are three main categories of joint supplements. The first is simply joint support, which, as the name implies, provides ingredients for joint health. The other two categories include joint health ingredients along with other areas of focus. Senior support includes ingredients to help address discomfort, while recovery support has an emphasis on helping the normal rehabilitation process.

Joint Support

Joint supplements in this category offer ingredients to help maintain joint health and, at higher levels of support, often include ingredients for bone, tendon and ligament health as well. These products are generally ideal for horses in work where the goal is to help keep them healthy and going strong for years to come. When considering what product to provide for your horse, it will be helpful to know what workload he is in.

Key Ingredients to Look For

Glucosamine is the building block of chondroitin sulfate, a specific type of polysulfated glycosaminoglycan (GAG). Current research suggests glucosamine plays several roles within joints. Not only does it help support the production of new GAGs and therefore new cartilage, glucosamine has also been shown to inhibit the free radicals and enzymes that break down cartilage. For horses in light to moderate work, 2,000 to 7,500 mg is generally considered an appropriate amount of glucosamine to provide, while this may increase to up to 12,000 mg for horses in very heavy work.

Chondroitin is not only the building block of the much larger molecules hyaluronic acid (HA) and proteoglycan (PG), but it also inhibits the effects of various enzymes that degrade cartilage, similarly to glucosamine. Research suggests that chondroitin sulfate is bioavailable in the horse and that it appears to work synergistically with glucosamine to support new cartilage and inhibition of cartilage breakdown. You’ll most often see 1,000 to 2,000 mg of chondroitin in joint supplements regardless of the support being provided as research has shown that, while providing chondroitin may be helpful for joint health, providing higher levels of it may not mean providing additional support.

Hyaluronic Acid, or HA, is an integral component of joint cartilage and joint fluid, providing both lubrication and shock absorption. Hyaluronic acid is what makes joint fluid “sticky.” Because it has been shown through research to maintain cells in the joint, providing HA orally may be particularly useful during times of joint stress. Joint supplements that offer support to horses in moderate work and above generally offer HA, with the amount ranging from 25 mg for horses in moderate work to around 150 mg for horses that may benefit from more support.

MSM (Methylsulfonylmethane) is a source of organic sulfur which is required for a number of functions in the body. MSM has been shown to help support a normal response to inflammation as well as healthy joints, a strong immune system, and resilient skin, coat, and hooves. MSM is an economical way to offer joint support. You can purchase it on its own for horses in light to no work, or you can find it as a component of more comprehensive joint support supplements for horses in moderate to very heavy work. Typically, you’ll see it in amounts ranging from around 5,000 mg to 12,000 mg, depending on how much support the supplement is designed to provide.

Turmeric (Curcuma longa) is a plant in the ginger family that has been used to flavor food, add color, and provide health benefits for thousands of years. Its main active substance, curcumin, has been found to exert beneficial effects on many areas of the body, such as joints, the respiratory system, immunity, and the GI tract, but it is perhaps most valued for supporting a normal response to inflammation. Researchers are seeking to understand its antioxidant properties and other activities on cells and pathways in the body. It can be purchased on its own for antioxidant support, or it can be found in certain joint support formulas designed for horses in moderate to very heavy work. You’ll generally find 5,000 to 10,000 mg of turmeric powder in joint supplements that include this ingredient.

Resveratrol is the potent antioxidant found in the skin of red grapes. A type of natural phenol, it is part of a plant’s defense system against disease. Resveratrol research is in the early stages, but results are promising not only for protection against free radical damage, but also for its effects on the cardiovascular system, blood sugar levels, brain cells, and musculoskeletal health. About 300 to 1,000 mg of resveratrol is common for joint support.

Collagen is the primary structural protein that makes up connective tissue throughout your horse’s body. You may see this listed on a supplement label as “hydrolyzed” collagen, or gelatin which means it has been broken down into smaller pieces that are more readily available for absorption. In addition to aiding joints, tendons, ligaments, and bones, collagen is great for supporting the health of muscles, the gastrointestinal tract, hooves, haircoat, and even the mane and tail! 1,000 mg of collagen offers basic support while higher levels, from 4,000 to 15,000 mg, may be a better choice if your horse is dealing with particular issues.

Silica is the second-most plentiful element on earth, yet horses may not receive adequate levels from their diets because not all forms of silica are bioavailable, and it is easily destroyed in processing. Research over the last 30 years has shown that silica supports normal bone growth and density, maintains the strength of connective tissue such as tendons and ligaments, has a positive effect on wound healing, is required in cartilage formation, and maintains the quality and appearance of skin, hair and hooves. You’ll generally find between 250 to 300 mg of silica in joint and tendon and ligament products.

Senior Support

While this category implies that it is only for senior horses, this type of support may be ideal for adult horses of any age that are dealing with discomfort from exercise or aging. In addition to frequently providing the ingredients mentioned in the Joint Support category to maintain healthy joints, these supplements will focus on ingredients to maintain comfort and support a normal response to inflammation, such as:

Boswellia is a type of tree or shrub that grows in tropical regions of Asia and Africa. It produces a gum or sap-like substance that contains many biologically active agents known to have therapeutic value in the body. Some of these naturally occurring compounds are said to interfere with the enzymes that contribute to inflammation and discomfort. Keep an eye out for 100 mg to 1,000 mg of Boswellia if your horse may benefit from this ingredient’s support.

Devil’s Claw is a South African herb (Harpagophytum procumbens) that is used to help maintain comfort in bone, joints, and other tissues. Data from 14 clinical trials in people conducted over the last 40 years suggest devil’s claw has beneficial properties in the musculoskeletal system. Because it contains “bitters” as an active ingredient, which encourages appetite but also stimulates the secretion of stomach acids, it should be used with caution in horses at risk for gastric (stomach) issues. It is also listed on the US Equestrian Prohibited Substance list, so we do not recommend selecting a supplement with this ingredient if you plan to show your horse at rated shows. You’ll generally find 1,000 mg to 2,500 mg of devil’s claw in senior support products.

Turmeric and resveratrol, which are mentioned in detail above, may also be particularly helpful for horses dealing with discomfort from aging or exercise.

Recovery Support

For horses who are rehabbing from injury, there are particular ingredients to keep an eye out for to help support the normal recovery process. Products in this category tend to provide a lower level of joint support since these horses are most often not in work, and instead will be chock-full of antioxidants and tendon and ligament support. If your horse is actively recovering from an injury, it’s important to work closely with your veterinarian to determine the ideal supplement program. Therefore, we’d recommend that you talk to your vet about what you learn here before choosing a supplement for your recovering horse.

Ingredients to Look For

Glutamine is the most abundant amino acid in the body, especially in muscle tissue. Although it is not an essential amino acid, there is such great demand for its use in the body that production may not be able to keep up with consumption, so supplementing may be necessary. Glutamine plays an important role in the recovery and repair of many types of tissues, and supplementing 1,000 mg to 2,000 mg of glutamine can be a good choice for supporting this normal recovery process.

Tendon and ligament support can also be important in this category if your horse is dealing with issues in this area. As mentioned in more detail above, collagen and silica can be ideal ingredients to keep an eye out for to help maintain soft tissue health.

Antioxidants like turmeric, resveratrol and MSM mentioned above, can also play a vital role in supporting a healthy recovery as they help to address cell stress and support normal cell health.

Herbs like devil’s claw and Boswellia are also very common in this category, as they can help support a normal response to inflammation and address excess discomfort.

What to Expect from Joint Support Supplements

While you can’t see inside your horse’s joints, providing an appropriate equine joint supplement is a great way to ensure he’s getting a steady supply of the ingredients his body needs to help keep up with the demands of his workload. If your horse generally looks and feels good, supplementing with key joint ingredients can help you feel confident that you’ve got one of the cornerstones of long-term joint health and comfort covered! If you are looking for more comprehensive joint and comfort support, you may notice your horse acting and moving like his usual self within the first few months of supplementing. It’s always important to work with your veterinarian for horses that are persistently not moving freely, more so when your horse is in the recovery process.

Shop SmartPak’s SmartFlex line of supplements

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Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids are both essential to your horse’s diet because they support everything from individual cellular health to your horse’s overall wellbeing. Though your horse needs both types, maintaining the correct omega 3 and omega 6 balance between the two is critical. Because omega 3s support an anti-inflammatory response and omega 6s support a pro-inflammatory response, it’s generally recommended that your horse have two to four times more omega 3s than omega 6s.

Unfortunately, the typical diet of a modern horse can make achieving that omega 3 and omega 6 balance challenging. Fresh grass contains omega 3 fatty acids, but most horse owners turn to hay because year-round quality pasture is hard to come by or because their horses are easy keepers who can’t be on pasture. In addition, many horse owners feed grain because it’s considered a traditional horse feed or to provide extra calories.

This can be problematic because, as you can see from the omega 3 to omega 6 ratios of common feedstuffs listed below, the combination of a low-pasture, high-grain diet can lead to an imbalance in the omega 3/omega 6 ratio that sets the horse up for a chronic state of inflammation.

• Fresh Grass: 5 omega 3s to 1 omega 6
• Hay: 0 omega 3s to 0 omega 6s
• Commercial (Fortified) Grain: 1 omega 3 to 8 omega 6s
• Corn Oil: 1 omega 3 to 84 omega 6s
• Flaxseed: 4 omega 3s to 1 omega 6 (ideal ratio!)
• Fish Oil: ALL omega 3s

Add More Omega 3s to Your Horse’s Diet

A daily supplement like SmartOmega 3 & E Ultra is an easy way to provide high levels of omega 3s from flaxseed and fish oil so your horse’s good health can shine through. For more information, visit www.smartpakequine.com/ps/smartomega-3-and-e-ultra-14436.

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