You’ve carefully selected the supplements that your horse needs for his optimum health – but did you know that your horse still may not be getting quite what his body needs? If you’re feeding less than the suggested dosages, or are even missing doses altogether, your horse’s health is missing out, too.
Why Suggested Dosages Matter
Scientific research, study, and testing have gone into developing the supplements you feed. Here at Finish Line, we’ve worked to ensure that our supplements are effective, and have determined the appropriate dosage for optimum results. For instance, our Total Control offers the best results when fed at a rate of 2 scoops per day.
Some supplements require loading doses, which are also important for their effectiveness. Loading doses typically require that you feed a higher dose of the supplement for the first 10 or 14 days before decreasing to the standard dose. The loading dose helps to quickly establish an adequate level of the supplement in the horse’s system so you can start to see results sooner. Skipping the loading dose means that it could be a while before the product becomes effective.
Effects of Feeding Lower Supplement Doses Than Recommended
Because supplement doses have been carefully calculated, feeding supplements at lower dosages or skipping doses isn’t recommended. A supplement’s dosage has been calculated based on the ideal levels that you want to both achieve and maintain in your horse. If you miss doses or sometimes feed your horse a lower dosage, those levels will fluctuate, too.
Regardless of what supplement you feed, it’s important to follow the instructions including appropriate dosage and feeding methods.
Strategies to Ensure Your Horse Gets the Right Supplement Dosage
Feeding the right dosage is important, and these tips can help to ensure your horse gets the proper amount of each and every supplement.
Minimize Your Supplements
If you’re feeding 5, 6, or even 7 different supplements to address issues like digestive problems, dehydration, poor hoof condition, and more, then you may find that you’re feeding more supplements than grain. With all of these supplements, it may be difficult to ensure your horse consumes all of the products during every feeding – plus, with that many products, there’s increased room for dosing error when you or barn staff measure out your horse’s feed.
Feeding a comprehensive product like Total Contol gives you more accuracy and allows you to address multiple issues with a single supplement. Your dosing is naturally more accurate, and you don’t have to worry about increasing your horse’s feed in order to get him to eat all of his supplements, too.
Follow the Directions
Always follow the directions on each supplement you feed. Make sure that you – and anyone else who feeds your horse – understands the dosages. If you find that your horse is missing doses on some days, come up with a system to prevent that from happening, such as a checklist, pre-measuring your horse’s feed, or a reminder note on your horse’s stall or on the feed chart.
The directions on some products may indicate that you can split the dosage between AM and PM feedings. This can be a helpful strategy to balance out your horse’s dosages and encourage him to eat all of his supplements.
With the strategies above, you can design a program to get the most out of the products that you feed to help keep your horse healthy.
