By Sarah Welk Baynum
Inspired by the “12 Days of Christmas,” Finish Line Horse Products celebrates the holiday season with 12 horse health tips to keep your equine companions happy and healthy all year!
Each of these 12 tips highlights a key area of horse health and care, providing tips and information about Finish Line Horse Products and how they are designed to meet your horse’s every need.
Let the countdown begin!
Tips: Joints can become stiff and sore even due to exercise. Any athletic activity horses do can put extra strain on horses’ joints. A horse’s joints will begin to wear as it continues to work and perform, often leading to discomfort, loss of mobility, and bone-on-bone movement. As a horse ages, it becomes even more important to keep joints supported and lubricated so your horse is comfortable and able to perform better, and longer.
Product: Fluid Action® HA is our liquid joint health supplement that promotes healthy joint function, helps support and lubricate joints, along with helping maintain joint structural integrity. See healthier joint function in your horse within just 8 days!
Tips: Everyone loves to see their horse sporting a lush, shiny coat. However, shiny coats are a representation of underlying healthy skin. Without the proper nutrients, a horse’s skin and coat can become dull, flakey, and dry. When a horse’s skin is uncomfortable and not properly cared for, it’s more prone to skin conditions. This can lead to secondary skin infections if the skin barrier is broken. While you may be combating skin issues topically, it’s easy to forget that nutrition, especially certain proteins and minerals, are equally important—especially when dealing with sensitive-skinned horses.
Product: Feet First® Coat 2nd is a cost-effective feed supplement for healthier hooves, coats, and skin.
Muscle Tone™ contains Rice Bran Oil, Wheat Germ Oil, Flax Seed Meal, and Creatine for a healthy coat along with weight gain and muscle development.
Immunex™ supports five systems in the horse including not only the immune system, but a horse’s skin, eyes, respiratory system, and hooves as well.
Tips: A hydrated horse is a healthy horse, which is why many horse owners feed electrolytes daily. A horse’s heart, muscle, and nerve cells utilize electrolytes to maintain voltages across their cell membranes and to transport electrical impulses to other cells. However, hydration and feeding electrolytes are equally important, if not more important, in the winter too! This is because horses tend not to drink as much due to the water temperature, among other reasons.
Product: Apple-A-Day™ is a daily, cost-effective electrolyte that does not contain sugars, fillers, or artificial colors. This proven electrolyte promotes healthy water consumption and replenishes electrolytes and minerals lost in daily activities such as sweating, urination, and defecation.
You can learn more about the importance of electrolytes here and about hydration and other winter care tips here.
Tips: This well-known saying has been proclaimed by horse professionals for generations—and for good reason. The equine hoof covers and protects a horse’s bones, tendons, ligaments, and fibro-fatty and fibro-cartilaginous tissues. It’s arguably one the most vital parts of your horse’s body. Each season brings its version of wet/dry cycles and weather that can weaken and damage your horses’ hooves. Maintaining hoof health internally and externally is a great way to prepare their hooves for whatever they’re exposed to!
Product: Feet First® Coat 2nd helps promote healthy hooves as well as healthy coat and skin.
Easypack™ is a cost-effective hoof packing aiding in the temporary relief of minor hoof soreness such as stinging feet, bruising, and heat due to overexertion.
You can learn more about how the season affects your horse’s hooves here and read the complete guide to hoof health here.
Tips: While a horse’s cough could be caused by several reasons, a few of those reasons could be due to irritating allergens from spending more time inside. Things like poor ventilation, riding in a dry and dusty indoor arena, flip-flopping weather, and exposure to airborne debris and mold found in shavings are usually to blame for many minor coughs.
Products: Air Power™ is an all-natural aid in the relief of minor coughs due to irritation. This fast-acting cough remedy works rapidly to promote healthy breathing passages while providing symptomatic relief for allergies.
Tips: Building new muscle is ideal for all horses who may have experienced a loss of muscle tone. However, a horse’s diet is the key component to building more lean muscle mass. Most natural protein sources lack many of the other nutrients necessary for muscle formation, and supplementation is often necessary.
Product: Performance Builder™ is a liquid formula that promotes rapid, healthy muscle growth and development in horses of all ages.
Muscle Tone™ is a powder formula that promotes healthy muscle development and function in performance horses.
You can learn more about building muscle nutritionally and through specialized exercises here.
A horse’s immune system is vital for keeping them healthy and preventing pathogens from causing diseases. Numerous things can cause a weakened immune system in horses, such as stress, age, climate change, shipping, or new environments. That’s why one of the most important things you can do to help keep your horse healthy is to make sure their immune system is strong and ready for anything!
Product: Immunex™ is a daily supplement formulated to balance immune cellular function, support a healthy response to allergens, and promote healthy immune function overall within your horse.
You can learn more about what weakens your horse’s immune system and how to arm your horse with competition-ready immunity here.
Tip: Hardworking horse legs and muscles can become stiff, sore, inflamed, and fatigued. Taking care of your horses’ legs and muscles before and after a workout is vital for keeping them sound, comfortable, and ready for the next training session or competition.
The use of poultice and liniments externally on a horse’s legs and muscles can help draw out this excess heat and fluid from the tissues. This helps cool and tighten horses’ legs after exercise or strenuous activity. There are also internal ways to help a horse’s muscles function and recover properly.
Products: Lacta-Vite™ promotes healthy muscle function by combining ingredients that support healthy recovery processes for horses in competition.
EZ-Willow™ Liniment is a blend of essential oils and botanicals, including Arnica Montana, MSM, White Willow, Yerba mate, and Methyl Salicylate among others, in a cooling gel base. It can be used for any minor soreness, lameness, or swelling due to overexertion.
EZ-Willow™ Poultice is our maximum-strength poultice that can be used in more serious cases of soreness, inflammation, and/or swelling. EZ-Willow™ Poultice combines our superior clay base with botanicals and essential oils for maximum comfort after exercise.
You can learn more about how and when to apply poultice here and the difference between liniment and poultice here.
Tips: Low red blood cell counts can lead to an overall decrease in your horse’s health. Symptoms of low red blood cells can be vague but may include fatigue, poor appetite, lower immunity, changes to hooves and coats, pale gums, and increased heart rate. An iron deficiency specifically can cause a condition called Iron Deficiency Anemia, so fortifying your horse’s diet with iron and other minerals and nutrients is essential.
Product: Iron Power® is an iron-rich nutritive supplement that can be used as an aid in preventing iron-deficiency anemia. Iron Power® is a daily multivitamin/multi-mineral supplement with high levels of iron and B-complex vitamins that support healthy blood counts in your horse.
You can learn more about simple tips for healthy blood counts here.
Tip: When you support your horse’s digestive health, you support their overall health and well-being. Supporting a horse’s digestive system helps ensure nutrients are properly absorbed and can help prevent side effects of an unhealthy gut.
Product: U-7™ Gastric Aid promotes digestive health and soothes the stomach, especially during times of stress or competition when digestive issues are more likely to occur.
You can learn more ways to support your horse’s gut health here.
Despite our best efforts to keep our horses feeling their best, horses will be horses. This means sometimes they will suffer from minor stiffness and soreness due to overexertion. While certain medications can help treat these issues, the side effects can take a toll on the horse’s stomach, liver, and kidneys.
Product: Bute-Like™ contains a blend of antioxidants and herbal ingredients that may help ease aches and discomfort associated with normal daily exercise and activity. The convenient, four-ounce syringe contains all-natural active ingredients, is gentle on the stomach, and is easy to keep in a tack box or trailer so it’s ready when you need it!
Like people, sometimes horses need a little extra boost of essential vitamins and minerals to support all-around health daily. To support our body’s overall health, we typically take multivitamins. Horses, especially performance horses, need this same form of overall vitamin and nutrient support to keep them feeling and performing their best every day.
Product: Total Control® is a complete six-in-one formula supporting joints, blood counts, hooves, digestion, coat, hydration, and more!
You can learn more about how Total Control targets six of your systems for peak health here.
If you’re looking for the perfect gift to give your fellow equestrian this holiday season, you can check out our Holiday Gift Guide for inspiration!
