Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Smart?

A few weeks ago my trainer was telling me that she put her horse on a great supplement that really helped him recover from his injury. She called Smart Pak and said that the woman on the phone spent a good deal of time with her explaining her options and suggesting the supplement that would benefit her horse the most due to his age, usage, and condition. I decided that I should probably call Smart Pak too and get their recommendations, since I've never had a supplement evaluation for Kaswyn. I've always just done my own research and put him on whatever is best, and least expensive!

Right now Kaswyn is on 4 in 1 and Legend, in addition to his grain and Equine Senior. After 40 minutes with the Smart Pak lady on the phone, I decided to go with Recovery EQ Extra Strength, Smart Energy, and Smart Hoof Ultra.

The Recovery EQ is for joint support, and has a special formula that help speed healing of tissues on the cellular level. It also has all the usual suspects for joint health like Hylauronic Acid, Methyl Sulfonyl Methane (MSM), and Glucosamine hydrochloride, all of which are great for older horses like Mr. K.

Smart Energy is for energy, just like it sounds. It's not an iron supplement for anemia, but it contains everything that horses need to fight anemia, since iron alone might not do the trick. It also has a bunch of the B vitamins and other minerals. This way I won't have to keep him on the Red Cell, and it actually might work better for him.

Smart Hoof Ultra has the biotin for good hoof and coat health, plus probiotics for good intestinal function. I only added this one because the 4 in 1 that he is currently getting has all of those in it, and I want to make sure I don't short change him on anything. The only thing he won't be getting is linoleic acid, which is a good protector of the stomach when he has to have bute, but I can just give him corn oil for that.

I had her do a price comparison for me, and it's actually cheaper for me to get all the supplements in Smart Paks than it is for me to buy the buckets and measure it myself! Plus shipping is only $8 per month, and they send it right out to you. So I'm finally getting Smart Paks for Kaswyn. No more measuring!

I hope I'm doing the right thing here. It's going to cost me, but I really want my horse to feel his best. With any luck he won't think any of them taste yucky. He better eat them!

3 comments:

Grey Horse Matters said...

All of our horses are on Smart Paks, it is so much easier to feed and they all seem to like it as long as it's mixed in with their feed. I love this stuff it takes a lot less time than measuring out what each one gets each night. Good luck, I hope it works out for you.

Anonymous said...

I switched to Smart Pack last year and I am soooooooooooo glad I did!! It's really only costing me a few dollars a month more (about $5)then if I had bought the buckets and bagged all that myself. WELL worth the cost so I don't have to get covered in supplements. You are also getting them every month, so you are getting fresh sups. ALSO you never have to remember to beg them- they just ship right to your door all ready in their handy dandy containers.

Their customer service is top of the tops! They sent me a wonderful hand written note when I lost Simon last year and I had only had him on smart pack for 2 months. They are also happy to go over everything with you and figure out what is best for your horse (as you've found out). I can't give them high enough praise for this service.

I know you'll love them. I just switched Hen from Farriers Formula and MSM pellets to the 4-1 HA. Has everything he was getting before plus more joint sups. It's also in a pellet form so he won't be wasting as much as he did with the powder (I also worried that he was snorting more then eating, and with his coughing issues I didn't want to make it worse).

See you at meeting?

Bug World said...

It does sound good, but will it test? Perhaps your not subject to drug testing, riders do have to be careful because some things will test, like Red Cell and some things won't...

 
Header Image from Bangbouh @ Flickr