Supplement amounts

[quaters]

Does anyone have any experiance giving "Vita E & Selenium Crumbles" and "MSM Methylsulfonylmethane Pure" to miniatures? I've given the Vita E and the MSM to my big horses before and have had no problem with it. I'm just not too sure about giving it to the mini's. I plan on giving both of them to a 11 yr old stallion. Also, would it be safe to give the MSM to a yearling. He is stiff in his back legs.

The Vita E & Selenium Crumbles are made by Horse Health Products/Farnam. The directions say to "Top dress daily grain ration with 1/4 to 1/2 scoop. Each 1/2 ounce contains 1 mg. Selenium." The scoop that came with it is a 1 ounce scoop.

The MSM is made by NaturVet. Its directions say "All classes of horses give 1 scoop (1 ounce) daily or 1/2 scoop twice daily."

Neither of the tubs have weight ratios or anything of that nature on them. So, I'm pretty confused about the amount I should give to my mini's.

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Also, I am thinking about adding Source to all of my mini's diets. (They don't like the mineral licks, lol) About how much should I give to them?

 

[Marty]

I'm putting some bred mares on the Vita_e and Selinium crumbles too because we've got a heck of a selinium deficiency here. I use a lot of Horse Health products when I need them. Good company.

What I usually do when dosing a supplement is look at the directions that is made for big horses and then divide it by 4.

I also fed Source to working big horses for quite some time. It's ok stuff I guess.

Also your horses will not be at the salt/ mineral blocks jumping for joy 24-7 but that doesn't mean they don't like them or need them. Just leave them there in place and when they need them, they will use them. Sometimes mine ignore them for weeks and all of a sudden, they will start attacking them when their bodies tell them they need them.

I have no idea why your yearling would be stiff behind but before I'd go giving him supplements I'd have a good vet check first to see what is going on there. Good luck to you and best wishes.

 

[quaters]

Also your horses will not be at the salt/ mineral blocks jumping for joy 24-7 but that doesn't mean they don't like them or need them. Just leave them there in place and when they need them, they will use them. Sometimes mine ignore them for weeks and all of a sudden, they will start attacking them when their bodies tell them they need them.

I have no idea why your yearling would be stiff behind but before I'd go giving him supplements I'd have a good vet check first to see what is going on there. Good luck to you and best wishes.

I know that they are not going to be at them 24/7. I have both the small mineral and salt bricks ones in everyones stall. And the larger mineral blocks in the paddocks. None of the mini's will touch the mineral blocks, they have been out there for a few months now and the only time they get touched is when I clean the gunk that builds up on them off.

The main thing with me wanting to give them Source is to make sure that they get enough vitamins and minerals through the winter. There is not much grass left in the paddocks and it looks like we are in for a bad winter with a lot of rain. So, they are going to be stalled most of the time.

I'm not sure of why he is stiff in his back legs either. I just got him a month ago. The week after we got him my vet checked him out and said it is just the way he is and that if I want I can try giving him some MSM to see if that would help any. I picked up the MSM yesterday. I would ask my vet about what amounts to give them. But, now she is out of the office for 2 months due to having major surgery on her back.

 

[Marty]

Forgot to say congratulations on your new mini.

Not trying to sound rude by no means but if my vet had told me "it's just the way he is" I'd be having a real problem accepting that for a reason. To me, that sounds just plain ridiculous and I'd want to know what is going on if it's anything you can do something about or a conformation fault.



I'm not sure of why he is stiff in his back legs either. I just got him a month ago. The week after we got him my vet checked him out and said it is just the way he is

I'd like to encourage you to have another vet's opinion on this. Best of luck to you all and enjoy..

 

[quaters]

I didn't go into detail as far a what my vet told me about him. It is a conformation fault, his back legs angle out instead of going straight down. It is not from an injury. My vet just suggested trying the MSM to see if it would help some.

He had a full exam and x-rays taken of his back legs. He is just stiff. Kind of like some people don't really have anything wrong with them, they are just stiff. She did go into detail about his conformation and so on. But, she ended it with "Its just the way he is, and there isn't much we can do about it. You could try giving him some MSM to see if it will help any" .

I am very happy with my vet and I will not be changing or asking another vet about him. I've gone through all of our local vets and other vets that are in a decent range and she is the best one out here. So, I am not going to start second guessing her judgement about what is and isn't wrong now.

The main reason I started this thread was to see if anyone knew how much to give to the horses since my vet is now out of the office for 2 months. And the only other vets around here are quacks who don't realize that you have to change amounts for a mini, and are the ones who only work on cattle or dogs and cats. I've already called the other 3 large animal vets out here that I know of and they both said to just follow the directions on the package. I really did not like that anwser. So, I figured why not ask people with mini's who have used it before....Sorry for the confusion with it. And if I sound snippy I don't mean to. I just really trust my vet and what she says.

Thank you for the congradulations. And for the amounts to feed. Like I said I just wasn't sure of what amount to give them.

 

[kaykay]

i have heard great things about msm helping with problems like your colts. Im not sure about the amount on one so young. for sure you need to know his size to estimate it. Fancy is on one tablespoon.

Marty i feel sure the vet meant that this is the horses conformation and you cant change that. It is what it is. The rescue i have here is very crooked legged which has led to arthritis in her adanced years. Nothing can be done for it because its due to her bad conformation. MSM does seem to help her but its definately not curable.

This is why im such a conformation nut and people dont take me seriously when i say better conformed horses live healthier lives. Its not just about the show ring.

Her horse from the description sounds post legged.

 

[quaters]

i have heard great things about msm helping with problems like your colts. Im not sure about the amount on one so young. for sure you need to know his size to estimate it. Fancy is on one tablespoon.

Marty i feel sure the vet meant that this is the horses conformation and you cant change that. It is what it is. The rescue i have here is very crooked legged which has led to arthritis in her adanced years. Nothing can be done for it because its due to her bad conformation. MSM does seem to help her but its definately not curable.

This is why im such a conformation nut and people dont take me seriously when i say better conformed horses live healthier lives. Its not just about the show ring.

Her horse from the description sounds post legged.

I am usually a stickler about conformation myself. But, I couldn't pass this little guy up. He has one of the best personalities that I have ever seen in any horse. Really he has pretty good conformation from a visual point. You wouldn't know there was anything wrong with is back legs until he walks. Instead of his legs tracking straight ahead under his body, they go out to the sides some and are a little stiff. It is nothing that would cause him to cripple, thankfully. But, he does have a very good chance of developing arthritis when he is older.

He is right around 31" and about 150lbs. So, he's a pretty big boy, even though most of it is a grass belly. I wish I would have thought of it earlier but, I am going to call the manufacture in a few minutes to see if they can suggest something. If not, I'm just going to e-mail the head of A & M's vet department, lol.

Thank you for your help.

 

[Becky]

I'm using MSM on a foundered mare. My vet has me giving her half of the scoop that came with it once a day.

And, as Marty said, I normally divide a full size horse dose on most products and medications by 4 to treat a miniature horse.

You might try a product such as Rejuvenade made by Progressive Nutrition or Corta Flx HA. Either could be beneficial to a horse with a problem such as you described.

 

[wrenhart]

MSM is a great aide in mucle soreness and when we were changing my big rumped QH from western pleasure to dressage it helped in metamophisis and also it is good for people with arthritis....it will releive the soreness in muscles around the joints, my grandmother had rhumatoid arthritis and it helped her...it is a sulpher based product and good for what ails ya ...in moderation of course...Renee