Photos are available upon request.
by Nikki Alvin-Smith
There’s lot of good reasons to jump on the auto-ship bandwagon when it comes to buying products, and equine feed supplements are no exception. The always on time auto-ship program (well, for the most part), with fresh supplies are always a welcome package to receive when you are a busy horse trainer always on the go.
It’s easy to overlook your needs for feed supplements and run out of product, and it’s also easy to forget what exactly it was you bought and from where. Cost saving discounts and free shipping add much allure to the auto-ship route too.
Buying in supplies on auto-ship also offers a budget-friendly way to spread expenses, without the need to buy larger quantities that may expire optimum use dates without you noticing. That being said, if you buy top quality products with superior ingredients formulated in the correct manner to help ensure good shelf life there are great reasons to buy the larger quantities too.
Consider special protocols that certain brands employ to protect the quality of their equine feed supplements. It’s not every brand that goes the extra mile to ensure their ingredients and formulations offer correctly stabilized components blended in the right quantities to attain proper balance and ingestion/uptake by the horse.
A great example is the handling of the ingredient flax meal or flax seed, a useful source of Omegas. This ingredient is vulnerable to three enemies, heat, light and oxygen. It is not just important that this ingredient is heat stabilized, it is also important what minerals and other ingredients are present in the product as some can negatively interfere with even a stabilized flax seed ingredient. For example, adding a chelated copper to a feed rather than a copper glycinate can cause major issues including even spontaneous combustion! A sobering thought.
The feedstuff manufacturer that seeks to cut corners or is simply ignorant of the importance of adding the right antioxidant in the optimal quantities from a safe source (clean-label) is doomed to having the mighty Omega components suffer degradation. This lack of attention will necessarily negatively affect both the nutritional benefits and safety of the product. A chain reaction of lipid oxidation results in free radicals bombing about that can do all sorts of damage to the horse that ingests them.
Clean-label ingredients generally include Vitamin E (tocopherols) and the secondary metabolites found in high-phenolic plant extracts. To help bind free-radicals that are rendered when sourcing from ingredients for Omega-3’s that contain high ash content, the manufacturer may add natural chelating agents such as citric acid or ascorbic acid.
Worries about the bioavailability of the valuable Omega-3 component and whether the antioxidant is properly performing in a compound are real. Not only does the right antioxidant need to be applied to the source of the Omega-3, but it must also be added at the right time during the manufacturing process in order maximize its effectiveness. Notably, as early as possible during the process, continually throughout the process and for extra protection sprayed on at the end of the process.
So in the case of resourcing a good quality Omega feed supplement, it pays dividends to look for a heat stabilized flax meal, with a good shelf life (2 years). If ingredients are stabilized within a product, the manufacturer will definitely notate those that are on the label.
There are several ways to pay too much for a product or waste money on feed supplements. Here are top ten tips to ensure you don’t overpay for horse feed supplements:
- Buy products that have not been verified through the NASC auditing process, that guarantees provenance, quantities of ingredients and label accuracy.
- Buy products that include ingredients that are not clean label and of high quality.
- Buy products that include ingredients that are not stabilized when they need to be to maintain viability and safety.
- Buy a product that does not contain the necessary profile of formulation to be effective or is formulated with heavy processing i.e. a liquid or pellet versus a powder form. There are many nutraceutical ingredients that are substantially reduced in their effectiveness by heat. A good example is Vitamin C.
- Buy a product that is out of date or has a short shelf life. Lot number research is always worth the effort.
- Buy an off-label product or buy from an unknown or unverified vendor/source or buy the most expensive brand thinking its better.
- Buy a product that does not address the specific equine support issue you wish to address.
- Over-supplement either with multiple products or by administering doses without heeding manufacturers advice as to quantity and timeline.
- Forget to adjust your auto-ship orders for changes in use or cancellation when a particular product is no longer required.
- Forget to follow manufacturer’s advice as to best storage practices for product.
Understanding what and who is behind any product brand is essential if you want to ensure that you are not overpaying and that the product at hand is doing the job it claims to do. Make sure your equine feed supplements stack up in regard to highest quality.
Confidence in buying comes from being an educated consumer. Consider adding to your toolbox to provide your horse the best support for his well-being by checking out this Instagram series on Supplement Savvy. A heartfelt insider look at the industry with no holds barred. You may be surprised at what you don’t know. And yes, what we don’t know can hurt us.
PLEASE NOTE: AHP members ~ Please share this content. Kindly include Grand Meadows URL and author’s URL wherever published. Please advise use so we can share your platform too. Feel free to contact Nikki Alvin-Smith for further information and high-res photos.
About Grand Meadows: Founded in 1989 by visionary Angela Slater, Grand Meadows is a leading horse health product and equine supplement manufacturer driven by the guiding principle of providing affordable, extremely high-quality science-backed horse products to help ensure horses look and feel their best.
For the past 35 years the company’s mission has been honored and developed further, by President Nick Hartog, who among other accomplishments is one of the founding members and current board member of the National Animal Supplement Council (NASC), an organization that has a profound impact on the safety, transparency, and legitimacy of the animal supplement industry.
Grand Meadow products are widely used and trusted across the entire horse community from Olympic medal winning competitors and successful horse racing trainers to backyard horse owners. Their equine supplements are highly regarded for their excellent quality resourced ingredients and completely accurate labelling and effective formulations. Learn more at https://www.grandmeadows.com/
About Nikki Alvin-Smith:
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Please visit https://www.horseinakiltmedia.com/ and https://nikkialvinsmithstudio.com/ to learn more about her affordable services.
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https://www.grandmeadows.com/