Red Cell?

[Justmyluck]

Hello, I have a 5 year old TB who used to race and is now my dressage horse and becoming a phenomenal one at that. He came to me skinny with a poor coat and after a year and a half of owning him he looks quite healthy.

Anyway, I want to start my guy on a vitamin supplement, and a fairly economical one at that. I found red cell it has all the vitamins all the other multi-vitamins have according to Smart Pak's comparison charts and a fraction of the cost. The reason behind the multi-vitamin is because he has always had a dull coat vet, chiro (who used to be a vet), and trainer have no idea because he gets fed the best and is up to day on his wormer and is pastured by himself.

He is currently being fed, approx 6 lbs Seminole Wellness Senior for the fat and protein content and it is low starch, due to him having a slight attitude problem. He has thrived on it put tons of weight on and is building muscle like you wouldn't believe. He is getting fed the best quality Florida peanut hay and coastal to take up space and buffer the grain and he is pastured 24/7 with FL grass. He also gets MSM because I want to head off any repercussions of the racing industry. His coat just doesn't seem to get any better. He is missing something in his diet we just cant figure out what. So in comes the Multi-Vitamin.

My concern with Red Cell is the possibility of making his hot and producing lots of energy that he really doesn't need, because it was made of anemic horses? Will all that iron have any repercussion on him? Ideas? Oh and he work approx 5 days a week...

[Kaeleer]

Red cell will probably do nothing for your horse is he's not anaemic, so I wouldn't bother.

If he IS anaemic, I'd find out why. Ulcers are a possibility.

Have you done a panacur purge?

[Justmyluck]

Nope not anemic and hes had fecals no worms...

The vet also doesnt suspect ulcers because he has absolutely no signs or signals that link to ulcers. Eats well out 24/7 ect.

That is why I think its a vitamin deficiency.

[lonewolf]

Red Cell HAS produced a big boost in energy for the horses we've used it on.

However, those horses were all suffering from anemia and reduced energy, so it was a welcome change. Once some of them started to feel better, they got hotter than we wanted.

I don't think I'd feed it to a horse as a vitamin supplement, though.

[islandrider]

I've given my horse red cell for a few years, but am going to replace it with something else (not sure yet what) when this big bottle empties. There was a thread on this sometime last year-a few people pointed out that it had meat by-products in it, yuk. Gonna try to find something a bit more natural...

[Justmyluck]

I've given my horse red cell for a few years, but am going to replace it with something else (not sure yet what) when this big bottle empties. There was a thread on this sometime last year-a few people pointed out that it had meat by-products in it, yuk. Gonna try to find something a bit more natural...

Well the meat by products come from red meat being the best and most readily absorbed type of iron available. It is very natural ^_^

Oh and I forgot to mention I've tried flax and a rice brand supplement already no change.

[katarine]

wouldn't feed RC w/o bloodwork proving he's anemic.

There are a zillion supplements out there, something simple and broad spectrum like Source, Drive, Vita Key, etc may be all he needs.

[murphyluv]

No, I would not do redcell. Also, if he's getting the recommended amount of feed, there should be no reason to do a vit/min supplement.
negative fecal does not neccesarily mean no worms. Tapeworms and encysted strongyles for one I think do not show up in fecals. You could powerpack him if he's never gotten that before.
How long did you try the flax and rice bran?
Source might be one to try, although I would be more inclined to do a fat supplement. Maybe Uckele's cocosoya????

[ChocoMare]

Ditto no Red Cell.

For good vitamin/mineral balance in an easy-to-feed no sugar way, go for EquiPride. Easy to use as a top dress to plain beet pulp. Then add canola oil for extra calories.

EDITED TO ADD....but if you're already feeding a 'complete' feed, anything else is just extra & will throw all other vitamin/mineral ratios out of whack.

[EventFan]

Have you tried adding B.O.S.S. to his diet? Black Oil Sunflower Seeds are inexpensive and most horses love them. They do wonders for dull coats.

[hollyhorse2000]

No to Red Cell as well.

Try Glazen products. I use Glazen 3 for hoof growth (also good for skin/coat)

I also might not be quite so quick to rule out ulcers. Sometimes they are subtle and surprisingly common even in otherwise seemingly OK horses.

Just as an experiment, try 10 days worth of Ulcergard/Gastrogard and see if it makes a difference. It did for my mare, whose only obvious symptom was girthiness. I didn't think of her as less than ideal weight until she was on Ulcergard for two weeks and then I realized how much better she looked all of a sudden with no other changes . . .

[horseandridertackshop]

I have had good results with DAC oil..it is a conditioning oil used on show horses. I used it on a horse that we bought whose coat was dull and falling out. I credit the DAC with turning her coat into a glowing palomino! Some people alos swear by Cocosoya, although that is also given to gain weight.

[the_other_mother]

I wouldnt give Red Cell or any other iron supplement unless your vet specifically recomended it. You have to be careful with iron, you can do more damage than good. There are alot of multi-vitamin supplements out there that would be a better choice if you really need them. Maybe feed a good quality/variety of hay and good grain to make sure that everything is covered nutritionally? Thats what I would look at, before I'd look at supplementing.

[horsegirl123]

I have used Equipride in the past and saw a big difference with their coat and hooves.

[joharavhf]

How MUCH flax were you feeding? Also, how long?

I wouldn't feed Red Cell based off your description.

[deltawave]

I wouldn't make an assumption that he's missing something in his diet first off. It sounds like he's thriving and doing just fine, other than the coat. If I wanted to add something for shine, it would be fat, not a vitamin supplement. But first I'd apply the curry comb/cactus cloth "remedy" for 30 minutes a day, with vigor. Never, ever seen that fail to put the shine on a horse. :)

[minnie]

Vitaflex Accel is a good multiple vitamin. I'm also in the "no red cell" category. My horses get 1/2 cup fresh ground flax every day. When the dentist was here to do my horses' teeth this summer, she actually called her son out of the car (college boy, quite bored) to "come look at the shine on this horse!". Not groomed, but this particular horse hated being in the sun, so hid in the run-in most of the day and she had a black laquer looking shine. Other horses were shiny too, but they'd all been rolling in the dirt! LOL Considering the number of horses she does, including showbarns, I was quite flattered.

[Justmyluck]

I fed Omega Horseshine for about 3-4 months and was not impressed. Looking at him he does have considerable more bloom than he did a year ago when I bought him. I got him home and he had the longest winter coat in November than I've ever seen and he was born and raised in Florida. This winter his coat is much shorter and does have kind of a sheen to it. I guess I'll wait until he starts to shed his winter coat and get in his summer one before I decide what to do. His feed is 10% fat and 12% protein so hes getting a lot of fat. Plus he always has green peanut and green pasture.

Also I've always been told that if a horse grows in a long dull winter coat they aren't in good condition, and if they grow a short one they are in good condition. Remember now i'm in FL I would think that if i'm in Alaska that a short coat would not be desirable. Is there any truth to that?

[whbar158]

My horse looks great in the summer time, but grows monster hair during the winter, so I keep him body clipped and hes always shiny and beautiful under all that hair! Looks good again in the spring, I show during the winter so he needs to be clipped anyways. Not all horses will grow a short winter coat, why my horse thinks he needs that much hair I'll never know! But I have had him 8 years and it is just who he is!

[ladipus]

Well be prepared....i put my older horse on red cell and he went bonkers!!! he jumped out of the pasture!!! this is a horse who never runs,and sticks his head down to eat and doesn't move. I'd try something else if i were you...plus my guy didn't like the taste either.

[joharavhf]

I feed 1/2c. of ground flaxseed per day to my horses. I have heard people feed as much as 1c. of ground flaxseed. Omega Horseshine is a good supplement, but doesn't have *THAT* much flax in it ;)