Experience with "Succeed"

[Eventer55]

Can all of you who have tried Succeed, give me your experiences. Why did you use it? Did it work? Is there a difference between the paste and powder?
Etc. . .

[cmdrcltr]

I don't know anything about this myself, but there's a boarder at my barn that gives the paste to her horse. She doesn't have the barn owner give it daily; rather she gives it randomly 2-4x weekly when she comes out. My BO says her horse always has loose manure the day after.

I almost forgot, another boarder tried the powder. She started it a few days before trucking to a show. At the show her horse colicked for the first time ever. Maybe a coincidence, but the Succeed was the only change in feed.

That said, I'm sure you'll here great stories, too. If it wasn't useful it wouldn't stay on the market, and every horse is different, kind of like how some horses change behavior on magnesium and/or Vit. B1 and some don't.

[paintmare]

I have never heard of it so I went and looked it up. If looking for a digestive aid, there's a lot out there that aren't anywhere near what that stuff costs. My jaw dropped when I saw how much that stuff is.

[yellowbritches]

Oh man. I wrote a whole long reply this afternoon, and apparently my computer ate it. Grrrr....I'll try and post again in the morning.

Short answer: I THINK we've had some success with it. But it's a long story.

[sixpoundfarm]

I used it and liked it for one of my mares that tended to be a bit ulcery. I put her on it after I did the ulcergard/gastrogard treatment. I think I did the paste first, then switched to the granules. I used it for about a year, and decided to try something cheaper. I put her on the Uckele GUT product and shes been doing really well. They are very dissimilar products, and some folks have tried making their own Succeed type supplement. Just depends what works for your individual horse.

[hurleycane]

Bought it when it was on sale (BOGO). Now I am hooked!

I have had VERY good results - on a mini with cushings and long term bute use: heavy coat, fallen crest, very kinky brittle tail hair, yellow sebumous discharge on patches of skin, small round hard pellet like dark almost black poo - near impossible to break apart.

Some improvement on pergolide with shedding - but coat & skin condition did not change.

Added Succeed: she shed out, slicked up - yellow discharge eased up by 90%, tail started growing in straight and silky, poo began to act like horse poo instead of petrified pellets.

My guess is she was not able to absorb nutrients well r/t the limitations of diet and the effects of long term bute on her gut combined with her advanced age.

The Succeed seemed to fill in a nutritional gap.

I removed the Succeed for a few months time and put her on the APF instead (to save $$). Well, the sebumous drainage returned, she lost shine and the tail hairs began to kink at the root again.

So she is back on it - cause it worked.:)

[Eventer55]

Oh man. I wrote a whole long reply this afternoon, and apparently my computer ate it. Grrrr....I'll try and post again in the morning.

Short answer: I THINK we've had some success with it. But it's a long story.

:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol: Please post again if you feel like it. I've ordered a box of the paste because my trainer uses it and swears by it. And, no she isn't sponsored by them. It may be expensive, but expensive is very relative, think the cost of
ulcergard. . .

Also, how would you make your own "succeed"?

My mare has a history of ulcers, with no probs for 2.5 years however she is extremely b%&*$y and difficult. I have been told it totally changed another ulcery mare form a total b*&^h to a normal horse. I'm not looking for a miracle, just a small break from the attitude.

[2horseowner]

I used it on a hard keeping, ulcer horse. I liked the stuff well enough to stay on it over 6 months. At that time I was able to BOGO free. I swear it never looked like I was getting the amount I paid for! Anyway, after tiring of paying for it, I switched to SmartPak Ultra Digest. Horse has done very well on it, and the cost is so much better. I liked Succeed, I just got tired of the price. There is a thread on here about people using Diamond V Yeast as an alternative. From what I remember, it is the same thing as Succeed. Look up the thread on Succeed. I started a thread about Succeed being worth it, and it was interesting to read everyone's experiences. Good luck!

[pixie]

So far I LOVE it! Have a very difficult large pony that was not thriving weightwise or performance wise. Treated for ulcers with moderate improvement but still not what I was hoping for. He also cribs and is not that interested in hay. His performance was really bugging me. Some days he almost looked lame behind and others perfectly sound. His gait was not springy or athletic looking especially behind. He also did not want to go forward or pick up the canter easily but it was random. He was different to ride every day. In general he seemed frustrated with his life/job. He also refused to poop and move at the same time. On several occasions I also noticed that he stocked up behind (randomly). This can point to the body's inability to absorb protein (hind gut) according to my Vet.
I started him on Succeed and within 1 week I could see alot of improvement! His gait is more springy and elastic and now he goes FORWARD! YAY! By the second week I think he is cribbing alot less, looks happier and has put on at least 25 plus pounds. His stool is different as well. Each poop is large and fully formed and more dense.
I am really starting to get excited for this pony! Pony Finals may be in his future after all!

[Eventer55]

I looked up what's in Succeed and did some research. Very interesting read! Beta Glucan, yeast extracts and Amino acids can separately contribute to digestion, absorption of nutrients and hormone regulation.

I'm wondering if ulcery horses also have other things going on that contribute to the ulcers. I have been told it helped with a really nasty mare, so this will be a big point for me. although I haven't had a problem with her ulcers in 2 years.

[TMPF]

When I first bought my boy he was having monthly recurring episodes of mild gas colic. We broke up his grain in to four smaller feedings and added succeed, powder form. He has been on it for three years now and (knock on wood) he is doing great. I would be afraid to take him off to try something less expensive (it's cheaper than the emergency vet calls!)

[FoxChaser]

I used it on my ulcer-prone OTTB after doing the Ulcerguard/ Gastroguard treatment protocol and LOVED it. He maintained weight and poop consistency. After having him on it for ~6 months, I switched to SmartGut Ultra and he's been fine ever since.

[Eventer55]

I'm going to try it for 30 days and if it works, I'll try switching to SmartPak ultra and see if that works as well.

I'd love to hear anyone'sopinion on why Smart pak works jsut as well, they have similar ingredients except for the Polar lipids.

What do polar lipids do?

[yellowbritches]

So, we got very lucky in December and were given a 2 month free trial supply to try on a horse we've been struggling with. We got to talk to the rep at the USEA convention, and talked to her about this horse who we just don't know what to do with anymore. She wouldn't guarantee, but she thought maybe some of his issues are because of hindgut acidosis or possibly made worse by it. We followed her protocol for treating him, which was 1 tube am and pm BEFORE his hard feed for a week, then 1 tube am before his feed for two weeks, then a scoop of the granules after that.

It's hard to say if it has made a huge difference in him (weather and schedules makes it so that he gets ridden about 3 days a week right now), but he does seem calmer. He even hacked out last week without trying to kill himself and all parties involved, which is huge for him.

We had basically just kicked him out and left him alone for 4 or 5 months (really, we were at our wit's end with him). He'd lost most of his conditioning and all his top line while being a pasture puff and while he wasn't skinny, he definitely looked a little on the rough side. I noticed last week that he's really got a bloom on his shaggy coat and while his top line isn't near what it was, it DOES look better, not to mention just his general appearance. He seems a little happier and mellower and I'm really hoping that once we are able to really start up with him again, it will continue to help.

I don't think there is any difference between the tubes and the granules, but I do think starting off with the paste, especially if you've got a bigger issue, and giving it before anything else is in the stomach and GI tract, is benefical.

My two biggest beefs with the product is that 1) it seems really hard to find GOOD info on WHAT it does. Most of the stuff I have read about it just tend to make it sound like a "Wonder Supplement" without really stating what makes it so wonderful. Talking to the rep made it sound much better and like it DID actually do something other digestion sups don't necessarily do. 2) I HATE that it is SO expensive. I just added it to our guy's Smartpak since he is almost out of the free stuff and it hurt. I think it alone is more than anything else he gets combined, and the Succeed is $20 more than my other horse's FULL Smartpak! :eek: If it works for him, though, we'll pay it.

PS- If I remember correctly, the polar lipids help heal little ulcerations in the GI tract. I think the way she explained it was that it basically fills the little holes, and protects it while it heals. I could be way off on that, but something in the product does do something like that. Sorry, we talked to her two months ago and I'm not sure what happened to any of the notes I took.

PPS- Interesting to hear the the SmartGut Ultra seems to work as well. I'll keep that in mind. I was looking at it the other day....

[GotSpots]

I have my older eventer on the Smartpak Succeed knock-off and it seems to help: he eats better, his weight has stayed more consistent, and his manure is more solid. He is one who wants to be ulcery (we regularly put him on Ulcergard around horse shows or when shipping somewhere new), and this seems to help stabilize him. That being said, I suspect he might do equally well on Succeed - we just went with the cheaper option first.

As an FYI, it did take a couple of go-rounds to get him to eat it, but once we started dissolving it and syringing it into him before his breakfast, he started licking it off the syringe. He's just not a big eater, and it's rare for him to show much enthusiasm about breakfast at all regardless of what's in it.

[Eventer55]

[quote=cmdrcltr;4651925]I don't know anything about this myself, but there's a boarder at my barn that gives the paste to her horse. She doesn't have the barn owner give it daily; rather she gives it randomly 2-4x weekly when she comes out. My BO says her horse always has loose manure the day after.

I almost forgot, another boarder tried the powder. She started it a few days before trucking to a show. At the show her horse colicked for the first time ever. Maybe a coincidence, but the Succeed was the only change in feed.]



Please don't take this the wrong way, I'm a fairly analytical person. So, first of all drug companies spend millions on researching why a drug works and the best way for vets and owners to administer it, so why would you "randomly" give a med that has specific directions. I would have to see the loose manure and see if there was not something else. The random administration causes me to wonder what else is going on randomly.

Secondly, is it possible the horse was having problems at shows before with ulcers and finally colicked. And why would you give a drug/medication you've never given the day before a show? Unless you were having problems with showing. Sounds like an ulcer issue.

Now running and hiding. . .;)

[yellowbritches]

[quote=cmdrcltr;4651925]I don't know anything about this myself, but there's a boarder at my barn that gives the paste to her horse. She doesn't have the barn owner give it daily; rather she gives it randomly 2-4x weekly when she comes out. My BO says her horse always has loose manure the day after.

I almost forgot, another boarder tried the powder. She started it a few days before trucking to a show. At the show her horse colicked for the first time ever. Maybe a coincidence, but the Succeed was the only change in feed.

Please don't take this the wrong way, I'm a fairly analytical person. So, first of all drug companies spend millions on researching why a drug works and the best way for vets and owners to administer it, so why would you "randomly" give a med that has specific directions. I would have to see the loose manure and see if there was not something else. The random administration causes me to wonder what else is going on randomly.

Secondly, is it possible the horse was having problems at shows before with ulcers and finally colicked. And why would you give a drug/medication you've never given the day before a show? Unless you were having problems with showing. Sounds like an ulcer issue.

Now running and hiding. . .;)
I agree. :yes: We actually had a client for awhile who wouldn't leave her Farrier's Formula for me to feed daily, but would instead feed it when she came out, which meant some weeks her horses would get it several days in a row, some weeks they wouldn't get it at all. :rolleyes:

I'm REALLY excited to hear about the Smartpak version now! Wish I'd known pre-ordering the Succeed. This is very good to know.

[risky business]

I also haved switched to the SmartPak Ultra Digest after having a very ulcer-y OTTB on Succeed for about a year.
The Succeed really helped with his digestive issues and his weekly colic episodes. After about a year of Succeed, I switched him to SmartPak Digest for $$$ reasons only. If he showed any signs of regressing I would switch him back but he is going great.

[wildride]

I tried the Smartpak Digest Ultra first for my thin, poor conditioned OTTB. I had no problem getting him to eat it, he has an amazing appetite. But nothing changed. His digestive system works so fast and food flies thru him. It did firm up his poo, but no change in weight or appearance.
So I bit the bullet and coughed up the money for 2 months of Succeed, powder version.
There were changes, but they were very slow. It really wacked out his immune system. He got small areas of rain rot at the end of summer. And the fungus on his back legs came back. No real change in attitude, he's still a brat. I finished the 2 months supply and he continues to look and feel good. In fact, he looked his best as soon as I stopped using the Succeed.
I'm thinking of starting him on Smart Gut. His event season will be starting in April and I want to stay on top of his weight.
If Succeed would back off on their advertising, they might be able to lower the cost. $3 a day really adds up, that's why I no longer buy coffee at Starbucks.

[Eventer55]

I hope it helps with my mare's b&^chy attitude. I'm thinking I might try it. Wouldn't it be funny if it helped with hot flashes and our hormone related issues? Heck I would take it. . .
:lol::lol::lol::lol:

[cmdrcltr]

[quote=cmdrcltr;4651925]I don't know anything about this myself, but there's a boarder at my barn that gives the paste to her horse. She doesn't have the barn owner give it daily; rather she gives it randomly 2-4x weekly when she comes out. My BO says her horse always has loose manure the day after.

I almost forgot, another boarder tried the powder. She started it a few days before trucking to a show. At the show her horse colicked for the first time ever. Maybe a coincidence, but the Succeed was the only change in feed.]



Please don't take this the wrong way, I'm a fairly analytical person. So, first of all drug companies spend millions on researching why a drug works and the best way for vets and owners to administer it, so why would you "randomly" give a med that has specific directions. I would have to see the loose manure and see if there was not something else. The random administration causes me to wonder what else is going on randomly.

Secondly, is it possible the horse was having problems at shows before with ulcers and finally colicked. And why would you give a drug/medication you've never given the day before a show? Unless you were having problems with showing. Sounds like an ulcer issue.

Now running and hiding. . .;)

Well, as I said, I'm not the one with the experience.:D I simply related two tales of Succeed in my barn. You'd have to ask those boarders why they do the things they do.:cool:

I have just started my horse on SmartGut. I'm eager to see if it makes a difference in his picky eating and cribbing.

[eks]

I was also looking for something that was more budget friendly than Succeed. I had hoped to switch my mare to one of the SmartPak brand supplements, but I read on another COTH thread that someone ran the ingredients by the USEF and there are ingredients in there that will test positive....so I have kept my horse on Succeed.

[Toomanycats]

On the recommendation of my vet (she uses it on her own horses), I tried Assure Guard instead of Succeed and I highly recommend it.

http://www.arenus.com/p-14-assure-guard.aspx#assure=tab1

I have a TB who is very stoic and I think internalizes a lot. He would grind his teeth a lot, especially in high stress situations, but wouldn't actually act up because that's not his nature. When he is worried or concerned, he just keeps it inside. And from the moment I brought him home, he was pooing cow patties all the time, no matter what he was eating. My vet shared my concerns that he might be ulcery or at least ulcer-prone. So I put him on Assure Guard and ranitidine 1x a day (my barn only feeds supplements 1x a day, Assure Guard recommends 2x a day and I know ranitidine is better given 2-3x a day, but I didn't have much choice). After a month, I took him off the ranitidine and just kept him on the Assure Guard. The teeth grinding has stopped and he hasn't had loose poo since I started the Assure Guard. The Assure Guard is much cheaper than Succeed, and with me only feeding it 1x a day, it makes it even more economical. It has a really yummy licorice flavor/smell that the horses just love - my gelding licks his bucket clean to get out every morsel of food.

[Peg]

Interesting to hear about the Cushing's horse. I just adopted one and put her on Succeed simply because all of my horses are on it.

I have a couple of nervous Nellies and it has helped them, and since most of the animals I own are broodies, they are on it because of the increased IgG in the colostrum.

The witchiest mare that I have has improved in temperament as well, but I don't know if being on Succeed is the reason.

The young horses that I have away in training are on it as well and so far so good. One is a cribber and it may. E that having a job helps her, but she's a lot more relaxed than before training.

I also wish it was less expensive! Yowzer. Peg

[FoxChaser]

I had hoped to switch my mare to one of the SmartPak brand supplements, but I read on another COTH thread that someone ran the ingredients by the USEF and there are ingredients in there that will test positive....so I have kept my horse on Succeed.l

Like what???? It contains nothing that's on the list of banned substances, nor is it "performance enhancing", calming, etc. I don't buy that.

[blazn]

Assure Guard has psyllium in it. In humans, psyllium acts as a laxative. Other herbal digestive/anti-colic supplements I've looked at have more active laxative ingredients; at least one with cascara, I think. In humans, again, it is a bad idea to live on laxatives, even in small doses. The gut becomes dependent on them and natural motility decreases. Is this a problem for horses?

[Toomanycats]

Good question, Blazn. Maybe one of the vets on here will weigh in. All I can say is that once on the Assure Guard, my horse stopped with the loose runny poo. He does seem to poo a lot, but that is only in comparison to my last horse, so it might be normal for him. He certainly doesn't poo any more frequently than he did when he wasn't on the Assure Guard, he probably poos less and like I said, it is solid and formed. I would have thought if it was acting as a laxative, it would have the opposite effect on him, especially after being on it now for 7+ months now. Might be worth a call to the Arenus people, see what they have to say.

You know, I make fun of my brother and his wife constantly discussing my impossible-to-toilet-train nephew, and now I realize I'm not a whole lot better because I know all about my horse's bowel movements and am not embarrassed to discuss them with anyone :D

[Eventer55]

Assure Guard has psyllium in it. In humans, psyllium acts as a laxative. Other herbal digestive/anti-colic supplements I've looked at have more active laxative ingredients; at least one with cascara, I think. In humans, again, it is a bad idea to live on laxatives, even in small doses. The gut becomes dependent on them and natural motility decreases. Is this a problem for horses?


Dependency on laxatives is a problem if you use chemical stimulants. Psyllium is a natural laxative like eating fruit, oatmeal etc. Don't ask me how I know TMI.

[spade k ranch]

As far as I know the dose of Psyllium in Assure Guard is used as a probiotic. It is not a high enough dosage to acclimate the hind gut microbiota and thereby render it useless. It really serves to help get the greatest amount of colony forming units all the way to the hindgut and help protect them from the acids in the stomach so that they can actually do your horse some good. I have used it on many horses and have seen great results and it costs less as well.

[retrofit]

Based on all the recommendations here, I just tried SmartDigest Ultra for my mare. But she won't eat it. It has a strong, spicy smell - almost like Indian food.

[2horseowner]

Gross! Mine has never smelled liked that. It smells more like a bakery treat. I have a very picky horse, and he eats this w/ no problem. I'd call SmartPak.

[ThoroughbredFancy]

As another poster did, I switched from Succeed to Uckele's G.U.T.

My horse seems to be doing just as well on that and it's cheaper for sure.

[retrofit]

I had left the Smartpak UltraDigest in my mare's bucket, to see if she would get bored enough to eat it. And apparently she did - and decided that she likes it. She now licks her bucket clean. I guess she just had to get used to the scent of the supplement. I think it's doing something too. Her manure has firmed up and her stall is even a little neater.

I haven't had a mare in years and it's funny how many more survival instincts she has than my boys!