# Smartpak flop



## Badpony87 (Mar 20, 2017)

Hey everyone, just wanted to get some advice. I recently signed my little Dixie up for smartpak supplements to help her adjust to the new barn and new training regime. She has decided after just over a week, she doesn't like them. She will actually pick around the pellets and only eat her grain. I was going to mix in some sweet feed but she will probably just continue to pick around the supplements. Would unsweetened applesauce work? Should I just give up and save $45 a month?


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## MajorClementine (Mar 20, 2017)

IMO if you have to trick her into taking them it's prob not worth the $$ and hassle. I'm guessing you've got her on a great diet to begin with so I say save yourself the money.


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## chandab (Mar 20, 2017)

If she needs some of the ingredients in the smartpaks, it might be a matter of finding the right one for her. I have a couple that don't eat certain supplements, but are fine with others. It might also be a matter of moving her onto them slowly, some have a strong flavor/smell, so the full dose (even a mini size dose) is too much to start; or just trying a different type/brand for the same purpose.

What supplements are you trying and for what purpose?


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## Marsha Cassada (Mar 20, 2017)

Does she eat them after a while when you leave it in the dish?

Mine had trouble getting used to timothy pellets once, but after a few days ate them fine. And a mare I got one time had never eaten anything but pelleted food and she didn't like oats or alfalfa! But after a few days she ate them and never looked back.


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## Badpony87 (Mar 21, 2017)

There is nothing she really needs, it is just a multi vitamin, a probiotic and a small hoof supplement so I could get the free shipping. I thought the vitamin would help during her training, the probiotic to help with stress with the new move. Any recommendations for another brand so I can request samples?


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## Badpony87 (Mar 21, 2017)

Marsha Cassada said:


> Does she eat them after a while when you leave it in the dish?
> 
> Mine had trouble getting used to timothy pellets once, but after a few days ate them fine. And a mare I got one time had never eaten anything but pelleted food and she didn't like oats or alfalfa! But after a few days she ate them and never looked back.


She ate them just fine for a little over a week and then decided just to start leaving the vitamin pellets in her feed pan. I'm going to try the apple sauce, at least to get her to eat what she has in stock and see about some other brands.


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## Marsha Cassada (Mar 21, 2017)

Badpony87 said:


> There is nothing she really needs, it is just a multi vitamin, a probiotic and a small hoof supplement so I could get the free shipping. I thought the vitamin would help during her training, the probiotic to help with stress with the new move. Any recommendations for another brand so I can request samples?


Did you chat with Smartpak about it and see if they have suggestions? I wouldn't give up yet.


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## Cayuse (Mar 21, 2017)

With one of my minis I mix his supplements in with his pellets and soak it until it turns into a mash. It disguises everything enough so he eats it right up. If she doesn't mind her having her feed wet maybe that might work.


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## Who (Mar 24, 2017)

So I'm new to the board and have only had my guy for 5 months, but he gets smartpaks, is a little picky and here's what I've found. He started on Smartlytes, Life Data's Barn Bag, and Smartlamina. He was eating that fine, but at the time I got him I had two full sized horses I don't have anymore. Feeding the three of them was kind of a hassle because my barn space wasn't really set up for more than two horses. At some point I changed feeds and decided to put him on the same brand of feed as the horses. I took him off of the barn bag and found the smarthoof supplement was cheaper than the smartlamina and the ingredients seemed fine to me. He hasn't had any problems since I got him and I wasn't told of any problems he has had in the past so I was really just looking for a maintenance hoof supplement. He wouldn't eat the smarthoof supplements and I noticed he was a little more tender on the gravel drive ways on our road when we went out for our walks. I switched him back to the smartlamina and he seems to do much better on it. Around the time I switched him back I also decided to try out smartcalm because he can be pretty flighty and skittish. While he's still not a deadhead like some of the stock type horses I grew up with it does seem to help him keep his cool enough to think through things rather than reacting first. So now we're on smartlytes, smartlamina, and smartcalm in custom dosages for his average weight. I also found that he flat out refused SandClear. He loves smartpak's psyllium pellets. I put him on a subscription for that too so every month I get a box with 7 packages of psyllium pellets in his dosage and just pop it in his AM drawer and add them to his feed (MannaPro Safe Performance) with his AM smartpak (I have his smartpaks divided into half dosages AM and PM just to make him think he gets more feed than he actually does (the minimum amount of feed for his weight and work load). All of that to say I found it just took a bit of playing around to find which supplements my liked. I think a lot of that is just personal preference on the animal's part.


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