"Color" Supplements

[wingnut]

I was poking around on SmartPak's website and came across the products made by Cheval International such as "Black as Knight" and "White as Snow" supplements. They claim to enhance the coat color as well as over all coat condition. The Black as Knight uses paprika for the purpose of making black horses "bleached" hair go away. It does warn that in certain shows this product could get you disqualified:

"Note for Competitive Riders: This product contains Paprika, which may contain trace amounts of Capsaicin. "

I'm just curious to see if anyone has used these kinds of products at all and what your experiences were with them.

I liked the QuickSilver shampoo well enough last year for my pintos and their white areas, but the corresponding black coat shampoo did little if anything to darken up my smokey black girl.

 

[supaspot]

I found that feeding BOSS (black oil sunflower seeds) helps to keep dark coats looking good , I fed paprika to my palomino but I didnt notice any difference ,

 

[StarRidgeAcres]

I've used Black as Knight and LOVED it! I used it on a black horse and also on a bay and both coats really popped with added color and shine. I used Gold As Sun on a palomino and HATED it! It did "darken" his coat, but made it a weird brownish color that didn't appeal to me.

 

[kaykay]

Im not a fan of color supplements. A well fed and dewormed horse always blooms and looks great.

 

[jegray21]

I have Friesians and one gets the red in his coat. I did use this for show seasons and it really does work. The shampoo not the feeding supplement. The shampoo worked great so I did not need the feeding supplement. I used the black as Knight.

 

[txminipinto]

I have used Black as Knight with great success. Takes an already beautiful coat over the top. Nothing replaces a good feeding and deworming program, but these supplements can really add to a horse.

 

[Michelle@wescofarms]

Black as Knight is suppose to work well. They're right about the paprika in it, I was told you should stop 1-2 weeks before a show, as it gives a false positive if your horse is randomly drug tested.

I've also been told sage helps with the black color, but it's such a strong flavor I'm not sure how well a horse would eat it.

 

[StarRidgeAcres]

Black as Knight is suppose to work well. They're right about the paprika in it, I was told you should stop 1-2 weeks before a show, as it gives a false positive if your horse is randomly drug tested.

I've also been told sage helps with the black color, but it's such a strong flavor I'm not sure how well a horse would eat it.

I can't say for sure this is how it would always work, but I fed Black as Knight all during winter but when my horse went the to the trainer in the spring she was no longer on it. But it LASTED all the way through Worlds and even into the next year. At the end of the show year, people were commenting on how shiney and black her coat was and when she stood next to another solid black horse in Best Matched Pair it was totally obvious how drastic the difference was. Was it all due to the BAK? I don't know, but she took Reserve in color at World. She naturally very shiney black, but what I think it helped with more than anything was reducing the sun fade. And I'm sure her feed and exercise routine also played a major role, but the BAK sure didn't hurt.

So yes, I do think you can stop it well before a show and it still work on their coats, but not technically be in their system for testing purposes.

 

[Ashley]

Turned my horse from black to mud brown. Hated it and he looked horrid.

 

[RhineStone]

We don't use Black as Knight because the only "color enhancing" ingredient in it is the paprika. The rest of the ingredients are all for the shine, which they get from their regular feed. We boarded a Shire here one summer that was on the BAK, but it was SO expensive. So we get a whole lot cheaper paprika from the wholesale store, and then stop using it a week or so before a show. We just top dress about a teaspoon in their feed. There are spicy and not-so-spicy paprikas, and we get the less spicy one.

However, we also find that rinsing our sweaty horses well with clear water after workouts really reduces the fading. Our black will fade more in the places he sweats than any other place because of the salt in the coat being affected by the sun. So we really concentrate on the flanks, between the back legs, the back where the driving saddle is, and the chest where the breastcollar is. Then I spray him with Eqyss Premier Marigold spray before I turn him out. I think that has helped a lot. He didn't bleach out nearly as much as the year before.

We also don't clip until just a couple days before the show. No "spring clipping" here! They just have to shed out in the meantime. Their winter hair is always more faded than their coat underneath.

I do use the color enhancing shampoo after they are clipped before the show. I don't think it hurts (not as in "painful", but more like "why not") and it isn't that expensive.