Feeding Supplement Question (Quiessence)

[KellyAlaska]

I have a little 8 year old Stallion that seems to have kinda a crest issue. He has a dense heavy mane and his mane kinda pulls his crest to that side. I did notice this when I purchased him but they said he was a breeding stallion and that was normal to have a cresty neck. I bought him because of his training and personality so I figured this might just be a small flaw I would have to deal with. It is not bad and I am not sure if you can even see it in photos it is more just kinda floppy when you touch it. I did notice a few months ago that it was starting to feel a little harder at the base in certain areas. I have since monitored his hay and feed and feel his crest everyday to watch for change. He does not seem overweight and I don't notice any other fat pockets on his body. We live in Alaska and he has a heated barn that stays 40 degrees over the winter. He did not grow a super long winter coat so I don't anticipate that he is having any other medical issues. Each day he gets 2 flakes of grass hay and he gets 1/4 cup soaked beet pulp with added mineral, joint supplement, Vit E caplet, 1/4 cup Flax oil and his ulcer pellets. I saw an ad in a driving magazine for Quiessence and I was wondering if anyone has used this product. It looks like the smallest size you can order on SmartPak is 14lbs so I am not even sure if I can afford to have it shipped to Alaska. The shipping here is horrible and they make you pay next day rates. Any suggestions or experience with this issue would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Kelly

 

[chandab]

If you are looking at it through SmartPak, you can order just a 3-day sample from them to see if he'll even eat it, so that would help a little bit; and you can also order just a one-time ship monthly smart-pak by phone (you have to tell them its a one-time only ship). [if you decide to go this route, get a full-dose monthly pak, then each daily pak would be 3-4 days worth for a mini depending on his size. Or if you already get smart-paks, you can always add a mini size dose to the pak (looks like 1/4 dose is as close as you can get, they don't do 1/3).] And, as far as I know, unless shipping to AK is different, Smart-Pak shipping is just $7.95 per order. I've not used Quiessence, but use a similar product called Remission, instead. Its a bit cheaper, but not available from Smart-Pak; I can't be sure, but I do think it has helped my cresty horses be less cresty, at least when the rest of their weight is where it should be. My stallion (now gelding) that has been on it, it doesn't do as much for him as it does for the mares, but it does help a little.

 

[happy appy]

I bought a tub of Remission and my mare wouldn't eat it. I still have the whole tub minus 2 days worth of mini doses missing.

 

[targetsmom]

Remission is more or less the same product as Quiessence and is pretty inexpensive. I feed it to my insulin resistant (IR) show/driving mare (in my avatar). But beware that because a product to help metabolism and IR is ALSO almost the same product that "quiets" horses, you might need to adjust the dose so it doesn't quiet your horse too much. We give Princess a half dose (a half tsp a day) because on a larger amount she didn't have much energy at the end of a long show day. That was before we discovered she also has anhydrosis (doesn't sweat), and yes, there is a supplement for that too! So in the summer she gets One A/C plus the Remission.

Let me also add that neck sweats have helped her tremendously, in terms of looks, anyway. She has been very competitive in halter even at the age of 7. I feed the Remission mostly to avoid founder. I also feed her Purina Wellsolve L/S (low starch) grain. She is not fat, but does get fat patches on her neck and by her udder if I don't watch her diet.

Good luck.

 

[chandab]

I bought a tub of Remission and my mare wouldn't eat it. I still have the whole tub minus 2 days worth of mini doses missing.

When I first started with Remission, the mare I bought it for wouldn't touch it, but I was persistent and kept mixing it with her feed and eventually she started eating it. I think to get her started, I mixed it in a little soaked beetpulp or hay pellets, and once she started eating it damp, she then decided to eat it dry also.

 

[hobbyhorse23]

Each day he gets 2 flakes of grass hay and he gets 1/4 cup soaked beet pulp with added mineral, joint supplement, Vit E caplet, 1/4 cup Flax oil and his ulcer pellets.

I don't know about the Quiessence but is your 1/4 cup of soaked beet pulp the dry measure before soaking or the amount you feed of the fluffed product? I ask because that seems like very little beet pulp and a LOT of high-fat oil. My 33.5" show horse gets large quantities of good-quality grass hay three times a day, 1.5 cups of soaked beet pulp in the morning, another 1.5-2 cups in the evening, some Purina Strategy GX and Nutrena Senior Feed according to weight and maybe an ounce of canola oil a day total and he stays nicely tucked up and very shiny. My older gelding was on a similar diet when he was working but due to an injury layoff the last few years I had to cut his diet tremendously and he's now getting mostly controlled hay portions and just a dab of everything else so I can mix his meds in. Can we say "fat?!" LOL

Anyway, my point is that perhaps he's getting too much high-fat oil and that's something you could cut down. Also, have you checked your mineral supplement to make sure it's correct for the nutrient level of your hay and a diet including beet pulp? I know there's something about the calcium/phosporus level of beet pulp that can imbalance their diet but don't remember specifically what it was you had to watch for.

Leia

 

[MiLo Minis]

This horse needs a low carb diet to help with his tendency to be cresty. You should cut out the beet pulp and oil. You could also get the sugar content checked on your hay and see if you can find some that is lower in sugar if necssary. There are plenty of low carb complete feeds available that would be less expensive than the supplements mentioned.

 

[Hessel]

The english use epsom salts (MgCl) as a feed supplement for cresty horses and horses with a tendency to funder, both as a treatment and as prevention. It sounds like your horse has a broken crest to some degree, so I would watch him, maybe keep him on a special mix for funder-horses and get him tested for EMS and Cushings by your vet.

I bought my epsom salt as bathing salt. cheaper than the horse-stuff but the same ingredients.

 

[chandab]

Actually, Magnesium Oxide is the preferred form of magnesium for feeding horses, they utitilize it better and its safer.

 

[KellyAlaska]

Thank you everyone for your comments. I am going to have my vet out and have her take a look at him and possibly have some blood work done. I have cut back on his supplements, beet pulp and oil. I have also started to weigh his hay so I am more accurate with his feedings.

 

[Make A Wish Miniatures]

In October I started using Quiessence on a six year old stallion who had not been worked or had his neck wrapped in about four years.After about a month I could really see a change. Now after five months it is a noticable change and I think the stallion will be showing in halter classes after four years away from the show ring. The stuff really does work. I do wrap his neck every night. He is fed Purina miniature horsefeed ,alfalfa and coastal hay.

 

[studiowvw]

A friend of mine has had to do a lot of research regarding IR horses (insulin resistant) and other related issues. She tells me that adding magnesium to the diet will help with the hard crest.