​Do I need to reload after lockdown?

Photo of Rachel Buckle and Buzz by Julia Nest

Not surprisingly some of our customers have lost access to their horses over the lockdown but most are getting back in the saddle as the government relaxes the restrictions. So we are being asked “Do I need to reload my chelated calcium supplement?”

All the conflicting advice the government and media have been putting out over the past few weeks on Corvid 19 has highlighted what we have long argued - Science doesn’t have all the answers. In fact science is far more about what we don’t know than what we do know. And reloading chelated calcium is no different. Every horse and every environment is unique. So here are some guidelines that will hopefully help you to apply some common sense to your own observations. Hopefully these will help you find the most effective/economical way of getting your horse back onto our chelated calcium:

• Horse behaviour is still good despite missing a few weeks chelated calcium calmer – no need to reload. Just restore the maintenance rate using a Follow On pack.
  
  
• Horse behaviour is still good AT HOME despite missing a few weeks chelated calcium calmer BUT BEHAVIOUR DETERIORATES WHEN YOU TRAVEL FOR A LESSON OR (hopefully soon) COMPETITION – You won’t know if you need to reload or simply to boost confidence just for the exciting trips using FineTUNE 1 and/or FT3. Ring us for some FT samples and a chat. If they don’t help then see below for the options for reloading.
  
  
• Horse behaviour has deteriorated – Reload (see below).
  
  
  

So what are the reload options?

If you are feeding a Mag FREE product

Cool, Calm & Collected Mag FREE:

Option 1 – Buy a Starter pack and treat it as if the horse had never been on CCC. It would be wise to use the whole pack at the loading rate as, if you cut it back after a couple of weeks the tyrosine level will drop and some horses don’t respond well to very low tyrosine levels (high levels don’t seem to be a problem unless your horse has EMS or Cushing’s when a few horses seem to do better with no tyrosine).

Option 2 - Simply feed your Follow On formulation at a triple rate for 1-2 weeks until behaviour normalises. You will be feeding a triple dose of tyrosine but this shouldn’t be any problem at all (high levels don’t seem to be a problem unless your horse has EMS or Cushing’s when a few horses seem to do better with no tyrosine).

Any WINNINGEDGE, “Essentials” or “CORE” product (Mag FREE)

Option 1 – Buy a Starter pack and treat it as if the horse had never been on the supplement/balancer. It would be wise to use the whole pack at the loading rate as, if you cut it back after a couple of weeks the tyrosine level will drop and some horses don’t respond well to very low tyrosine levels (high levels don’t seem to be a problem unless your horse has EMS or Cushing’s when a few horses seem to do better with no tyrosine).

Option 2 – Assumes you have stocks of your Follow On formulation. You could convert this into a loader formulation buy feeding it as normal and buying a bag of Mag FREE CCC Follow On. Feed the CCC at double the maintenance level. So the bag will last about 2 and a half weeks (16hh TB type weighing 550kgs). Most horses will load in this time if they have only missed out on a few weeks’ worth of supplement.

Any CCC, WINNINGEDGE, “Essentials” or “CORE” product (Lo, Mid or Hi Mag)

If you are feeding one of these because you have done so for a number of years the chances are you have some artificial magnesium in other components of the diet. Now would be a great chance to see whether a “no added magnesium diet” would be better (as 85% of horses seem to be better behaved on such diets. Give us a ring (01453 836974) or email advice@EquiFeast.com or send us a Facebook message. Tell us what you currently feed (brands and quantities) and we can review that and discuss the options going forwards.

If you are feeding Lo or Mid Mag options because our Fine Tuning process has identified that as a optimum for your horse then use Option2 for Essentials or CORE above. What you don’t want to do is feed double your normal product and double the magnesium. That could prove disastrous.

As ever if you are not sure please get in touch. We will give you the best advice we can:
Ring (01453 836974) or email advice@EquiFeast.com or send us a Facebook message.