From: Susan
I have been wondering if there is a biotin supplement that can be given to a horse weekly instead of daily.
My problem is a vet that feeds all the horses where I am feeds something called "Hoof Rite". While I feel that's great stuff, it's my turn to pay for it every two months. That stuff's expensive!!
I'd been giving it, cause every now and again, he has a minor bout with founder to a mild degree.
If I change to another, cheaper, daily supplement, I'm afraid it will only be given sporadically cause it's not HER stuff.
So, I was curious if there's something out there I can give weekly or a couple times a week?
Sue
If your horse has good green hay, and/or access to adequate pasture, it's quite likely that he is getting all the biotin he needs from natural sources. If your horse is deprived of pasture and is being fed old, dry, stemmy hay, then he may need supplemental biotin. What, exactly, does your vet say?
If you DO feed biotin, you'll need to feed a good supplement - one that provides at least 15 milligramas of biotin in each daily dose. Supplements that also contain zinc and methionine seem to work better than those that contain only the biotin. Inexpensive "biotin supplements" that provide two or three milligrams of biotin per dose are a waste of money.
Feeding biotin weekly is also a waste of money - biotin is a B-vitamin, it's water-soluble, and your horse (a) needs and (b) can absorb a certain amount every day. The supplement should be fed daily. If your horse needs biotin and you feed it biotin once a week, then the horse is getting one-seventh of what it needs. If your horse needs biotin and you give it seven doses all at once, once a week, your horse will still be getting only one-seventh of what it needs. You will, however, be helping your horse produce extremely expensive urine. The extra biotin won't stay in the horse's body and distribute itself over the following six days, it will simply be excreted.
My advice is that you find out whether your horse really needs a biotin supplement - and if he does, use a good supplement and feed it daily, or it won't have the effect you want. Money spent on a good-quality supplement that helps the horse is money well spent; money spent on a useless, poor-quality supplement is money wasted. Money spent on an unnecessary supplement is also money wasted, so either way, do have a talk with your vet!
If you are worried about someone else not giving your horse its daily dose, why not talk to the barn manager about the problem? I would suggest that you keep a small bucket with a week's worth of premeasured supplement in single doses. Empty pill vials are ideal for this, and you can even label their caps with the days of the week. The container can be placed in the feed room or on your horse's stall. That will make it easy for whomever is feeding the horses to add your horse's supplement to his morning or evening feed. You'll know instantly whether your horse is getting his daily supplement, and it will take you only a few minutes once a week to refill the little labeled bottles and replace them in the container. Most people who feed horses, even in quite large barns, are happy to add supplements or medications to an individual horse's feed - IF you can make the extra bit of work something that they can do quickly and easily.
Jessica
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