Below are the answers to some FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS relating to our products. If the information you require isn't detailed here, please feel free to contact us.

FlexAbility

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Musculo-skeletal injuries are the most common cause of injury and lost training time in athletes, whether human, canine or equine. They are also the most common injury sustained during competition and the most common reason for elimination.

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Daily exercise and the rigours of competition inevitably cause some damage to the bones and especially to the joints. Wear and tear on the skeletal system, particularly the articular cartilage surfaces of joints, could be considered to be an inevitable consequence of exercise or simply getting older. Degenerative joint disease (DJD) sometimes referred to, as osteoarthritis (OA), is seen to increase with age and is generally an indication of ‘wear and tear’.

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The risk of developing DJD/OA probably increases with intensity and or duration of exercise, years in training, time spent on hard ground, the amount of jumping exercise and poor or inappropriate nutrition. Being overweight will also increase the damage to joint and in some forms of joint disease, poor conformation can also play a key role.

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There are a large number of products on the market that contain a variety of nutrients promoted as being beneficial to joint cartilage health and regeneration. The nutrients in these products are globally referred to as chondroprotective and have one or more of the following attributes:

Reduce inflammation of the synovial membrane (synovitis)

Increase the synthesis of hyaluronic acid by other specialist cells called synoviocytes, which will improve lubrication but may also improve the delivery of nutrients

Stimulate chondrocytes to produce cartilage matrix compounds

Reduce joint pain (anti-inflammatory action)

Inhibit cartilage degrading enzymes

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Chondroitin sulphate, glucosamine, omega-3 fatty acids, MSM and antioxidants have all been suggested to protect or aid the growth and repair of cartilage (the material on the end of bones lining the joint surface).

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Whatever the main active ingredient in your supplement of choice, you should be aware of the level of the active ingredient present per daily dose. This will enable you to make valid comparisons between competitive products and to evaluate their relative ‘value for money’.

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Our domestication of the horse and training for athleticism is likely to have increased its susceptibility to joint problems. An increase in the concussive forces involved in many equestrian sports leaves the horse vulnerable over time. Remember that lameness is still likely to be the most common reason for calling out your vet, whether your horse is young, mature, old, at pasture, in light work, medium work, hard work or whatever discipline or sport it is taking part in.

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Flexability contains glucosamine, low molecular weight chondroitin sulphate, MSM, vitamin C, Omega 3 fatty acids (EPA & DHA) in the following quantities:

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Flexability should be fed at the concentrated level (60g for a horse and 30g for a pony) for a period of 10-14 days. Thereafter the daily amount can be halved to a maintenance level (30g for a horse and 15g for a pony), providing of course that the benefits seen are maintained at this level of intake. For horses in exercise training, Flexability should be fed as soon as soon as training and competition begin. For horses or ponies with ongoing niggles Flexability should be fed daily.

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Linseed Conditioner comes in the form of a meal that looks similar to bran.

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Linseed Conditioner is very palatable and so can simply be added to your existing feed daily.

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Linseed is a very traditional feed that has been fed for very many years. However, up until recently linseed needed to be boiled before feeding to destroy some undesirable substances similarly to soya. Linseed Conditioner uses modern micronising technology to pre-cook the linseed at very high temperatures so that it can be fed straight from the bucket with no need for soaking or boiling.

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The amount of Linseed Conditioner that you feed per day will depend on your individual horse or pony, its bodyweight and level of exercise. As a guide, we recommend between 125 – 500g per day for a pony (this is roughly equivalent to ½ - 2 mugs full per day). For a horse we suggest between 250 – 1000g per day (this is roughly equivalent to 1 – 4 mugs full per day). It is important to always feed to maintain a suitable body weight and condition.

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Linseed Conditioner contains 22% protein. This means that for every 100g fed it provides 22g of protein. Even when Linseed Conditioner is fed at the maximum recommended level for a horse, for example, it will still only provide 220g of protein, which is about 20% of the daily requirement for a horse in work. So as you can see the percentage protein content of a feed is only relevant when looked at together with the level of the feed fed daily.

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Linseed Conditioner provides about 34% oil. This means that for every 100g fed 34g will be oil. For example, a horse fed 500g of Linseed Conditioner will gain an additional 170g of oil. Supplementing an endurance horses’ diet with oil is reported to be beneficial to help maintain condition, but also to allow efficient use of ‘fuel’ during exercise.

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It is recommended that horses being fed an oil- supplemented diet be fed additional vitamin E (antioxidant). Linseed Conditioner, however, already provides the recommended additional vitamin E required in a bioavailable form. Ordinary linseed has very low calcium to phosphorus ratio and ideally should be fed with additional calcium. Science Supplements have balanced the calcium to phosphorus ratio in Linseed Conditioner and so there is no need for additional calcium.

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Omega 3 fatty acids are essential fatty acids that need to be fed as part of the diet as they cannot be synthesised by your horse. They are only found in very low amounts in popular oils such as corn and soya oil. These latter oils are the ones most commonly added to a horses’ ration either by horse owners or by horse feed manufacturers. In contrast, Linseed Conditioner is a very rich source of omega 3 fatty acids. Omega 3 fatty acids are important to help maintain coat and skin condition, to maintain immune function and to aid repair processes.

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Linseed Conditioner is very efficient at both promoting weight and condition in underweight horses and ponies or helping to maintain condition in those training and competing regularly. However, because Linseed Conditioner is low in starch and high in fibre and oil (slow release energy), it is less likely to cause excitability than some other cereal containing feeds.

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Preliminary research carried out at the University of Guelph in Canada suggests that linseed when fed daily can help maintain skin health and coat condition in ponies at risk from Sweet Itch.

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Linseed is very low in starch and simple sugars and is high in easily digestible fibre. It is therefore a suitable feed for ponies that are prone to Laminitis. However, as many ponies at risk of laminitis are prone to weight gain, care should be taken not to overfeed and a suitable bodyweight should be maintained at all times.

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Horses and ponies that are prone to rhabdomyolysis or ‘tying up’ are often recommended to be fed a balanced diet that is low in starch, high in oil and high in fibre. Linseed Conditioner is very low in starch and provides a rich source of omega 3 containing oil. Care should be taken to ensure that the whole ration provides a balanced diet with respect to vitamins, minerals and electrolytes.

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Salt and sodium chloride are the same thing. 'Electrolytes’ is a global name for sodium, chloride, potassium, calcium, magnesium and phosphate. These electrolytes are needed in the diet in relatively large amounts. Other electrolytes include selenium, copper, zinc, manganese, iron and cobalt. These are needed in much smaller amounts. The different electrolytes have many different functions in the body. Potassium and sodium are very important in the nervous system, whilst calcium and phosphate are integral parts of the skeleton.

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A horse at pasture and not in work in a cool climate will probably be able to take in sufficient amounts of the different electrolytes it needs from grass. However, horses fed preserved forages (such as hay and haylage) whilst horses in regular training lose increased amounts of electrolytes, especially sodium and chloride in their sweat. Warm weather will also increase the amount of salt lost. In the wild, horses have evolved to survive on what they can take in from their natural diet because they don’t exercise regularly or for long periods of time.

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Diets deficient in salt for long periods of time or depletion of body stores as a result of exercise, training or competition (especially in hot weather) can lead to severe organ damage and death. This is relatively rare. At the other end of the spectrum, the horse with too low an electrolyte intake may have a reduced performance (this may be as subtle as knocking the odd jump down).

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Almost all horses on a hay and hard feed diet in regular training require some supplemental salt. Horse in hard work, especially in warm weather, need increased salt intake to maximise their performance. Supplemental salt should be provided daily in the feed, not just before and during competition. Before, during and after competition an increased salt intake may be required.

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Signs of too much salt or other electrolytes in the diet include excessive thirst (consumption of more than 3 buckets of water a day or ~45 litres in cool weather) and very wet bedding

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Most commercial diets are formulated to supply “the average horse, in average work in an average climate”, so many horses do not get enough salt. Salt also causes problems with some of the other ingredients in feed and so manufacturers have to keep the salt content of hard feed low.

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Salt can easily be added into diets by top-dressing. However, salt is fine grained and can easily find its way to the bottom of the feed bucket. Also, for horses in hard work, the amount of salt that can sometimes need to be added may put horses off their feed. In some circumstances you may want to get extra electrolytes into your horses without feeding or in a small feed – this can be difficult with normal salt. This might be applicable for horses during or following competition, during or following transport, for convalescing horses or when horses are in hard work and or the weather is warm. Tasteless salt, one of our most popular products, is a uniquely palatable form of salt.

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Electrolyte pastes are an option. However, many will only contain very small amounts of salt and other electrolytes. Some electrolytes pastes can be easily spat out by your horse and much may end up on the floor. Electrolyte pastes are useful both before and during competition. Check out our electrolyte paste formulation on the products page!

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Many horses do not use salt licks at all. It is almost impossible to gauge how much a horse is getting from a salt-lick unless you weight it accurately each month. In almost all cases the intake from salt-licks has been shown to be below requirements.

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