Supplements! Those popular, pervasive and ever present add-ins with the promising packaging. Tack store shelves are lined with them, and, chances are, there are more than a few tubs spilling out of a feed room near you this very moment. But does your horse really need them?

The short answer is yes.

Science shows that horses that are denied supplements are destined for premature death. Usually alone in a dirt field, covered in flies and the tears of their ancestors, like all the other sorely neglected animals under the care of stubborn, penny-pinching owners. It’s gross.

Supplements are one of the basic necessities of equine life. Like water, forage and shelter, horses simply cannot live without them. Now, some “well-meaning” people will tell you, “But wild horses don’t take supplements. They seem fine.” Make no mistake, those people are trying to kill your horse.

Also, they’re wrong. Horses in the wild take supplements all the time! They nibble healing herbs. They lick mineral-rich stones and dirt. Anxious wild horses are said to seek out Valerian root just to calm down, my sister’s friend saw it once. What wild horses don’t have is access to the high end stuff your horse can get. And that’s a shame. The Bureau of Land Management should probably do something about that.

But let’s get back to your horse. Supplements help prevent deficiency (of course, you want to do that!) and/or improve performance (obviously, you want to do that too!). And they’ve got the anecdotal evidence to back it up!

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Here are just a few of the amazing things supplements can do, according to science.

  • Increase your horse’s scope. (Your trainer said your 3’ hunter isn’t cut out for the 3’6” ring? HE IS NOW.)
  • Teach your horse to passage. (Or piaffe, or do tempis. It just depends on the blend.)
  • Increase your horse’s speed, ability to turn and flexibility. (It’s powdered potential!)
  • Transform your horse into a four-speed push button pony. (In easy-to-swallow pill form!)
  • Make your horse love you. (More! Not less.)
  • Create instant dapples. (Just in time for the weekend show!)
  • Give your horse hooves of steel. (Try and crack these babies, we dare you.)
  • Fix your marriage problems. (And by “fix” we mean eliminate.)

With the frankly magical results you can achieve with supplementation, it follows that if you have a horse, he needs to take them. The question is how many and which kind?

The golden rule when it comes to supplements is “the more, the better.” It’s a proven fact that the more athletic the horse, the more supplements he’s likely to benefit from. Joint supplements, vitamin/mineral supplements, hoof supplements, gut supplements, blood supplements, supplements for his kidneys, liver and lungs, weight supplements, weight-loss supplements, uppers, downers are but a few he might require.

While that may seem excessive for just for one horse, it’s not. The top performance horses eat buckets of powder, sprinkled with pellets, three times a day. The super elite ones snort it through a rolled up hundred dollar bill.

Now you may be thinking, if supplements do all those things, why do horses still get sick, lame and/or not become Grand Prix race machines?! It’s an important question. The answer is that their owners just don’t love them enough to buy them all the supplements they need, which, I think we can all agree, is very sad indeed.

You see, the magic is in the mix. The key to correct supplementation is finding the right combination for your horse. For that, you’re going to need a degree in equine nutrition.

We’ll wait while you sign up with an accredited university near you…

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Done? THANK GOODNESS. Your horse looks healthier already.

So remember, your horse’s potential and life span is limited only by how much money you’re willing to spend. And that’s a fact. My sister’s friend, who isn’t a vet but interned with a vet tech one summer, told me so.