ridecamp@endurance.net: Re: [endurance] supplements

Re: [endurance] supplements

Eugenie (oogiem@dsrtweyr.com)
Tue, 7 Nov 95 14:16 PST

>What has been the experience of supplements such as dmg, msm, and multiflex
>perna mussel? Are they worth the expense, or just hype?
We've use DMG and MSM at specific times for specific animals on the
advice of our veterinarian. IMO (and I know many disagree with me
<smile>) if the animal requires such supplements all the time to be able
to compete then something is wrong, perhaps that animal is not right for
that sport. I think they can be helpful in selected cases but then I want
to go back to a more natural (terrible word, it's so overused) feeding
regime.

The DSM did help us clear out a nasty respiratory illness that had almost
all of our horses coughing for several weeks last winter. They never got
really sick or went of feed or ran a fever but just had horrid sounding
coughs. We treated a few with antibiotics, treated a few with DSM and
treated a few with tincture of time. (The joys of having an entire herd
with the same thing <sigh>) The antibiotics and time didn't help anyone
but the DSM cleared it up so we then treated the rest of them with that
and it worked.

We used MSM with our donkey jack when he was getting a bit sore. He
needed daily work to get him over an attitude issue but was getting sore.
The vet suggested the supplement so we could work him through the
attitude problems. A soon as his attitude and training level improved we
backed off his work schedule, stopped the MSM and he was fine.

In both cases I used the supplement for a specific purpose not just
because it seemed like a good idea.

Oogie McGuire - oogiem@dsrtweyr.com
Weyr Associates - Multimedia and Web Authoring Services & Consulting
Desert Weyr - CMK Arabian horses & saddle mules for endurance and show
http://www.dsrtweyr.com/~desertweyr/