Weekend welcome from Kentucky Performance Products

Happy weekend, Horse Nation! Hope you’re making the most of it, whether your plans are of the mounted or unmounted variety.

Up until about mid-afternoon yesterday, I had big plans. My bags were packed for Lexington, Ky., where I was headed to help out some friends at Breyerfest and assist with NAJYRC coverage for EN. A quick trip to the barn before we leave and–change o’ plans! Long story short, I suddenly had a Saturday morning date with the vet to look forward to instead. Nothing major, but with our next horse trial just a couple weeks away, it’s definitely nerve-wracking.

Why do we choose to hang our hopes and dreams on the shoulders of the most self-destructive animals on earth? That’s a question I’ve been asking myself for, oh, about 20 years now. And the answer I always come back to is, we do it because we can’t not do it. The best we can do is keep things in perspective–a lame horse or a tough show or a bad season is, in the grand scheme of things, not that big a deal–and keep plugging away.

But as much as we equestrians love our pity parties, it’s important to remember that our horses’ lives aren’t all apples and clover and sunshine either. We ask a lot of our animals–we train hard, we travel, we change up their routines, we mess with their diet, we demand that they honor our silly human requests. Just like they give us ulcers, we give them ulcers, too.

From the Kentucky Performance Products website:

The prevalence of gastric ulcer damage has been documented in 93% of horses in race training, in nearly 60% of other performance horses, and in 57% of all foals. Recreational horses and broodmares are also at risk.

A research project recently conducted on a band of broodmares at the University of California, Davis revealed that even though the mares had not been exposed to the conditions conducive to ulcers, the occurrence of ulcers in the mares was approximately 70%. Research done on recreational horses showed that ulcer formation can begin in a couple of days when horses are stressed due to travel or other seemingly minor changes in their routine.

Thankfully, there are great products on the market like Neigh-Lox.

Neigh-Lox’s unique patented formula aids in the maintenance of a normal stomach environment that reduces the risk of gastric ulcers. Long-acting Neigh-Lox neutralizes excess acid and coats the stomach lining for up to 8 hours.

I’ve used Neigh-Lox for two of my own ulcer-prone event horses with great success, so I feel confident recommending it. In both cases, after reading the signs–poor appetite, weight loss, horrifyingly bad dressage tests (which I’m sure had nothing to do with my riding, cough-cough)–and having them having scoped by the vet to confirm my suspicions, I shelled out hundreds of dollars to treat the ulcers with GastroGard–and after that, buddy, you better believe I was never going to chance letting them get ulcers again! I started them on Neigh-Lox straight away to ensure that once the ulcers were gone, they stayed gone.

In addition to original Neigh-Lox, Kentucky Performance Products now offers Neigh-Lox Advanced.

The Advanced formula combines the ingredients found in the original Neigh-Lox with a proprietary blend of fermentation solubles and Saccharomyces boulardii (a yeast). These ingredients work synergistically to support both a healthy foregut and hindgut. By maintaining a healthy gut, Neigh-Lox Advanced reduces the risk of gastric ulcers, colonic ulcers, diarrhea, and colic or laminitis resulting from hindgut imbalances. It also supports the healing of previously irritated or damaged tissue throughout the digestive tract.

Visit KPP’s website to learn about their full line of products for digestive health.

Now, if anyone knows of a product that will work similar magic for my own ulcers, please let me know!

Go Kentucky Performance Products, and Go Riding!