Of my own two horses, I decided to try Seabuck Equine on Riley. Riley had no digestive issues, but he was skinny, dull-coated, and just coming off a long stint of stall rest.
What is Sea buckthorn?
Sea buckthorn is a natural remedy-- a juice made from sea buckthorn berries. Its botanical name, Hippophae, means “bright shining horse.” It is said that the Greeks gave sea buckthorn leaves to their horses and noticed the coats of the horses turned shiny. There is a fair amount of literature on the chemical and nutrient makeup of sea buckthorn.
Sea buckthorn is high in vitamin C (12 times the vitamin c in an orange) and antioxidants. It contains over 180 compounds rich in flavones, lipids and omegas. Although these essential compounds are not uncommon or unique by themselves, the occurrence of all of them in a naturally balanced fruit is unusual. The supplier provided me with a certified analysis of the product (per fluid ounce). The typical dose is 3 ounces/day.
Riley's been getting this orange juicey liquid for over a month now. Here are some pix I took back in late March -- keep in mind this is his "winter coat" which is admittedly quite short. He was given a good brushing, but no conditioners, no bath. It was a gorgeous sunny day. I'm trying to be objective here, but Riley has never had a very impressive or bright coat. It took a lot of bathing and showsheen to prep him for a show. I'm very happy with how he looks in these photos.
Is there something I don't like about the product? Not really, although the container comes with a pump that makes it a little awkward to SHAKE WELL as the instructions indicate. They are coming out with a measuring cup that I think will work better.
RESOURCES
Seabuckthorn info from Purdue University (my alma mater!)
A health professional's guide to dietary supplements (section on seabuckthorn) in Google Books
A guide to understanding dietary supplements (section on seabuckthorn) in Google Books
Sea buckthorn from Wikipedia.org
Seabuckthorn info from Global facilitation unit on underutilized species
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Ooh, neat info! I'm interested in underutilized species and this was one I hadn't read about before. It says there are seabuckthorn based drinks in other parts of the world - anybody out there ever tasted it?
ReplyDeleteRiley looks lovely, just like showsheen.
great post on Sea Buckthorn. I went to their website but was unable to find the actual ingredients of the product.
ReplyDeleteDo you know what is in it? How much Sea Buckthorn is actually used? What are the other ingredients?
Many thanks (and thanks for your always-interesting blog)
Maria
It must be great to have such a product available, but I wonder wether it would 'disguise' any information a horse's coat would usually give us about his condition. As a student in veterinary medicine, I hear teachers at my university constatly tell me to always take a good look at a patiënt's coat, no matter what the cause is the owner called for. But then again, I can't think of any condition that has no symptoms except for a dull coat.
ReplyDeleteanon,
ReplyDeleteThis link is in my post under "what is seabuck equine," it's a certified analysis of the product.
https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B6Mr9-BO4V2PNTU5M2E0YWEtNTZhNC00ZGM3LThlMGQtZDAzZWUxZTg3Zjdh&hl=en%20
So, the real question is... will you keep Riley on it? Will you spend your money on it? I have a Tb mare and she always looks dull to me (healthy, but dull coat-wise).
ReplyDeleteWell, Hollyn, I'm undecided. I like what I think it does and Riley seems to like the taste. BUT, Riley started full training last month and that's quite a financial hit. I wish I had known about it when he was on stall rest -- would have used it then.
ReplyDeleteI'm looking at some ways to offset costs somehow, but supplements, and maybe even my longtime allegiance to Progressive feed is on the chopping block.