COURTESY OF AQHA CORPORATE PARTNER SMARTPAK EQUINE
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| AQHA Professional Horseman Jason Martin and Harley D Zip - 2008 senior western riding world champions. |
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| Team Wrangler Member Charlie Cole and Majestic Scotch - 2008 senior western riding reserve world champions. |
At High Point Performance Horses in Pilot Point, Texas, AQHA Professional Horsemen Charlie Cole and Jason Martin believe supplements are an important part of a horse’s health care regimen, helping to fill in nutritional gaps and providing extra support where each horse needs it.
Keeping a horse healthy and performing his best through a busy show season can be challenging. While there are many components that go into that, solid nutrition is definitely one of the most important. Having the right mix of hay, pasture and grain is important, but sometimes even that may not be enough for a hard-working show horse.
With the Ford AQHYA World Championship Show in full swing, we asked Charlie and Jason about the supplements they like to use on their show horses. Here’s what they said:
“Every horse at High Point gets a hoof supplement. We believe that investing in the health of your horses’ hooves is an important part of keeping them sound. As the saying goes ‘No Hoof, No Horse!’
“We also like to feed a daily dewormer to all of our horses to keep them in overall good health. Worm infestations can cause a slew of problems including a dull coat, weight loss and even colic. By simply feeding them a daily dewormer every day, our show horses are better protected from parasite infestation.
“During a busy show season, the horses’ joints get stressed more than ever, between heavy riding schedules and traveling, and it can sometimes be difficult to keep them sound. But using a regular joint supplement helps keep them moving good and lessens their stiffness and soreness.
“Many people aren’t aware of it, but research is showing that the majority of performance horses actually suffer from gastric ulcers. With the stresses that come from trailering to shows, heavy training and just the overall high-stress environments, especially at the big shows, show horses are definitely at risk.
“Ulcers can cause poor appetite, declining performance, irritability and even girthiness. Ulcer supplements are great for horses prone to ulcers and in those high stress environments. We’ve been amazed by the difference they’ve made in some of our horses’ performance and overall behavior.
“Lastly, nothing beats the look of a shiny, glossy coat in the show ring. A skin and coat supplement can help achieve a beautiful coat and keep your horse’s skin healthy – which is especially important hot summer weather with the bugs and threat of skin issues like sweat itch.
“When shopping for supplements, we look to SmartPak. Not only do they have more than 300 supplements to choose from, they also have a licensed pharmacy, and you can call them for information and advice on what supplements are right for your horse. They make it simple and easy, and we love that!”
SmartPak Equine is the official supplement feeding system of the American Quarter Horse Association. Their products include SmartSox, AQHA’s official hoof soreness supplement, and SmartTendon, AQHA’s official tendon support supplement.
As the Ford AQHYA World Championship Show rolls along – SmartPak is sponsoring the Journal’s Top Story page at aqha.com/showing and the Ford Youth World Internet Café on site in Oklahoma City.
