International Animal Health - Protexin & Horses

Stress associated with these activities disrupts the balance and activity of natural bacteria in the gut (microflora) and a breakdown in gut function can occur. Symptoms of intestinal dysfunction in performance horses include loss of appetite/picky eating, aggressive or irritable behaviour and loose manure. In severe situations, the horse's bowels may cease to work, increasing risk of colic.		Use of Protexin to combat stress Protexin plays a vital role in countering the effects of stress, by maintaining the necessary levels of beneficial microflora in the gut. Protexin also helps in maintaining appetite, improved absorption of vitamins, minerals and electrolytes, improving feed conversion and improving resistance to gut infection and disease.
Common causes of stress in performance horses include :- new stabling antibiotic use competition	training and exercise floating diet changes temperature extremes

"The better your horse handles the stress, the fitter he is at the finish! Even a horse as good as 'Jebel' needs a hand in a race as gruelling as the Marathon. It's why I put him on to Protexin from the start of training. Now, Protexin goes into the feed of all the horses I train.

"Thank you for your assistance in the recovery of my now 7 year old gelding 'Scobie'. You will recall that Scobie developed the scours whilst in work as a pacer. I immediately ceased his work and acting against certain advice to send him to the knackery, I decided to get his heath back to normal.

...... Scobie's condition deteriorated to the point where, should visitors arrive at my home, I would throw a horse rug over him to hide my shame. Then a friend told me they had heard of success in curing scouring problems with a new product called Protexin ...... Expecting miracles instantly, I was most disappointed, but by regularly inspecting his manure I noticed that occasionally, hidden therein would appear a few small lumps of correctly formed manure.

...... The decision to proceed with Protexin was made because I had noticed Scobie's health improving. The dullness was disapperaing from his coat, he no longer stood with his head close to the ground, his eyes were starting to brighten and his condition was improving.

...... Scobie now looks like a Prince and lives like a King. I can only thank Protexin for his recovery".

Stresses upon the spelling horse arise from dramatic changes in diet, environment and exercise regimes compared to when the horse was in training. All of these can have a negative impact on gut microflora and overall health of the horse.

The use of Protexin for spellers is recommended to aid the horse in its adjustments and to help stimulate faster recovery. Protexin should be fed continuously at maintenance levels to spelling horses.

Young horses, particularly those in training such as two year old racehorses, face very high levels of stress, having to cope with the demands of growth as well as training and racing. Not surprisingly, stress related disorders are common and one of the biggest challenges when training young horses is to keep them eating.

Protexin helps horse's appetites by maintaining a healthy digestive tract, as well as supporting the young horse's natural immune system, to help them face the most demanding period of their lives.

Broodmares, as well as coping with the stresses of pregnancy and lactation, provide the major source of bacteria which colonise the gut of newborn foals. When mares are fed probiotics, their faeces contain a balance of beneficial micro-organisms rather than potential pathogens.

Extensive research trials by Dr Michael Glade (USA) indicate that mares fed probiotics for six weeks prior to foaling, had foals which were 11cms taller and 21kgs heavier at eight weeks than foals from unsupplemented mares.

Feeding Protexin to broodmares before and after foaling is recommended to help minimise digestive upsets and the effects of stress, to help ensure a plentiful supply of colostrum and to improve milk quantity and quality.

Foals and other animals are born with a sterile gut which is colonised quickly after birth by many strains of bacteria. The ratio between the strains is important as both beneficial and harmful bacteria are present and if harmful bacteria dominate the microflora, foals can rapidly become very sick.

Protexin may be administered to foals immediately after birth to flood the gut with beneficial bacteria and aid in the establishment of a healthy gut microflora.

"I had a foal born last Friday. On Saturday it was scouring severely. 10ml of Protexin was administered orally. The next morning there was no sign of scouring and he was racing around doing circle work at a twenty degree angle. The hardest part now is to catch him. The treatment was continued for the full 5 days and the results are nothing short of amazing".

We use Protexin for the first five days for all of our foals and believe it to be critical for them to develop a healthy gut as early as possible.

Before we started using Protexin, particularly in the 1989 season, foal diarrhoea used to be quite a problem. These days we really only see scours in foals belonging to incoming mares who have only been at the stud a few days. Even foal heat scours is a thing of the past.

Since we have been using Protexin here at Hardwicke Stud our foals have been such healthy, happy little things, it has made our job much easier. Another thing we have noticed is that the foals have been much easier to handle and are much healthier overall since we started using Protexin".

"This last foaling season, we were lucky enough to breed one of the most exceptional colts we have ever seen. Unfortunately, this special individual developed a form of scours, which would not respond to any form of treatment available on the market. This became a life threatening problem for the colt with massive dehydration and complete loss of appetite. For three weeks we battled with the colt and when it became obvious that the prognosis was that the colt would not survive, we became aware of your new product Protexin and thought that we should at least give it a go.

Well, in the afternoon of the second day of treatment, the colt had noticeably brightened and was again suckling his mother. The scouring had decreased noticeably and with the texture of the discharge thickening. The third day, our colt showed signs of a complete recovery and has not looked back since.

Protexin brought this valuable colt back from the point of death, when nothing else would work. We are now convinced that this gentle and easy to use product is a necessity for any stud with young foals and cannot recommend it highly enough to all breeders. Thank you for developing such a remarkable product".

PERFORMANCE HORSES
The term includes :-	racing endurance show-jumping dressage reining	pacing/trotting eventing polo & polocrosse campdrafting and many others

	MULTI-STRAIN PROBIOTIC
A NEW WAY TO INTESTINAL GOOD HEALTH IN ALL HORSES