SmartEquine Supplement Review: Baby's First ColiCare™

Part of the Family

Hugo was a gentleman from his very first entrance into this world, politely making his arrival at 7:20 PM rather than the middle of the night on a warm March evening in 2024. He’s the first horse I bred and even if he hadn’t turned out to be kind, and smart, and handsome, he would have always held a special place in my heart for that reason. However, lucky for me, he did turn out to be all of those things, too.  

His dam, Emmy, has been in my life since she was a 3yo and I was even the one to start her under saddle. After her owner, a previous client of mine sadly passed Emmy found her way home to me. As a coming 6-year-old, she came back from New York to my farm in South Carolina after her first foal was weaned. She’s always been athletic and even had a visible ab line throughout her whole pregnancy, so I knew Hugo was going to come out just as special as her and I’m glad to say I wasn’t wrong. As he grew up and went through all his big firsts as a foal, I fell in love.  

To no one’s surprise, I ended up throwing out my original plan of selling him as a weanling to instead add him to the family for the foreseeable future and I feel validated every day with my choice with what a joy it is to have him around. Hugo is a personality. He follows me down the fence line in the mornings when I come out to feed. He helps clean stalls by picking up the pitchfork by the handles. He plays with the hose when it’s filling his water trough. He just wants to be involved and investigate everything that was happening. He’s such an ‘in your pocket’ kind of horse, my partner and fondly I refer to him as “our son”.  

Healthy, Happy Hugo

Once he was weaned and living with his “uncle” Harvey, my 12yo dressage horse, I knew I wanted to start treating him like the adult horse he was growing into. He already had ample access to grass and high-quality hay, so I wanted to keep it simple with his nutrition. That lead me to ColiCare™ and the peace of mind of the $15,000 of colic surgery reimbursement. Adding digestive support in autoship SmartPaks was a surefire way to help with any changes in hay, weather, or added stress that comes with growing up. 

Having managed the ColiCare claims process at SmartEquine (formerly SmartPak) for over a year, I had the ultimate inside scoop on how easy and straightforward it would be to file a claim should that day ever come. I also saw the responses from grateful customers who were able to give their best friends a second chance without having to worry about finances when making a difficult decision. My other horses are enrolled in ColiCare, too, so it was an easy choice to sign up Hugo as soon as he was weaned and eligible. 

As long as I have horses, I will have them enrolled in ColiCare. It’s the easiest thing I can do to make sure I can make a difficult decision a little easier should the time come.