Supplement Review: An Ode to SmartOsteo
Bone is quite literally make or break for a horse, and it’s one of the key areas I love to support for young horses. For my personal horse Truffles, I am a huge fan of the powerful ingredients included in SmartOsteo Pellets. Truffles is a two-year-old AQHA reining bred filly, with the body and definition to prove it. This sturdy and athletic little body is what made me decide on including additional bone support in her diet. There is only so much a baby horse can grow with the nutrition they are provided, and worrisome diseases such as OCD are always in the back of my mind when caring for a young horse.
SmartOsteo was not the first bone supplement I started Truffles on. Originally, she was receiving Bonafide by Hygain. She was on this supplement for most of last year. However, I started to reevaluate her program around the start of 2024. Given that Bonafide is a powder, and Truffles is a bit of a princess, we did have some issues with palatability. She is not a big fan of powders, and although she would eat her meals if they were wet down ultimately, she was not a fan. Also, around that time the horse world was alerted to Hygain closing their US market, which really put the pressure on me to find something to fit in our program!
In my search for a replacement for Bonafide I wanted to keep that Vitamin K ingredient as my guiding light to a new choice. Vitamin K is an essential nutrient for bone health, specifically laying down new healthy bone. It is most often found in fresh pasture, which is a rarity on Cape Cod where Truffles and I reside. Truffles has been in a dry lot since she moved here, and ensuring she is receiving enough Vitamin K to support her growing baby horse needs is an absolute necessity. Luckily for us, SmartOsteo Pellets contain that lovely Vitamin K ingredient, as well as several others! Once I dug into the details of the ingredient panel included, I was thrilled with what she was going to be receiving.
In addition to having Vitamin K similar to our previous supplement, SmartOsteo also contains Vitamin D. This was found in the Bonafide I was using, so I was thrilled to find it here too. Vitamin D plays a role in bone growth and maintenance by helping to manage the levels of calcium in the body. Young horses like Truffles can benefit from having Vitamin D supplementation to assist in bone remodeling and growth.
Beyond the original ingredients I had been looking for as a replacement to Bonafide, SmartOsteo has some excellent companions to support bone health. Classic tried and true ingredients like calcium, magnesium, zinc, and copper. All of which are essential to bone health as well as connective tissue health. Additionally, this supplement contains silica and collagen, both help maintain bone health by nourishing the bones as well as the tendons and ligaments surrounding them.
Finally, there is one ingredient in SmartOsteo that pulls all of these together in a very interesting way. Boron, provided in the form of the proprietary blend of Cinq-B, is a trace mineral that fills in a diverse role within the horse. It supports several areas such as bone growth and turnover, as well as a normal inflammatory response and wound healing. In the context of SmartOsteo, Boron is a really cool ingredient to include due to its involvement in the absorption and function of other nutrients. Calcium, magnesium, and vitamin D are all impacted by boron’s presence. By helping to enhance absorption and metabolism of these and other nutrients, boron plays a special role of tying everything together in SmartOsteo into one excellent powerful bone health package!
Truffles has been on SmartOsteo Pellets for several months now, and I am really thrilled with how this supplement fits into her program. For starters, it’s a pellet, so we no longer have to wet her feed and struggle with her being picky. She happily eats this supplement dry with no complaints! Beyond the issue of getting the supplement into her, I have noticed a few changes that I really appreciate. Particularly as she's been growing more even when she may be in the midst of an awkward downhill stage, she seems much more comfortable and rowdier than she has been in the past. Also, her growth has been much steadier. I’ve had several people who drop by to see her from time to time tell me that she has really grown in the past few months and is starting to look like a horse rather than a baby more and more!
All and all, SmartOsteo Pellets has really made an impact on my nutrition program for Truffles. It’s made my life easier to get her to eat her supplements and has given me the confidence that she is receiving great building blocks to lay down some healthy bone. I love knowing that the Vitamin K I was seeking is surrounded with complimentary ingredients, and that all those ingredients are backed with boron to make sure they are as effective as possible. I will be singing the praises of SmartOsteo for a while, but I really can’t say enough about how cool and supportive this bone supplement is!