Learn about the benefits of our new, competition-safe Bute-Less® Performance from our very own team members and their beloved horses. We report on how Bute-Less® Performance improved the comfort of horses from different disciplines and with a range of health concerns
All of Absorbine® is abuzz about Bute-Less® Performance Comfort and Recovery Supplement for horses. It’s a revolutionary show-safe supplement to relieve inflammation associated with training and competition, support GI tract heath and recovery from gastric distress, support muscle recovery and protect your horse from free radical damage! Sounds too good to be true, but it is.
Our revolutionary show-safe supplement stars Longvida® SD1 Optimized Curcumin. You’ve heard of curcumin, the compound from the spice turmeric, which is becoming widely popular in humans for encouraging a normal inflammatory response in the body. And we all know how important inflammation can be, even for GI tract health. Now it’s tempting to just buy a jar of turmeric at the supermarket and supplement with it. Unfortunately, that won’t do much for you, or your horse. This is because curcumin is incredibly hard for the body to absorb, so you’d need to eat buckets of it to feel the effect. Enter Longvida® SD Optimized Curcumin. Scientists at U.C.L.A., California, patented a version of curcumin which is absorbed 65 times more easily than straight curcumin. And their research shows the results of this formulated curcumin, read some of it here. Absorbine® is the first to formulate this amazing ingredient into a pelleted supplement for your horse. We’ve also included perfect amounts of Boswellia, Yucca and MSM to round out this amazing supplement. And no, it does not taste or look like the spice turmeric! These are lovely green pellets with a tasty alfalfa base.
We’ll have some comprehensive research on horses to share later, but now we’d like to share some field test subjects and our own experiences with Team Absorbine horses!
Bute-Less® Performance Initial Field Test Results
Breed: Morgan
Age: 16
Sex: Gelding
Discipline: Recreation/Trail ride
Owner Report – Betty & Beamer:
“Early May 2016 my horse Beamer was showing signs of lameness – he is typically a sure-footed horse, and even in his hay day as a high level show horse he never any issues of lameness. I called the vet right out to get a diagnosis, he looked him over and did some lameness testing by trotting him off, we quickly were able to tell that Beamer was favoring his left front – trotting off a little hingy. Being that he is a Morgan and prone to Cushing’s and IR issues, we ran an insulin resistance (IR) test to see if perhaps that was the cause of the lameness, the vet drew the blood for the test, but she also hoof tested him and found that he was sensitive on his left front toe – the vet started digging for an abscess and could not find anything. We had to wait for the blood work to come back to make a diagnosis but in the meantime he prescribed putting him on 1 gram of bute twice a day for 10 days, also that he be moved to a dry lot with NO grass (thinking the high sugar levels in grass was the cause) – and immediately put on 1st cut hay which is a little a more course and weedy than other cuttings – no more grain – to feed him his supplements he suggested putting him on a hay stretcher.
A week later he was still not feeling any better, he was actually moving worse, moving more laminitic and straight legged. I called the vet to come out again – he mentioned the IR test came back and Beamer was positive for IR but NOT Cushings. I had a sneaky suspicion that it was Lyme, and not just attributed to the IR – I have always tried to prevent IR by putting him on the Quiessence supplement which helps with blood sugar levels, he is also on Thyro-L – he was fed Carb Safe pellets and was on 2nd cut hay – which is more grassy and has more nutrients. The vet came out again, this time he brought his X-ray machine – took X-rays and saw he has rotation in his coffin bone which means he foundered in both front feet– he immediately prescribed 3 cc’s of Acepromazine which helps in the circulation – to circulate blood to the hooves – twice a day as well as to continue with the bute regime – cold hosing his fronts legs helped as well. With my persistence of thinking his founder was related to Lyme – the vet also drew blood for Lyme and the result came back that he was a strong positive for Lyme as well.
The following Monday my farrier came out – removed his shoes – squared off his toe to relieve the pressure from the rotation – he then reversed his shoe and since he rotated more on his right front than his left he welded a frog support which looks like a “W” shoe – see below – not actual shoe – but similar.
After the farrier came out I started a regime of cold hosing his front legs at night and added Magic Cushion hoof packing. Not wanting to have my horse on Bute for that long of a time since it is known to cause gastric issues, I waited until after the 10 days of Ace was up and against the Vet’s advice (since he didn’t have any luck with clients using Bute-Less® before) I took Beamer off Bute and put him on the Bute-Less® Performance – carefully monitoring him. Within 2 weeks he started walking better and moving more normally and within a month of him being diagnosed as having foundered he was sound again and we were back on the trails – just lightly riding at the walk. The vet initially told me it would be about a year before he was usable again if that, and that he might never be back to top performance.
The question of WHAT caused him to founder is unknown – but many things could have attributed to it: – him testing positive for IR and also testing a strong positive for Lyme – but also in the beginning of May we had 7 days of rainy & cold weather – the grass was starting to develop in his pasture – the rainy & cold weather is the perfect situation for the grass to come in very high in sugar/starches. Any of these elements separately could have caused the founder or all of them combined could have certainly caused it. He is now back on pasture – and receives 1oz Bute-Less® Performance once a day with his supplement regimen. ”
Breed: Dutch Warmblood
Age: 27
Sex: Gelding
Discipline: Dressage schoolmaster
Owner report: Suzanne & Kalisto
“Kalisto is an older Dutch Warmblood gelding with a history of laminitis who is used in my dressage lesson and training barn. I use him 3-4 times per week to give lessons to adult students. As he has gotten older, he has become more stiff and sore but we have been able to manage his comfort with careful riding, 24/7 turnout, close monitoring of his feed, regular trimming of his feet, and bute as needed. This past winter, he had a severe flare up of laminitis on his right front foot. There were days where he could not even walk as the pain was too severe. We iced his feet, packed him in Magic Cushion®, put him in orthopedic hoof boots, and started administering 2 grams of bute per day.
Amy had mentioned that Absorbine® was working on a new Bute-Less® Performance supplement that used curcumin and yucca and that it might be worth trying on Kalisto. We started him on the supplement and also continued to find better ways to support his right front foot with pads and trimming. After about a week, we noticed that Kalisto was walking much better and was able to move freely about his pasture. His appetite also returned and he was more himself again. We continued to keep him on the supplement and after another 2 weeks, Kalisto was back to be ridden under saddle. Kalisto now receives the Bute-Less® Performance every day and is back to full work and looking and feeling better than ever before. He is as sound as a now 30 year-old horse is going to be and is back to bossing around the other horses, running in his pasture, and teaching adult riders all about dressage. I can’t thank you enough for letting us try this supplement. It has made all the different in keeping our old guy happy and comfortable.”
Breed: Thoroughbred
Age: 9
Sex: Gelding
Discipline: Eventing
Owner Report – Sara and Hobbes:
“Hobbes is a 9-year-old Thoroughbred event horse in training at the beginner novice/novice level. Because he is a retired racehorse, he has always been a little stiff, and last year a veterinarian advised that his hocks could potentially need injections. He was also treated for “strong positive” Lyme in 2014 and 2015, it’s unclear how long he had it before the diagnosis but that could also be a contributor to his stiffness. Hobbes receives Flex+Max® daily, which clearly helps his joints. Hobbes is generally a willing horse with a good work ethic, he is naturally energetic and good natured but this spring I was having trouble bringing him back into work after having most of the winter off. There was not a single issue that I could identify, he just seemed generally resistant to moving forward and bending, and his attitude was also more disgruntled than usual – it all seemed to point to general discomfort.
After a couple of months and a little progress, I decided to try Bute-Less® Performance – I noticed a difference in less than a week. After about three days on Bute-Less® Performance his gaits were freer, he was much more willing to move forward and he started carrying himself better. After about a month on Bute-Less® Performance I took him off of it as a test and noticed a huge difference – he was stiffer and resistant again, just not moving forward as willingly, and he was back on Bute-Less® Performance within a week. I had not had a lesson with my instructor since late fall 2015, and in our first lesson in early June she noticed a big difference with how he was moving and commented that he was actually trying harder than she had seen last fall when he had been in more consistent work – I attribute this to his being more comfortable.
An unexpected result has been that his stomach also seems to be more comfortable. I had suspected ulcers over the winter and treated him accordingly, but about two months after finishing the treatment I started noticing marks on his sides where he had been biting or scratching at his stomach – generally a sign of stomach irritation. I have not noticed these marks in several weeks and the only thing that has changed is the addition of Bute-Less® Performance to his nightly feed. He will definitely be staying on Bute-Less® Performance!”
Breed: Appendix Quarter Horse
Age: 17
Sex: Gelding
Discipline: Eventing
Owner report:
I had the opportunity recently to try your Bute-Less® Performance product. I have a 17-year-old Quarter Horse Appendix. While both he and I try to stay fit, it does take him a bit longer to warm up to activity. Within the first week of adding Bute-Less® Performance to his diet, I noticed he wasn’t as stiff when we started out. He now seems to be moving freely and forward much sooner than our typical warm-up time.
I believe this product makes a difference and allows my boy to stay a fit and active senior!
Breed: Rheinland Pfalz-Saar International
Age: 10
Sex: Gelding
Discipline: Dressage
Owner Report – Amy and Degas:
“Degas GGF is a 11 year-old RPSI gelding in dressage training. Late this spring, I noticed that Degas seemed stiffer to the right and was not moving as freely as he usually does. He just seemed a bit sore and slightly uncomfortable. We had been increasing the intensity of his training as we worked towards the upper levels of dressage, but we always strive for happy athletes and so I wanted to find a way to help him feel better while we trained and competed. However, I did not want to put Degas on bute as he has a very sensitive gastrointestinal tract and I was concerned about the negative effects bute would have. Bute-Less® was also not an option as we compete in USEF and USDF recognized horse shows. Even though he is a younger horse, I decided to try Degas on Bute-Less® Performance. After two days, I could not believe how much more supple and free Degas was moving under saddle. He was a completely different horse! Instead of grabbing and holding the right rein and blocking himself on that side of his body, he was loose and flexible. He was paying attention and happy to work. The only change was adding the Bute-Less® Performance.
Additionally, Degas used to get antsy when I tightened his girth as we tacked up. I also noticed after a couple days on Bute-Less® Performance, this behavior went away. He now stands quietly while I tighten his girth and he has had no GI issues whatsoever while on Bute-Less® Performance. I have been very pleased with the results I have seen with Degas on the Bute-Less® Performance and am very happy that I have something that I can give him to help him feel his best while also being legal to show with.”
If you are interested in a revolutionary new supplement to relieve inflammation associated with training and competition, support GI tract heath and recovery from gastric distress, support muscle recovery and protect your horse from free radical damage, click here to learn more, but it online or find a store! Bute-Less® Performance. It’s new, from Absorbine® “The Horse World’s Most Trusted Name®.”
