If you’re just starting out with Rose-Hip Vital Equine, you’ve no doubt read about our recommended initial loading dose, which ensures your horse starts our programme with an added kick, and can enjoy the amazing benefits much sooner.
After this initial four-week period, your horse’s daily dose drops to a maintenance dose (we’ll have more information on how this all breaks down later on!). However, there may be times when you feel the initial loading period of four weeks isn’t enough time. Perhaps you’re not seeing your horse benefitting as quickly as expected, or perhaps your horse is recovering from injury, and four weeks isn’t long enough to assist with their recovery.
Rest assured that if you choose to carry on with the loading dose for an extended period of time, or you decide to re-introduce it later on down the track, it’s perfectly safe to do so.
Why we have a loading dose
Simply put, our loading dose is a system kickstarter. An enhanced initial dose ensures that your horse enjoys the benefits much sooner, and that you’ll be able to notice improvements much faster.
An independent study of sixteen randomly selected horses found that those initially fed the loading dose 50g of Rose-Hip Vital, experienced the benefits significantly faster than those horses only fed the maintenance dose 25g.
Periods of excessive exercise, which led to increased oxygen consumption, were also found to benefit from a higher dose of Rose-Hip Vital by the same study.
Based on the research, we recommended feeding the loading dose for the first four weeks. The loading dose is double the recommended daily maintenance dose for your horse, based on their weight range. For an average 500kg horse, this loading dose will be 50g, or 2 scoops (based on 10g per 100kg bodyweight). After four weeks, this dose drops to 25g, or 1 scoop (based on 5g per 100kg bodyweight).
We have a great calculator here to save you from doing the maths!
Why you might extend, or re-introduce, your horse's loading dose
After four weeks on our increased loading dose, most users will have already noticed an improvement in their horse’s general health and wellbeing.However, there may be situations where continuing with the loading dose for a while longer will be beneficial. Below we take a look at a few of the more common situations we come across, and why it’s ok to jump back up to a loading dose if this is the case for you.
The weather is cooler
For a horse that is out in the elements, the cooler months can be particularly impactful on their joints, increasing stiffness and limiting mobility.A single dose of Rose-Hip Vital Equine fuels your horse with over 31 naturally-occurring vitamins and minerals, as well as antioxidants, flavonoids and essential fatty acids. By boosting an already-significant intake of vitamins and antioxidants, your horse is able to benefit from improved mobility all year round.
Some studies even indicate that Vitamin C levels in a horse’s blood can drop by up to 25% in the cooler months of autumn.
Supplementing your horse’s diet during these cooler months with a loaded dose of Rose-Hip Vital Equine ensures they benefit from increased levels of antioxidants and naturally-occurring Vitamin C; a non-synthetic, bioavailable immunity-booster.
Your horse is recovering from exercise, training or competition
If your horse is in recovery, joints that have been under increased strain can benefit from a higher dose of Rose-Hip Vital Equine, as their system fights the white blood cells that accumulate around inflamed tissue. This excessive accumulation of white blood cells is what contributes to the cycle of inflammation, ultimately hindering your horse’s recovery.Increasing to the loading dose effectively doubles down on Rose-Hip Vital Equine’s inflammation-fighting properties, and allows your horse to mediate the increased strain on their joints, ultimately returning to full mobility much quicker.
Your horse is travelling for competition
Travelling to and from competition can put increased strain on your horse’s system. Some horses will even go off their feed after spending extended periods of time on the road.Increasing to the loading dose can ensure your horse’s vitamin and mineral intake is supplemented while travelling. Rose-Hip Vital Equine is also incredibly palatable to horses (we have an article describing how much they love the taste right here) and can act as an appetite stimulant. This ensures their diet doesn’t suffer on the road, leading to a weakened performance when it truly counts.
Your horse is older
Years of being exposed to natural elements, combating illness and injury, and undertaking performance and training, often means mature horses are more likely to suffer from increased joint strain and depleted overall wellbeing.Mature horses can benefit from increased anti-inflammatory support, and a loaded dose of Rose-Hip Vital Equine provides double the anti-inflammatory relief; as well as a bolstered dose of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and essential fatty acids.
Your horse is suffering from an advanced or severe condition
We often hear of horses suffering from severe immune-mediated or inflammatory conditions, and their owners are struggling to bring them some relief.Rose-Hip Vital is the exclusive provider of the inflammation-fighting galactolipid, GOPO®. By bolstering your horse’s intake of this powerful active compound, your horse can experience enhanced recovery from a vast range of inflammation-mediated conditions.
High levels of antioxidants and naturally-occurring vitamin C, a powerful antihistamine, also help to boost cell regeneration and improve your horse’s immune response.
Any situation of increased strain or stress
Rose-Hip Vital Equine is a powerful reliever of overall stress and strain, largely thanks to its powerful antioxidative and anti-inflammatory properties.
A double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of seventy-four horses, forty-four of which were given Rose-Hip Vital, found reduced instances of microtrauma following training, as well as increased levels of vitamin C in their blood for those horses on our exclusive GOPO® enhanced powder.
Instances of prolonged strain or stress can deplete your horse's natural supply of vitamin C. Supplementing this powerhouse vitamin in a non-synthetic way is essential in ensuring they experience it's healing powers much sooner.
How to decide on the right dose for your horse
When trying to decide whether or not to increase your horse’s dose of Rose-Hip Vital Equine, it’s important to keep in mind that Rose-Hip Vital Equine is a completely natural, plant-based product, with no known side-effects or contraindications. This means you’re at no risk of overdosing your horse on our product. Too much Rose-Hip Vital Equine will simply be excreted, which you’ll notice in the colour of their waste (it’ll be slightly orange!).
If you do decide that you’d like to increase their dose, but feel doubling it to the loading dose isn’t necessary, we recommend increasing only slightly and incrementally - and remember to monitor their mood, wellbeing and waste as you go.
Remember, if you still have any questions, or feel like your particular question wasn’t answered in this article, you can reach out to one of our customer service team members, who would be more than happy to answer any questions!
Want to learn more about the benefits of Rose-Hip Vital Equine? Learn more here.
