Ration Plus and The Horse Journal
Articles about Ration Plus by:
Horse-Journal Articles
John Lyon's Perfect Horse Articles
The Proof Is In The Pudding With Ration Plus
“For an overall choice of a prebiotic for your horse, we think your best choice is Ration Plus. This bacteria-based probiotic impresses us with its documented effectiveness and has been used in our test barns for years. We’ve found it especially helpful in reducing hay bellies, for low-grade colic and to combat diarrhea.”
Horse-Journal, May 2004 “The Proof is in The Pudding With ration Plus"
Citing the benefits of Ration PlusTM for Horses
“While the studies sounded good, we had to try it for ourselves to be convinced. We fed Ration Plus™ to eight horses and found improved body condition scores of at least .5 point in all the test horses (these horses were not ‘skinny’ to begin with, just prone to drop weight when stressed/heavily exercised). Three horses that were prone to bouts of low-grade colic became virtually colic free. We also saw improved appetite in just two to three days on Ration Plus™. We also noted a reduction in the appearance of ‘hay belly’ in horses on Ration Plus™.” - Horse Journal, February 1997, “Skinny Horse? We have Answers”, page 6
“We have seen obvious improvement in hay bellies within four to seven days of starting Ration Plus™ and complete disappearance of the hay belly within two weeks, without any change in feeding.”
- Horse Journal, March 1997, “Don’t be fooled by a Hay Belly”, page 22
“We love this stuff. Ration Plus™ gave us weight-gain and/or weight maintenance without any digestive upset. We like it for thin horses, older horses and hard keepers. It requires no change in a horse’s diet. It simply makes digestion more efficient and improves the benefits the horse receives from what he’s already eating, which in turn helps your horse gain weight.”
- Horse Journal, November 1997, 1997 Products of the Year@, page 20
“Ration Plus™, which encourages the growth of healthy population of normal intestinal bacteria, is effective in both prevention and treatment of colic and diarrhea.”
- Horse Journal, March 1998, “Spring Hints and Reminders”, page 19
“I had a skinny Arabian, so based on your suggestion, I added Ration Plus™ to his feed. He filled out in all the right places and didn’t get a hay belly.”
- Horse Journal, March 1998, Ask Mike, “Skinny Picky Eater”, page 22
“By all means keep up the Ration Plus™ also, it will get you maximal benefit from your diet. Good luck.”
- Horse Journal, March 1998, Ask Mike, “Skinny Picky Eater”, page 23
“Maintaining the health
of the intestinal tract is important in maximizing digestive
efficiency/avoiding upsets and colic. One of our favorites shines in
this department: Ration Plus™.”
-
Horse Journal, January 1999, “Creative Cuisine For The Older Horse”,
page 12
“In
fact, the case-history horse was fed a high-quality complete senior feed
but showed clear benefit in increased appetite and weight gain when he was given additional digestive enhancement in the form of Ration
Plus™.”
- Horse Journal, March
1999, Ask Horse Journal, “Complete Feeds For Seniors”, page 23
“...have had wonderful
response with Ration
Plus™.”
-
Horse Journal, May 1999, Ask Horse Journal, “Hooray for Reply”, page
24
“Ration Plus™ is our top
pick for a probiotic. As a probiotic supplement, we especially like
Ration Plus™ because it is heavily backed by solid research trials and
has never failed us in years of use. Since it is a liquid, it is easy
to give by syringe if the horse is not eating
well.”
-
Horse Journal, February 2000, “Finicky Eaters: Find Out Why”, pages
18-20
“Ulcer Support
Products...Ration Plus™ proved to be a good supplement for our ulcer
test horses.”
“Old-favorite Ration
Plus™ also proved a good supplement for our test horses. It helped
control lower-tract symptoms in horses that responded only partially to
the anti-ulcer
preparations.”
-
Horse Journal, October 2000, “Ulcer Solutions Are Plentiful”, page 3-7
“Ration PlusTM,
our favorite probiotic, has proven useful in controlling intermittent
stress—type diarrhea, such as from competition or shipping, when used at
a higher dose of 10 cc/day for three days prior to the anticipated
stressful event. We saw good results in three chronic diarrhea cases,
exact cause undetermined, using initial high doses of 10 cc twice a day
for five days, decreasing to 10 cc once a day for five days then five
cc/day maintenance.”
-
Horse Journal, August 2001, “Staying On Top Of Things”, page 22
“Probiotics are strongly
indicated for these horses. A study done with one of our favorites,
Ration Plus, showed 108.5% greater weight gain in mustangs recently
brought in off the range when fed Ration Plus on their hay rations.”
- Horse Journal, October
2001, “Starvation Recovery”, page 18
“Ration PlusTM
will help him use these feeds most efficiently and eliminate the need
for all that fat.”
- Horse Journal, January
2002, “Can Tiny Become An Easy Keeper?”
“Regular use of Ration PlusTM will help keep your horse’s population of hay-digesting microorganisms at good levels so that he gets the most benefit from his hay.”
- Horse Journal, January 2002, “Hay For Older Horses”, page 20
“We would also start her on Ration Plus, beginning at about 10 cc/day for a week then dropping to 5 cc/day. This will help establish a good population of beneficial organisms in her large bowel.”
- Horse Journal, June 2002, “Wet Manure”, pages 21-22
“Improving the efficiency of fiber digestion by supporting the microorganisms in the large bowel also often leads to weight gain. We would recommend Ration Plus.”
- Horse Journal, September 2002, “Horse Needs To Gain Weight”, page 21
“If the horse isn’t holding his weight well, or regaining, on hay alone, try boosting his digestive efficiency for hay with Ration PlusTM.”
- Horse Journal, October 2002, “Make The Most Of Your Horse’s Winter Break”, page 17-18
“Adding a probiotic, like Ration PlusTM, to the horse’s diet can increase that nutritional efficiency, helping him manufacture and maintain the balance of microorganisms he needs for fiber digestion. With Ration PlusTM, we’ve found the horse gets more out of the food he eats – just what some struggling older horses’ need.”
- Horse Journal, February 2003, “Does Your Older Horse Need A ‘Senior’ Feed?”, pages 3-6
“Intestinal function was further supported by Ration PlusTM.”
- Horse Journal, February 2003, “Colostrum Rescues Sasha”, pages 19-20
“Adding a probiotic, like Ration Plus™ to the horse’s diet can increase that nutritional efficiency, helping him manufacture and maintain the balance of microorganisms he needs for fiber digestion. With Ration Plus, we’ve found the horse gets maore out of the food he eats – just what some struggling older horse’s need.”
- Horse Journal, February 2003, “Does Your Older Horse Need A “Senior” Feed?”, page 3
Adding Ration Plus™ you can dribble it over her hay - is also a good idea, to help maximize hay utilization and prevent any excess gas.
- Horse Journal, May 2003, “Ask Horse Journal”, “Loose Manure”, page17,18.
“Supplementing with Ration Plus™ can also improve digestive efficiency”
- Horse Journal, May 2003, “Ask Horse Journal”, “Seniors and Sugar”, page19.
John Lyon’s Perfect Horse
Articles
Citing the benefits of Ration PlusTM for Horses
“There are many products available. One we especially like is called ‘Ration Plus.’ It contains no organisms but is designed to encourage growth of the beneficial ‘bugs’ in the intestine and it works.”
- John Lyon’s Perfect Horse, January 1997, Dear John: “Lean Times”, page 30
“Another product we recommend is Ration Plus™, a dark brown fluid. It contains no live bacteria but is obtained by a special process from cultures of rapidly dividing beneficial bacteria. This product encourages the growth of all species of normal and helpful bacteria. It is well accepted and economical.”
“However, yogurt and probiotics contain limited numbers of organisms and in far less variety than is present in normal manure. A combination of access to normal manure and use of Ration Plus™, which will help greatly in getting the organisms established, is an inexpensive and effective way to manage this problem.”
- John Lyon’s Perfect Horse, March 1997, “The Orphaned Foal”, page 24
“The most common cause of chronic diarrhea is an imbalance in the organisms inhabiting the intestinal tract. Ration Plus™ helps create an environment conducive to the growth of healthy bacteria. Use of probiotic products may also help with chronic diarrhea cases. However, many of these contain limited numbers of bacterial species, some only one. We have found a better approach is to use Ration Plus™, since it encourages the growth of the beneficial bacteria, allowing the normal variety to repopulate the intestines.”
- John Lyon’s Perfect Horse, January 1998, “Diarrhea Dangers”, page 14
“You should also start the horse on Ration Plus™, which is excellent for encouraging the growth of ‘friendly’ organisms in the intestine.”
- John Lyon’s Perfect Horse, July 1998, Dear John, “Chronic Problems”, pages 31-32
“You should also use a digestive enhancer like Ration Plus™ to improve the efficiency of digestion, and we suggest boosting antioxidant vitamins and minerals.”
- John Lyon’s Perfect Horse, January 2000, “Anemic Old Pony”, pages 31-32
“We looked at eight probiotic products, and compared them in terms of effectiveness and price for that effectiveness. Our bottom-line recommendation is Ration Plus™. It is the only product backed up with formal research in horses, and it is inexpensive.”
- John Lyon’s Perfect Horse, November 2000, “Probiotics to the Rescue”, pages 18-21
“You can help...by using
a good probiotic, which encourages the growth of healthy bacteria in the
gut and aids digestion (See Probiotics to the Rescue, November ’00,
in which we recommended Ration
Plus.”
- John Lyon’s Perfect Horse, March 2001, “Spring Pastures:
Delicious but Deadly?”, page 13
“Feeding probiotic products like Ration PlusTM will help the horse get the most from his diet, enhancing his digestion process.
- John Lyon’s Perfect Horse, August 2002, “Head Off Founder In Old Horses”, pages 7-10
“We prefer Ration PlusTM to feeding live organisms because it works by making the large bowel a more favorable place for beneficial organisms to grow. It’s also the only product we’ve found that has studies that actually prove it improves weight gain.”
- John Lyon’s Perfect Horse, December 2002, “Helping Ol’ Slim”, pages 6-10
“Before considering grain, make sure you have already tried feeding your horse free-choice hay (clean hay in front of him 24/7) and tried a good digestive enhancer like Ration PlusTM.”
- John Lyon’s Perfect Horse, February 2003, “Lyons On: Does Your Horse Need Grain?”, page 21
