Vitamin E? Yes, Please!

So with nothing but the truly ineffective search term "Sidewinders," I started scouring the internet for any information. I knew that it is a neurological disorder, so I started looking into equine neurology.

Regardless of the specific neurological diagnosis, almost everyone I spoke to, stalked online, read about or contacted, recommended a huge dose of Vitamin E. How MUCH E?

A usual dose found in an overall multi supplement is about 1,000 IU
An increased dose for a performance horse is 2,500 IU
Want to get serious about E because you are riding in the Olympics? Give 5,000 IU
The recommended dose for Bluehorse? 10,000 IU A DAY.

That's a lot of E.

So I bought Elevate because I heard good things. But this is a powder, and each scoop is 1,000 IU. So he needs 10 scoops a day.

Did I mention Blue is like a drug sniffing dog? There was NO WAY he was going to even consider eating that. I didn't want to throw him off his feed in addition to all the other problems we were having, so....

I found that Smart Pak (which I had never used before) has not only a natural E supplement, but that it comes in pellets! PELLETS! (Someone please kiss the person who came up with this). It is important to note that not all Vitamin E supplements are created equal. Synthetic E is hard for horses to absorb, which makes it much less effective. Natural E, on the other hand, is made for absorption. My vet confirmed - Smart Pak Vitamin E pellets are all natural E.

Get it here: https://www.smartpakequine.com/ps/vitamin-e-pellets-by-smartpak-8917

I give 5,000 IU twice a day and mixed in with his sweet feed/senior pellet mix, he never even sees it coming.

Smart Paks come pre-measured in little plastic containers. They even sent me a two-drawer storage system which I kind of pooh-poohed until I realized that raccoons, cats and other horses can't get into it, it keeps the dust off of everything, and it keeps me organized, which is a real bonus.

AND (really I promise Smart Pak isn't paying me for this) they write the BEST emails ever (very cute and funny) and they save all Blue's information in the system so changes can be made pronto. Everything comes with Blue's name on it and mine so no searching for a Sharpie at the barn. We are on the subscription plan, so the stuff just ships out to me every month and I don't even think about it.

BOOM. Vitamin E for neurological health. Done.