Congratulations to Rachel Larman and her horse Mystic Kid, the drawing winners in the New Year, New Horse contest.

Their grand prize is a 60-day supply of SUCCEED®, 10-pack starter kit, and access to the Challenge’s online diary to track their progress.

Rachel and Mystic are officially competing in their first 25-mile endurance race in May and are looking forward to letting SUCCEED® help get Mystic in tip-top shape. Here is the New Year’s resolution Rachel and Mystic submitted for the contest:

Get my horse as comfortable as possible inside and out…then do our first 25 mile endurace ride! We have the tack…and almost have the inside worked out. He’s a very sensitive guy and is also stoic. It’s sometimes really hard to tell what’s going on with him. He have a huge heart and would do anything for me. Can’t ask for a better horse.

We wish both Rachel and Mystic and all the contest participants our very best for a healthy and successful 2012!

Take the Challenge

Didn’t win the contest but still interested in trying SUCCEED®? You can sign-up for the SUCCEED Challenge right now and try it for your horse’s healthier 2012. With the purchase of a 60-day supply, you will receive a FREE 10-pack starter kit, FREE shipping, and a money-back guarantee if you aren’t satisfied with the results.

**The New Year, New Horse Contest is now closed for submissions. Thanks to all who participated! We will be compiling the entries, drawing the winner randomly, and announcing it here within the next few days. Be sure to subscribe to the blog so you don’t miss the big announcement!**

Your horse wants to be healthier in 2012. Resolve to make it happen. And you could win a free registration to the SUCCEED® Challenge.

If your horse had to make a New Year’s Resolution, what would it be?

Something tells us your horse’s goals for 2012 probably wouldn’t include mastering a flying change or improving a competition score. Maybe your mare has always been jealous of her stall mate’s muscled topline and dappled coat – and wants this to be the year she gets one of her own. Or perhaps your gelding is tired of feeling slightly under the weather and wants to commit to a healthier 2012.

Whether it’s getting that bit of extra bloom, finally kicking a health issue once and for all, or taking it to the next level under saddle – your horse’s healthy 2012 begins inside where wellness finds its roots in the equine digestive tract.

This month, your horse could win a free 60-day supply of SUCCEED® Digestive Conditioning Program® to jumpstart him on the path to a healthier, more successful 2012.

Win a FREE SUCCEED Challenge Registration with 60-Day Supply

By entering your horse in the New Year, New Horse Contest, you are eligible to win a free registration to the SUCCEED® Challenge – a $179.95 value. You will receive:

• 60-day supply of SUCCEED® Digestive Conditioning Program®
• Free 10-pack starter kit of SUCCEED® oral paste (for the initial loading dose)
• Free shipping
• Access to a simple online diary for tracking your horse’s progress

No strings attached.

How To Enter the New Year, New Horse Contest

Visit the New Year, New Horse Contest entry page to submit your official entry by January 31, 2012.

You must include:

• a photo of your horse
• a short (100 words or less) paragraph written from your horse’s perspective telling us about his/her 2012 New Year’s Resolution

And that’s it!

A winner will be drawn randomly and announced in early February.

One submission per person. However, you CAN earn two additional drawing entries by sharing the contest with your friends on Twitter or Facebook. (Total of three entries for the drawing.) Facebook and Twitter entries are not valid without an official contest entry.

• Facebook entry, “Like” our page, and tag SUCCEED Digestive Conditioning Program in your wall post.
• Twitter entry, “Follow” SUCCEEDEquine and be sure to tag @SUCCEEDEquine in your Tweet.

Read the complete New Year, New Horse Contest terms here. Open to US residents only.

About SUCCEED Digestive Conditioning Program

SUCCEED® is an all-natural feed supplement designed to improve the overall health and function of the equine digestive tract – all the way from mouth to tail. Its specially-processed ingredients work holistically to improve nutrient absorption, remove harmful pathogens, and strengthen the structure and function of the equine digestive tract – promoting general wellness and helping avoid serious health issues.

Learn more about SUCCEED®:

• Ingredients
• Horses who need SUCCEED®
• Health benefits
• Performance benefits

Following a year of modification and testing, the SUCCEED® Equine Fecal Blood Test™ (FBT) is being re-introduced at the 2011 AAEP Convention in San Antonio. The advanced diagnostic tool for equine digestive health conditions, including gastric and colonic ulcers, is scheduled to commence shipping in early December, 2011. The product is sold exclusively through veterinarians.

The SUCCEED FBT is a two-part lateral flow immunoassay. Taken together, results from the two parts of the FBT can provide veterinarians with a clearer view of digestive tract pathologies, and can help localize their source. This makes the SUCCEED FBT a strongly differ¬ential diagnostic aid.

“We are very excited about the release of the new SUCCEED FBT,” said John Hall, President of Freedom Health, manufacturers of the product. “We believe the FBT is a truly revolutionary product that gives veterinarians a much clearer picture of the digestive health of their equine patients. Without it, veterinarians have to rely on scoping with a 3-meter endoscope just to see the stomach, leaving the colon a figurative ‘black box.’”

Equine ulcers are a significant concern. Significant research over the last 20 years has shown that gastric ulcers can afflict up to 90% of horses in some cases. A study published in 2005 revealed an incidence of 63% colonic ulcers in performance horses. Ulcers have also been shown to affect horse behavior and performance, and may be complicit in some colic cases.

The SUCCEED FBT utilizes antibodies to detect occult – or non-visible – components of equine blood in a fecal sample, which may result from gastric or colonic injury. Test A detects occult equine albumin, and Test H detects the presence of occult hemoglobin. A positive Test A suggests hindgut injury, such as colonic ulceration. A positive Test H result, in conjunction with a negative Test A result, suggests foregut injury, such as gastric ulceration.

The antibodies in the FBT were calibrated to detect within a specified range of sensitivity such that a positive result reflects a true pathological condition. “The sensitivity of the SUCCEED FBT antibodies has been enhanced compared to the previous version of the product,” said Franklin Pellegrini, DVM, VP – Veterinary Science at Freedom Health. “This will ensure more consistently accurate results for the veterinarians who use it.”

The new SUCCEED FBT was tested to validate its accuracy as a reliable indicator of gastric and colonic conditions. Test results were compared with visual observations of gastric and colonic tissue sample from cadavers of 178 equine subjects immediately post-necropsy. The results showed a positive predictive value of 95% for Test A, and 97% for Test H. Both had a p-value of less than 0.05. Details of this research will be available on the website at www.SucceedFBT.com.

SUCCEED® Equine Fecal Blood Test™ is produced and distributed exclusively by Freedom Health LLC of Aurora, Ohio. The company is focused on finding, perfecting and delivering superior, innovative products that address real and significant health-related issues for animals and the people who care for them. For further information on the product, visit the SUCCEED Equine Fecal Blood Test website.

The entire SUCCEED crew would like to extend a hearty congratulations to our very own Courtney Ryan for her AQHA World Championship win in Amateur Hunter Under Saddle with home-bred horse Fabulicity.

This win comes on the heels of a 2011 NSBA World Championship as well.

Fabulicity is a 3-year-old mare bred and owned by her mother’s (Nancy Sue Ryan) Show Stop Farm. Fabulicity began her career with a 5th place finish in the Master’s Hunter Under Saddle last fall and since has been competing with Courtney throughout the 2011 season. Courtney has several World Championships in Showmanship, but this is her first Hunter Under Saddle World title.

Fabulicity is a third-generation Show Stop Farm horse; her sire Fabuluke and grandsire Luke At Me were both competed by Nancy Sue.

“It’s especially nice to get to know them when they are babies and then as show horses,” Courtney says. ”I was really proud of her last night. Sometimes she has a little bit of a hard time in the holding tank, but as soon as we made it into the chute she was all business. She really let me push her around the pen and show what she is made of.”

Nancy Sue and Courtney have kept the Show Stop Farm horses, including Fabulicity, on SUCCEED® for several years.

“We do so much with the horses, it’s the least we can to do make them look good, feel good, and perform well,” says Courtney. “Horses enjoy it, like it, look great on it, ride great on it, are more comfortable on it, and are more agreeable.”

Congratulations again Courtney and Fabulicity!

It’s not the first time we’ve said it, and it definitely won’t be the last: colic is, for the majority of horse men and women, among the greatest health concerns for their horses.

Of over 1,000 horsemen who participated in an online poll by The Horse magazine, 42.82% listed colic as their top concern. Wounds/trauma, Illness/Disease, and an all-encompassing “Other” were far behind, at less than 10% each.

Colic is not an unnecessary worry for horse owners – it’s a very real threat. Continuing research shows that colic is largely a hindgut issue that can have roots in the way we feed and care for our horses today.

Our VP of Veterinary Medicine, Frank Pellegrini, DVM, is passionate about how modern feed practices (particularly use of concentrates/grains, restricted turnout, and large mealsfed intermittently) negatively affect the hind gut. His study, published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal, proved the common existence of colonic ulcers that are likely a result. Dr. Pellegrini also has some concrete theories about the relationship between colonic ulcers and re-occuring bouts of colic.

Holistic Horse Magazine published Frank’s article, Recurrent Colic: Thoughts on Cause and Prevention, in their September 2011 issue. Be sure to check out the article as well as Holistic Horse’s great compilation of information on natural, alternative care for horses.