Best Horse Supplements UK: What Your Horse Actually Needs

Walk into any equine feed merchant and you'll find shelves of supplements promising everything from glossier coats to calmer temperaments to stronger hooves. But do horses actually need supplements? And if so, which ones? Here's a practical guide for UK horse owners.

Start With the Forage

Before reaching for supplements, it's worth understanding that most horses in light to moderate work can meet their nutritional needs through good quality forage (hay, haylage, or fresh grass) combined with a broad-spectrum vitamin and mineral supplement or balancer. Supplements should fill genuine gaps in the diet, not replace good forage management.

If you're feeding a complete compound feed at the recommended rate, you're likely already getting adequate vitamins and minerals without needing to add more. Over-supplementing is both wasteful and potentially harmful.

Joint Supplements

Joint supplements are the most popular category for horses in the UK — particularly for older horses, those in hard work, or those with a history of joint issues. The most researched ingredients are:

• Glucosamine — supports cartilage production. Most research uses 10,000mg+ daily doses
• Chondroitin — works alongside glucosamine to maintain cartilage integrity
• MSM (methylsulfonylmethane) — a source of bioavailable sulphur, widely used in equine joint care
• Hyaluronic acid — supports joint fluid viscosity

For horses showing early stiffness or in high-impact work (jumping, eventing, racing), a quality joint supplement is a reasonable investment.

Hoof Supplements

Poor hoof quality — slow growth, crumbling walls, white line issues — is often nutritional in origin. The key nutrient for hoof health is biotin, typically supplemented at 15–20mg per day. Results take time (hooves grow slowly) so allow 6–9 months before assessing effectiveness. Methionine and zinc are also important supporting nutrients.

Airways and Breathing

Autumn and winter are when breathing problems surface, and the cause is usually management rather than the horse. More hours stabled, dustier bedding, hay that has been stored since summer and less air moving through the building all arrive at once.

The cheap changes are the effective ones, so make those first: soak or steam hay, move to a dust-extracted bedding, and be honest about ventilation — a stable can be too snug. Where you have done all that and still want support, the usual ingredients are menthol, eucalyptus and aniseed for the airways themselves, alongside antioxidants such as vitamin C.

We keep Equine America Airways as a powder and a solution, Global Herbs Airway Plus, and Dodson & Horrell Breathe Free. For field-kept horses, or anywhere you would rather not add another scoop to the feed, a Horslyx Respiratory lick does the same job and they help themselves.

A cough that persists, nasal discharge, or any change in breathing at rest is a vet’s job, not a supplement’s.

Calming Supplements

Magnesium deficiency is thought to contribute to anxiety and excitability in some horses, particularly those on high-sugar grass. Magnesium supplementation is one of the most commonly tried approaches for fizzy horses. Other ingredients used in equine calming products include L-tryptophan, valerian (note: valerian is a prohibited substance in competition) and B vitamins.

Results vary significantly between individuals. If your horse's excitability has a sudden onset, always rule out pain, tack fit and management factors before assuming it's nutritional.

If you do want to try one, Global Herbs SuperCalm is the herbal route and comes as a powder or a liquid, while magnesium-based products are the other common approach. Give whichever you pick a fair run — most are built to be fed over weeks rather than on the day it matters.

Gut Supplements

Horses are designed to trickle-feed and are susceptible to digestive issues including ulcers and hindgut disturbance. Prebiotics (fructooligosaccharides, MOS), probiotics and yeast cultures are commonly added to equine feeds to support hindgut health. These are particularly relevant during dietary changes, antibiotic use, or periods of stress.

Psyllium husk is the other one worth knowing about. It is fed in short courses to help move sand and grit through the hindgut, which matters most on sandy ground or where horses graze tight pasture and take in soil along with the grass. We keep Global Herbs Psyllium Husks, and NAF do one as well.

When to Consider a Balancer

If your horse is a good-doer that maintains weight on forage alone but still needs vitamins and minerals, a feed balancer is often the most cost-effective solution. Fed in small amounts (200–500g per day), balancers provide a concentrated source of vitamins and minerals without adding unnecessary calories.

Browse our equine supplement range at UK9 Petcare — including joint, hoof, gut and calming supplements from leading UK equine brands.