I’m going to start this one off by telling you a bit about the product I’m reviewing today as it’s not your typical “ulcer” supplement. I was sent the Grand Postbiotic from Grand Meadows to try after inquiring about supplements for Jax’s gut health on top of the Grand Premium Plus he already gets. This product is supposed to support entire body stress reduction and lower cortisol levels, help the intestinal lining and mitigate leaky gut syndrome, offers a significant reduction in ulcer scores, and eliminate specific pathogens in the hindgut. It also improves performance and reduces inflammation. There is a whole lot of published research on it if you want to read more. On top of that they’re offering a money back guarantee if you don’t see improvements. That’s how confident they are in this product. I was interested, but always a little dubious (I almost always am with anything new). I’m no longer dubious.
Jax has always been kinda…iffy. Some days he’s in a good mood. Some days he’s in a bad mood. When a certain mare is next to him in the cross ties he acts up. When he doesn’t sleep well (because it’s raining) he acts up. So when Jax started getting even worse in the cross ties last summer my trainer suggested perhaps Jax had ulcers. He also happened to completely lose his mind at a show, which had never really happened before. His training had kicked up a lot the year previous. We were asking him to work hard on a regular basis doing things that he struggled with (the lead changes). He was also doing heavier weight lifting type work with the priouettes…voltes…half passes.
It was kinda a slow build to the point he got (which was pretty dramatic). There was some doubt if it was ulcers initially due to his reactions with “ulcer points” (which wasn’t dramatic). We tried other things thinking the pain was coming from somewhere else. There was a new groom and he was struggling more than I or his owner…then eventually Jax started acting out for me and his owner too. His owner finally gave in and agreed to treat him for ulcers without scoping him (I only partial lease him…so all medical decisions are hers).
We only treated him for a month in the fall. There was some minor improvement, but he was pretty well just naughty on the ground. He typically is a lot worse in the winter when it is raining as he 1. hates water and 2. doesn’t sleep when it rains. I put a lot of it to that…and after nothing really happening from the first round of treatment I didn’t really believe it was ulcers anymore. But again my trainer said she thought it just was the ulcers back again and he hadn’t been treated long enough. I started him on the Grand Meadows Grand Postbiotic at the end of January as a preventative (and to see if it would help). I have had him on it since then.
We sucked it up and bought a second round of ulcer treatment (this time for just under 2 months) and he was treated again in February and March. At the February show…he was fine…but not perfect. Calling for his friends. A little distractable. Stressed on the trailer ties. However not nearly as bad as he had been in 2022. By the show in March…he was as chill as he’s ever been in his life. It was an extremely stressful show…to the point I was shocked he was so chill. Because of the storms, we had to warm up at home…tack up at home…and trailer over tacked up and ride into the arena with no warm up on site. He didn’t bat an eye. It was clear to me now it had been ulcers…and they were completely cleared up now.
Here I am in August. He’s had no recurrence of ulcer symptoms. In fact at his last show in July, he was even chiller than he had been in March (and he got reserve high point). The last time he’d felt good enough to get that high a score was 2 years prior… Clearly his stomach had been affecting him more than I realized for longer than I realized. He’s generally much happier across the board and even sweet some times, though he’s still Jax. He’s still naughty in the cross ties when a certain mare is next to him. You can still tell when he didn’t sleep well and he’s grumpy. The random explosions are for the most part gone (minus the two above cases). The sensitivity to brushing is gone. The cold backed stuff he occasionally would do under saddle is gone. His reactivity when being saddled is back to normal levels. He seems much happier and much more comfortable.
Jax eats it readily so no problems there. It smells delicious actually (unlike the Grand Premium Plus). I prefer the packaging I order the GGP in (the cardboard box) as the smaller plastic tubs always feel wasteful for me…but I also don’t buy this in as big a box as the other…so the packaging probably changes when you order bigger bulk. Dosing is easy and not as tricky to figure out as the Grand Premium Plus.
While the Grand Meadows Grand Postbiotic isn’t cheap…it’s certainly cheaper than ulcer treatment so I will be keeping him on it for support for as long as I need to. If the ulcers end up coming back while he’s on it…I may change my mind (and I will update this review if that happens)…but so far we’ve been clear for 5 months even with showing and kicking up our work even harder (with passagy trot and piaffe half steps being worked on top of the other heavy dressage work he was already doing). So far so good and I’ve seen so much improvement in his general attitude since the beginning of the year I can’t help but think this is working very well!
If you’re interested in purchasing this supplement for your horse (or any others from Grand Meadows) you can use the coupon code RMASE for 10% off your order and flat rate shipping.
