Paprika - how much?

[Daffy Dilly]

Bought some paprika powder yesterday for Daffy as apparently it helps prevent a bleached coat. I know it contains a tested for and banned substance in terms of competing, so I'm on top of that and wont feed it for two days before a show.

What I want to know is, how much do I feed? He gets two feeds a day, and the smallest scoop I have to measure is 15ml but that has 5ml measurements so I can guess. :)

[teabiscuit]

don't know DD but i heard that feeding ribina is good for black coats too

[Daffy Dilly]

Hmmm he does like ribena, I used to drink it on the yard and had to share. :rolleyes:

Do you know what quantities it would have to be fed in for a 500kg cob, and whether it's fed neat or diluted? Ta :)

[Tootsie4U]

Paprika, as in the cooking spice?!?!

Why on Earth would they test for that at the shows? :eek: What substance does it contain.

Sorry, cant help, but that baffles my mind.

[CMR]

I've been told one ounce/one heaping tablespoon a day.

[galadriel]

Ah, I found what was in paprika once, but have forgotten. In any case, in larger amounts, it can be a performance changing chemical; it just naturally occurs in paprika. So if you feed your horse paprika it may test positive for whatever that chemical is, even though you're not using it that way.

Quote from Cheval International ("Black as Knight" etc):
USEF NOW INDICATES CELERY SEED (NOT IN ANY OF OUR FORMULAS) AND PAPRIKA ARE "FORBIDDEN" SO WE OFFER A SHOW HORSE FORMULA OF ALL OUT COAT ENHANCERS WITHOUT PAPRIKA OR CELERY SEED - AT THE SAME GREAT PRICE.

There are substances which test in a lot of innocuous over-the-counter products of various kinds. If you're in any kind of competitions where they do regular blood tests, it can be *really* important to know exactly what's in every single thing the horse eats or is applied to his skin. I recall Wally mentioning that she once caught someone trying to give a chocolate treat to one of her horses the day before a competition, and that she got rather upset as chocolate has a chemical which shows up on the tests.

[Daffy Dilly]

I have a feeling that in 5 or so years, every possible thing you could feed your horse will contain a banned substance of some description. Just like pretty much every human food possible could give you cancer or liver failure etc. Some things are taken to extremes :(

I don't think we'll get tested at the shows I'm doing, but for the larger ones (ie the agriculturals/champs) I will stop feeding paprika two days before the show to be on the safe side.

Edit, just checked and the substance is capsacain which has a pain relieving affect when fed in large amounts.

[teabiscuit]

not sure about the amount of ribina, sorry DD. i will try and remember who told me :confused: and get the info off them.
Chev is really good on colours-she might be worth asking.

[galadriel]

I will stop feeding paprika two days before the show to be on the safe side.

I'm just curious where you got the number "two days." Everything I've ever used that had a restricted substance, it's recommended to stop at least two *weeks* before a show, unless you have vet records etc indicating need for use (eg, banamine for a colic the week before).

[Daffy Dilly]

A friend that suggested the paprika said that she'd heard it was to be stopped two days before.

TBH, all my shows this year are riding club level with one agricultural and potentially a few championships later in the summer/autumn so the likelihood of getting blood tested is well, nil. I find he goes black again mid august, so in theory I wouldn't need to feed it after that anyway and he'd be fine for the champs. :)

[Jaimee]

Just in case you are not aware, paprika, or more corrcetly capsacin is a 'red enhancer'. So I dont know if that will have the desired efect on a black horse:)

[Wally]

Neither can I see it stopping a horse becoming bleached out in the wind and sun.

I think it all depends on the horse's natural coat colour.

We have a lot of black horses, some bleach out terribly and are brown by the end of summer, but some stay blue/black, deep shiny coal black. Andy never seems to fade, he stays very, very black. Never feed him anything in summer.

[bevy]

We had a black Welsh section D that bleached in the summer to a really nice mahogany colour. If we put a fly rug with neck piece on her, she didn't bleach. But I'm not sure that paprika would help with keeping black colouring.

[Daffy Dilly]

I know that it's one of the ingredients used in Black as Knight, and having seen those results it certainly doesn't make them brown. ;)

Either way I doubt it'd make him browner than he would normally go. A fly rug is on the agenda, but will be 4 weeks until I can afford it. Getting a summer turnout next week but I don't think I fancy leaving it on him all the time just to stop him bleaching, not fair really.

[teabiscuit]

i agree with you there DD, i try and get mine derugged asap so they can get some sun shine on their backs-it makes the coat healthier too :)

[kelsey]

I have given my black horse paprika in the past and it definitely kept him blacker in the summer (with no difference in turnout time).

However, it is now a banned substance here because of the capsacin (kind of silly, as I think you would need massive amounts to have any effect) so I can't give it any more. I don't trust the "two day" rule.

Too bad, as it was very cheap! And I was hoping that it would prevent my black and white paint from turning brown and white.

[CMR]

I tried Paprika last year on my black overo Paint. I did one to two ounces per day for about three months. Nothing happened at all. This year however, I'm feeding flaxseed(linseed), vegetable oil, and black oil sunflower seeds, and WOW! He's as black as I've ever seen him, he still does have a few sunbleached spots from where he hasn't completely shed out yet, but the summer coat that has come through is a nice dark color, and has yet to bleach. I'm very pleased. :p And I have no idea why I didn't say this in my first post :rolleyes:

[kelsey]

Thanks for the suggestion - my guy is already getting flax so I will add some sunflower seeds to the mix for both and see what happens!