Advice please-switching balancers.

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zangels

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I currently feed my horse top spec senior balancer and my daughters pony top spec cool balancer I add micronised linseed to both. I am happy with top spec in lots of ways such as my horse is no longer as stiff and the pony is more chilled but there hooves have not improved as much as I would like and there coats have coppery bleached tones in. I am looking into swapping to either progressive earth or forage plus but not sure what one to choose. I am worried the balancers do not have probiotics in like the top sec but maybe with better balanced minerals this wont matter? If I feed the forage plus by progressive earth with linseed and also the vet vita equiflex joint supplement to my elder horse this works out at around the same cost per day as the top spec senior balancer. I am worried about making the switch and it not being as good quality as the top spec? Any advice, experiences appreciated.
 
In my opinion both pro earth and forage plus are far superior quality to commercial balancers such as TopSpec, which are largely floor sweepings held together with molasses. The minerals supplied by PE and FP are mostly in the form of proteinates, which are more costly but easier for the horse to utilise. The balancers also don't use cheap fillers or waste bucket space on cheap vitamins and minerals that the horse doesn't really need (but look good on paper!). If you want pro biotics, Pro Hoof does contain them :).
 
I recently swapped to Pro Balance. My older ones get Equi flex and MSM also and girls get Oestress. I just add this to a small amount of fast fibre and unmollased chaff. I will add Micro Linseed in winter.

I have found it very economical and they all look great on it.
 
Thanks for the replies, I am going to give it a try and see how we get on. I will try the pony on it first then when my horses balancer runs out swap her over aswell if its working for the little one. I was thinking of feeding it with unmollassed beet as this is what they already have. A handful for the good doer little one and 2 scoops per feed for my horse plus linseed in winter. Do you think this sounds ok?
 
Unmolassed beet is a good base to try - high in fibre and low in sugar and starch, which is just what you want. Not all horses get on with it, but the same goes for pretty much anything! It's a good place to start imo. Linseed is fab stuff too :).
 
They already have the beet and linseed, just need to see if they still eat it with a different balancer. I am quite excited now to give it a try on the little one.
 
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