Anyone feed Horslyx?

[marmalade76]

I have found feeding a balancer out of a sack quite expensive and have been looking at other options. Horslyx look quite cost effective compared to the balancer I was feeding, which cost £31 and lasted six weeks.

So, if you have used Horslyx, does it do what it says on the tin, how long, approx, does a tub last (I am thinking of the 15kg tub, costs about £20) and do horses gorge on it?

 

[Chermar]

They tend to go licking mad when they first get it but they do settle after a day or too if not I just take it in and out and leave it with them for a few hours. It's great for all those little vits & minerals. Depends on how much your horse licks it as to how long it lasts but anywhere from 4-8 weeks usually in our yard.

 

[Roasted Chestnuts]

I have had Kias mobility lick now since October and hes halfway through it.

I like them as they can go back to them when they want and I agree with the above they got at it for the first few days but after that a ferw licks a day is all they have.

Nikki xxxx

 

[MegaBeast]

With the 5kg Horselyx tubs you can get special holders to go on the wall with bars across the top to stop them pigging out on it

 

[Nari]

If you want it to ensure vit & min intake I'd say you'd be better with a vit & min supplement in a handful of chaff.

 

[teddyt]

If you want it to ensure vit & min intake I'd say you'd be better with a vit & min supplement in a handful of chaff.

I agree. Read the labels to work out value for money. Some supplements you feed at half the rate. Licks have got too much sugar in imo

 

[s4sugar]

I've used Horslyx tubs but have swapped to Herbilix - http://www.brinicombe.co.uk/equine/products/supplements/herbilix/herbilix.php - as it is not molasses based.

They last my pair about 8 -10 weeks.

I still keep a small garlic Horslyx on hand as a distraction for vet/farrier or just as a treat.

 

[Toady]

Licks do have large amounts of sugar in them.

I have a little one which I give to my shetland pony as a treat but wouldn't even dream about leaving one with him in the stable as he'll attempt to eat it.

 

[Keiraevans]

I recently sat a staff training course with the Horslyx Manager at our shop... made for interesting listening. In a day a horse will eat about 10kg (DM) of grass and that is about 2 bags of sugar, when that same horse has a Horselyx it only consumes 16tbsp of sugar...

If you think about it, they are licking it and the consumption level is very low... it isn't like they are eating all 5kg of it in one go. It is also relatively low in sugar, as the trainer said, simple sugars are required and natural. The best point she made was that the lick offers a trickle feeding method, which is better for the horse, instead of one big meal, absorption is alot better instead of being passed through quickly and it is what the horse is meant to do... little and often as we are all told!!! And they are not brittle and only weatherprrof ones... which helps when you live in sunny ol' England lol

Mine are on the Garlic for the summer and they slowed down after a few days and self regulate their intakes... they look fab. Would highly recommend. Don't know if they train yards or just shops, but everything she said made full sense and was very educational... made me realise that a horse aint meant to have 3 meals a day cos it is not human!

 

[mrdarcy]

I recently sat a staff training course with the Horslyx Manager at our shop... made for interesting listening. In a day a horse will eat about 10kg (DM) of grass and that is about 2 bags of sugar, when that same horse has a Horselyx it only consumes 16tbsp of sugar...

If you think about it, they are licking it and the consumption level is very low... it isn't like they are eating all 5kg of it in one go. It is also relatively low in sugar, as the trainer said, simple sugars are required and natural. The best point she made was that the lick offers a trickle feeding method, which is better for the horse, instead of one big meal, absorption is alot better instead of being passed through quickly and it is what the horse is meant to do... little and often as we are all told!!! And they are not brittle and only weatherprrof ones... which helps when you live in sunny ol' England lol

Mine are on the Garlic for the summer and they slowed down after a few days and self regulate their intakes... they look fab. Would highly recommend. Don't know if they train yards or just shops, but everything she said made full sense and was very educational... made me realise that a horse aint meant to have 3 meals a day cos it is not human!

Hummmm... Horslyx Manager in Horslyx training course... an nice objective opinion. Not sure where they get their figures from either - if they have an independent study to quite from then great, if not then they can invent any figures they like.

Horslyx are 80% sugar - I wouldn't put one within 10 miles of my horses.

 

[Keiraevans]

Horslyx are 80% sugar - I wouldn't put one within 10 miles of my horses.[/QUOTE]

LOL... where did you get that they are 80% sugar... you must be talking about Lickit! They are 33%.

I am sure that any company would not declare untrue figures, whether they were in the feed industry or any other sector in the market. There are rules against stuff like that (Trading Standards!) and being such a large company they would be pulled up on it, such as a couple of feed companies recently!

Not sticking up for them but it made alot of sense and makes me wonder how much have we been sold to by feed companies... horses are not meant to have 3 set meals!

 

[marmalade76]

The best point she made was that the lick offers a trickle feeding method, which is better for the horse, instead of one big meal, absorption is alot better instead of being passed through quickly and it is what the horse is meant to do... little and often as we are all told!!!

Thanks Keira,

This is why I started to feed a balancer in the first place - I can only feed my horse once a day, it is too far to travel twice a day. YO checks them twice a day (they live out), but I feel it's too much to ask her to feed them for me. The feed helpline recommended I feed my horse (I am talking winter feeding here) 500g of balancer with 1lb of Alfa A and 1lb of something like pasture mix to bulk it up. He is on good grazing and was having adlib hay. Although his coat and feet were fab (stopped losing shoes), he was not maintaining enough condition, so I had to increase the amount of bulking feeds, which made it expensive. I have always fed him on conditioning cubes with Alfa A, sugar beet and a splash of oil before.

I also like the idea of Horslyx as it means there will be something constantly available allowing them to trickle feed.

 

[JenTaz]

I feed the horslyx to both of my two, they are both good doers, and no matter what the sugar content is, it isnt as if they are licking it all away at one time, so it is a controlled intake

 

[TGM]

I recently sat a staff training course with the Horslyx Manager at our shop... made for interesting listening. In a day a horse will eat about 10kg (DM) of grass and that is about 2 bags of sugar, when that same horse has a Horselyx it only consumes 16tbsp of sugar...
!

So why would you want to give the horse 16 tbsp of sugar on top of what it is already consuming whilst grazing, when you can give it a powdered vit/min supplement with a much lower sugar level!

 

[TGM]

Thanks Keira,
I also like the idea of Horslyx as it means there will be something constantly available allowing them to trickle feed.

The point of trickle feeding is that they should be trickle fed FIBRE (ie hay, haylage, grass), not a lick!

 

[marmalade76]

Yes, TGM, my horse always has access to hay and grass, he lives out, I am trying to avoid giving him a large bucket of feed in one go during the winter!

What is the difference between a balancer and a supplement? 'Cos Horslyx is marketed as a balancer, not a supplement.

 

[TGM]

What is the difference between a balancer and a supplement? 'Cos Horslyx is marketed as a balancer, not a supplement.

A vit/min supplement (such as Equivite or Benevit) is basically just vitamins and minerals in a powder base. Most balancers also contain vit/mins, but also a concentrated supply of protein and probiotics/prebiotics. The protein serves to boost the overall protein content of the diet if the quality of forage is poor and no other protein source is given. If a horse is not a broodmare or youngster and is on good quality grazing or good haylage (or sometimes even excellent hay) then it is unlikely to need protein supplementation. The idea of the probiotics/prebiotics is to maintain healthy gut bacteria to enable the horse to get the most from the feed it eats - gut bacteria can be damaged by use of antibiotics, stress, illness, high cereal/low fibre diets.

The Horslyx website doesn't seem to give a proper analysis of what is in the licks, although I can see there is obviously vit/mins, protein, some oil and molasses. I can't see any mention of probiotics/prebiotics on there, so this is one aspect of normal balancers that it seems to be lacking.

If you just want to provide vitamins and minerals then you can give a vit/min supplement in a handful of chaff once a day. Or use Dodson & Horrell Equibites which are vit/mins in a hand fed treat form. If the horse is on reasonable grazing you shouldn't have to worry about protein levels now that Spring is here. You can always revert to a balancer in the winter if necessary.

If your horse is a poor doer, however, you may find that you have to feed more than just a supplement, balancer or lick, to ensure enough calories are received. If you are only feeding once a day then you need to look at high calorie feeds (particularly oil rich feeds such as micronised linseed, Outshine, Triple Top Up, Equijewel etc) so as not to have to give huge feeds.

 

[TGM]

Yes, TGM, my horse always has access to hay and grass, he lives out

So your horse will be trickle feeding anyway, whether he has a lick or not!

 

[marmalade76]

My horse is not a good doer, hence I have to feed him conditioning feed even though he's not in work. I found he didn't hold enough condition when fed a balancer as recommended by a feed helpline. The Bailey's helpline recommended that I feed him Outshine with Lo-cal, but this is just too expensive, especially for a horse I don't even ride!

I was thinking of using Horslyx as a top up, not replacing hard feed, but perhaps allowing me to reduce it a little. If, as you say, Horslyx do not contain pre and probiotics, perhaps I'd be better off adding something like Pink Powder to his exsisting feed.

 

[TGM]

My horse is not a good doer, hence I have to feed him conditioning feed even though he's not in work. I found he didn't hold enough condition when fed a balancer as recommended by a feed helpline. The Bailey's helpline recommended that I feed him Outshine with Lo-cal, but this is just too expensive, especially for a horse I don't even ride!

Micronised linseed (from Charnwood Milling) works out cheaper than Outshine, if you need an oil-rich supplement. You can also add a slug of vegetable oil in the feed, but some horses are fussy about this. Replacing some of all of the hay with haylage is another cost effective way to increase calories. For bucket feed, grass nuts are a cheap conditioning feed, as is beet (molassed beet is usually cheaper than unmolassed, but is 20% sugar compared to unmolassed's 5% sugar).

perhaps I'd be better off adding something like Pink Powder to his exsisting feed.

Personally, that is what I would do - Pink Powder will give vit/mins and probiotics/prebiotics and you could give something like soaked grassnuts with it, adding micronised linseed if necessary.

If you do decide to give a lick instead, then I would ask the manufacturer for the full analysis of the product so you can compare with the other products you are using. For example, I would want to know exactly how much of the following is in the estimated daily rate of the product:

MJDE (calorie count)
Amounts of all the individual vit/mins
Amount of protein

Plus a full ingredient list.

Only then can you compare it to the balancers you have been using to see if it works out cheaper (taking into account the fact that it doesn't seem to have probiotics/prebiotics).

 

[Evil_Cookie]

I use Horselyx for my youngster, who is prone to fizzing up, give her 1 extra scoop of high fibre nuts and you can tell the difference in her behaviour. I haven't had this problem with the horselyx. Since using it her coat is dappled and glossy, I feed her close to the recomended dose of cubes, but this did not change her coat condition like the horselyx has. I can't feed my mare oil as she won't eat her dinner with it in, so the horselyx works well for us. Only downside is she's covered in it most of the time