anyone used 'anti lam' balancer from top spec or alternative ?

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JLD

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Trying to help my boy in recovery from laminitis and wondering if any one has used laminitis specific balancer and if it's worth the significant inflated price ! Is on limited grazing and soaked hay previously on equivite but happy to pay the premium if it's going to help ( after the £1590 vet bill if currently feels cheap !)
 
Hi there, I use this balancer for my daughters laminitic / Cushings pony & he is looking fab on it. I think it's worth the extra you pay for it. I wouldn't feed him anything else now
 
I'm afraid you get what you pay for in most balancers. TS used to be the highest spec but new (more expensive lol) ones have been developed based on common grass deficiencies. Some horses don't get on with TS (as with any product) there is Equimins Metabalance (phone to order) or the Pro Hoof or Forage Plus.
Micronised linseed is often recommended for grass free or restricted diets.
Have a look through the Laminitis site. http://www.thelaminitissite.org/
 
I used it & it actually pushed my native pony over the edge of being borderline a bit too fat/very good doer to a mild laminitis episode. I'm not sure it was the sole cause, but the timing definitely seemed suspicious & talking to the treating professionals, they definitely believe it to be a factor. We think being such a good doer he's able to extract every last goodness from every scrap he eats ... Super efficient pony!

I like the theory of low calorie balancer & my friend has her ex-laminitic on it and it really suits them, but it didn't work for me & P.

He's now just on a small amount of Hi Fi Lite, magnesium oxide, salt & mint and doing really well.

I'll re-look into trying to better balance the minerals & minerals in the winter, as at the moment, even muzzled when turned out he's getting everything he most likely needs.
 
NativePonyLover said:
I used it & it actually pushed my native pony over the edge of being borderline a bit too fat/very good doer to a mild laminitis episode. I'm not sure it was the sole cause, but the timing definitely seemed suspicious & talking to the treating professionals, they definitely believe it to be a factor. We think being such a good doer he's able to extract every last goodness from every scrap he eats ... Super efficient pony!

I like the theory of low calorie balancer & my friend has her ex-laminitic on it and it really suits them, but it didn't work for me & P.

He's now just on a small amount of Hi Fi Lite, magnesium oxide, salt & mint and doing really well.

I'll re-look into trying to better balance the minerals & minerals in the winter, as at the moment, even muzzled when turned out he's getting everything he most likely needs.
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That's interesting and a bit worrying ! He has been on it about 2 weeks and was a bit footy again this morning but then it has rained and even his tiny bare track has sprouted a bit. His coat seems really greasy since being on it but not sure if that's just coincidence ! It's so difficult, I actually think box rest was easier as far less variables to worry about.
 
To be honest, I wouldn't feed a balancer to a very good doer let alone a lami prone pony. It is just extra calories that they don't need - a good powder full spec vit/min supp has far fewer calories. I use balancers for medium to poor doers that don't get the full recommends amounts of other feeds. When my poor doer started keeping weight better with a balancer it made me take a double look at the labels!
 
It's a high price product which in my mind isn't worth it. It still has molasses and by products in which I don't really like feeding anyway. No feed will stop your pony getting laminitis which a lot of people seem to think with " happy hoof" it's management and being sensible with regards to feeding and know your pony really. Mine gets less then a cupful of fast fibre just to mix a vit supplement ( equimins advance complete) mag ox and difference mixed herbs. He hasn't had laminitis in years.
Topspec in my view is so over priced for what's in it
 
My pony is on the blue chip lami lite and he is a good doer who is muzzled and lives out. I don't have to give him much and I don't think it makes him put on weight and vet recommended that he has a balancer and I originally chose the blue chip native but swapped him onto the lami light now that he is on the restricted grazing. Will swap back to native in the winter.

My vet said people worry about giving balancers and other things like carrots to ponies who need to watch their weight or are lami prone, when the real problem is too much grass or very good quality hay which can have a high sugar levels and DE. Bearing in mind that a 400kilo pony on a weight loss program should be getting only 6 kilos of forage and feed combined in a day and that one slice of hay often weights 2 kilos and they can eat 1 kilo of grass in an hour on decent grass you can see how quickly they would use their up the RDA of food. On a weight maintenance plan they would be getting 8 kilos a day which again is not that much when you see how quickly they can eat one kilo of forage.

I am not sure about top spec as I have not used it but I know plenty of people who really like it.
 
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The balancers without added molasses etc. shouldn't gain weight (fat) but they may help with muscle gain as they contain lysine and key minerals often deficient in UK forages.
Grass may look full of nutrients but there is no way of knowing unless it is tested. Grass and hays are often full of sugars though no matter what it 'looks' like!
Excess sugars and starch are what makes horses fat and most probably isn't just in the bucket.
 
I put Roo onto the Blue Chip lami lite when she balloned at the start of the summer. She had been on a diet for several weeks with a bit of weight lose, when I added the lami lite in instead of a powdered supplement she lost weight faster and looks really good on it :-)
 
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