Balancer & Hay Feeding ideas

[Dyllymoo]

Can anyone recommend a balancer or similar for a 5 year old 15.2hh irish cob that will give him the vitamins and minerals he needs. He has 2 very small hard feeds a day (handful of TopSpec Top Chop Zero) as everyone on the yard has a feed and are fed at the same time.

Also, I'm looking at ideas for giving him hay. He currently has a double netted haynet which I tie not too high and not too low but it kind of sits in the haybar I have. I also give him 1 section on the floor. Ideally I would give him it all on the floor but unfortunately he eats it relatively quickly. Anyone got any good tips on feeding lower down but for a greedy little man!

Thank you

 

[Midlifecrisis]

I feed Topspec lite balancer...as the local vet school use it and really like it. As for hay I haven’t found a way of allowing ground feeding which doesn’t result in wasted hay through trampling...

 

[Leo Walker]

Equimins Advance Complete was the best spec at the lowest price. Mines been on it for about 6 months now and its made a bit difference to her feet. Hay wise, mine has a hayball, and a hay hutch. I cut her hay with normal straw as well. She doesnt eat a lot of it but it does slow her down sifting it through it. She also has a straw bed she picks at if shes hungry. She always seems to hay left over and doesnt gain weight so I'm happy

 

[Dyllymoo]

Thanks both. I'm thinking I might get some straw to add to his hay as he has 8kg a night and its gone in the morning which I hate. It is double netted but I might also soak it as he goes through 2 big buckets of water a night as well.

 

[OdinsMum]

I feed my formally fat native on top spec lite balancer and soak a large haynet for him over night plus a smaller net. He eats soaked hay slower plus there are no sugars in it so he can have as much as he likes.

 

[NLPM]

My overweight mare has gone onto Lami-Light recently - I was concerned about giving her hard feed but had to accept the grass is poor at the moment. She is looking surprisingly good in a short space of time, though, so I think there must have been something lacking beforehand that this is providing.

I'm also looking at introducing straw to her diet to help slow her down... She is fed from a Tricklenet, which I believe you can use on the floor (without the ropes!) if your horse is unshod? I haven't used Nibbleze nets but heard good things about those, too and they too can be used on the floor. You could just fill them and throw them in your hay bar, and if your horse gets them out then it won't matter.

he goes through 2 big buckets of water a night as well.

That's something that would potentially concern me, depending on how big a bucket you mean, and whether he's always drunk a lot or whether it's a recent thing.

 

[Dyllymoo]

That's something that would potentially concern me, depending on how big a bucket you mean, and whether he's always drunk a lot or whether it's a recent thing.

Thank you but he is a new horse and eating quite a lot of dry hay a night so I'm not overly worried. As soon as I can get things sorted I will be soaking his hay and seeing if that changes things