Balancer or vit & min supplement?

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nemo_

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I'm starting to take the High fibre nuts out of the ponies diets, which means they wont be receiving any extra vits & mins. One is a 11.2hh retired native type and the other is a 14.2hh Connemara, who is currently in light work but will being eventing/PC from easter onwards. They're both being fed Hifi and Speedibeet, out 8am-6pm every day on fairly poor grazing and in with hay at night. So which would be better for them, a balancer or supplement? I'm quite happy to buy different things for them if it's what is best! They currently have access to a mineral block but the connie won't touch it, would the 11.2hh be ok with just a mineral block to use when she wants?
Also in the summer, I will feed the connie a reduced amount of competition mix, would he need to be fed the recommended amount of balancer or could it be reduced as he will being getting something from the mix?
Thanks! :)
 
It all comes down to personal choice. I used to feed balancers but now just feed a vit and min supplement as it is much cheaper
 
It's personal preferance really. I personally prefer balancers but general purpose supplements do the same job. You prob will still need it when you start feeding the mix because I doubt you'll feed enough of the mix to get the vit and mins (I think it's something like 3kg of mix per day!!!)
 
On the front of the bag it says upto 70g and day for pony and upto 120 g for a horse mine is an inbetween as hes a large connie, so i feed about 80g which is about 2 little scoops!! hope that helps! Honestly I can't recommend this supplement enough!!!
 
A vit/min supplement just provides vit/mins, whereas a balancer will provide extra protein, plus probiotics and sometimes oil as well. Also some balancers have things like joint and hoof supplements included. So you have to decide what your ponies actually need.

If they are in good health and a bit on the podgy side I would probably just use a supplement rather than a balancer. If feeding reduced amounts of a mix, then you can feed reduced amounts of a vit/min supplement or a balancer to top-up vit/mins if you wish. So if you are feeding half the recommended amount of mix, then give half the recommended dose of supplement/balancer.
 
Pink Powder is a balancer in powder form.

Personally, I would not feed anything that contains garlic after having researched its effects when I had a horse with a heart problem.
 
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