Balancer - Waste of money?

SmartieBean09

SmartieBean09

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Hi,

I recently bought a bag of Top Spec Senior as I was really impressed with the advice I got over the phone from them. I was assured that by changing over to their balancer (with glucosamine) that I wouldnt be making a compromise by removing my joint supplement as the levels of ingredients are almost identical.

However, I dont think the balancer compares in regards to the joint comfort she was receiving from her supplement and i'm wondering if my pony really needs it??

She is fed excellent hay and has excellent grazing (when it finally comes through) but she doesnt receive the recommended amount of hard feed at the moment.

I thought a balancer would be an easier way to replace the supplements she was getting (pink powder and Premierflex) but I am now thinking that I fell for their sales pitch hook line and sinker!

Any advice or recommendations?
 
personally... i think that although balencers have their place - very few horses actually NEED them. i've seen them work wonders on thin/poor do'ers/rehbilition/old horses etc = but for the average horse i'm not sure they are actually needed...

i tried my mare on topspec and she piled on the lbs and went a bit psycho! i took her off them and changed to D&H equibites and a handufl of chaff to hold some joint supp - and that's all she gets over summer... and she look none the worse for it ;)
in fact she competes at local xc etc and manages a days hunting on just that until the grass looses it's goodness - then she gets ad lib hay and a few fibre nuts to go with - oh and she lives out 24/7 clipped!

i do know some horses seem to look amazing on balencers... but i'm just not convinved that they are not a v clever marketing ploy that appeals to our insecurities... ie - your horse needs a balancer or it will not be healthy... yeah right!
 
I personally have really liked using balancers in the past. I had a mare on conditioning cubes PLUS a calmer and chaff and realised I was spending excess money on the calmer to balance out cubes...and she never really improved condition. So ended up removing the cubes and calmer and put her on top spec comprehensive balancer and chaff and ended up with a much better coat, much better condition over a bit more time, and much cheaper too. And I believe it has magnesium added so wouldn't have needed a calmer with it anyway. :)

With my new horse who will need a reduction diet, he will get a balancer to ensure that he gets some vits as well as his fatty diet.
 
Are you feeding the right amount of the balencer. If you are not feeding enough balencer for the horses size then you will not receive the full benefits of the mobility supplements.

I use Bluechip pro, it is fantastic. It has made my horse look fantastic and feel great. she has less corn and chaff and I dont have too keep worrying abouther weight.

Lou x
 
Most horses do not need "the recommended amount" of hard feed. The feed companies would have us all stuffing our horses with their expensive products if we listened to them. Personally I feed top spec because it is about the only thing that made my TB's feet grow. She gets her 600g a day, plus chaff and haylage. She looks fabulous. I think that all feed has added vitamins and I don't think the average horse needs balancers, which are very expensive products, but some horses do benefit. My horse has feet that hardly grow, which means the farrier is nailing into the same holes. Her feet split and crack and her soles are thin. Top spec seems to fix this. I tried all sorts of other feet supplements and none worked for her.
 
I use Baileys stud balancer for my horses, two of them get only that with haylage throughout the winter and look amazing. They will all get balancer on its own throughout the summer (and grass obviously). They are all in different levels of work but they are also all different types of horse- 2 tbs, a native pony and and a ISH and it suits them all! And my feed bill is practically nothing! I know that their vitamin and mineral levels are scientifically correct as they are reciving it and I can always add more calories if they need it.

What I'm trying to say is that I swear by it! Nutritionists that work for the feed companies will not bull**** you, they are qualified and experienced.
 
QR - I use a balancer for my horse, she isn't a good doer and could eat her own weight in hard feed without gaining weight. She looks very good on just half rations of TopSpec Comprehensive and the rest is a forage diet. So feeding TopSpec means I don't have to feed a huge amount of other feeds as she seems to be able to process the goodness far better now. A bag of TopSpec lasts 80 days at half rations, so even though I'm forking out about £35 a bag it really seems to be money well spent.
 
QR- why do you feel the balancer is un-needed?

has your mare's mobility declined since you have been on the Topspec?
if so i would say you need to go back to the original supplement.

i wouldn't say they are a waste of money at all- mine are both on Topspec Balancer and have been since they were foals.
they look fantastic, and have a very natural diet (haylage, grass and HiFi). they are well grown and one is eventing happily at BE with no further hard feed needed.

i took them off Topspec about 2 years ago to try something else and quickly swapped them back as they lost their shiny coats and just didn't look as well.
 
If your horse needs a joint suppliment because of a specific problem - rather than you wanting to given him something to support his joints because of age - then I can't see how a balancer containing some glucosamine will do the job.

Balancers are great when fed in the correct quanitities for supporting the general health and nutritional deficiencies of the horse. However, if you are targeting a specific issue such as joints then you need a specific suppliment IMO.
 
My old pony has always suffered from clicky hind legs. She lost a lot of condition over the winter and so I put her on Top Spec Senior. I noticed a change in her back legs and she did seem better for it but as she was (back then) receiving the recommended amount of feed, so I stopped using it and just added a joint supplement instead. When I did this, the clicking stopped and she was much more free in her movement. As I reduced her hard feed I continued the joint supp and added pink powder til the joint supp was finished. It then made sense to buy the Top Spec senior again instead of more of the 2 supps.

She is now getting:

250g Top Spec (advised rate)
1.8kg Sixteen Plus
500g Conditioning Fibre

Turned out for 10 hours and gets 4 slices of hay over night.

However the clicking has now returned and she is very uncomfortable in her hind legs, refusing to pick them up and reluctant to move forward when I school her. She looks no better for being on the balancer. :(

My farrier recommended Baileys stud balancer and said he knows horses who look fantastic on it.
 
According to their website, Top Spec Senior contains glucosamine and MSM for joints. If you were using Premierflex HA, then that also contains Chondroitin and Hyaluronic Acid. If you used Premierflex plus then that contains the same as Premierflex HA but with added Devil's Claw.

So if Top Spec told you that their Senior balancer contained the same joint ingredients as Premierflex they were either misleading you, or they have omitted to list the extra ingredients on their website!

However, the change in your horse's soundness could be coincidental and unrelated to her feed - could be anything from weather conditions, change in amount of turnout or a deterioration in her condition. Only way to tell is to try the Premierflex again and see if there is an improvement.
 
As regards her general condition, are you sure it is weight she is lacking rather than muscle? Can you see her ribs at all, or is it that her topline has deteriorated? If she is getting stiff if her hindlegs then her musculature may change, particularly on her hindquarters.
 
Thanks TGM.

She had lost weight although now I would just say she just needs topline muscle. She has a very dipped back, no neck and is very narrow in front but I believe she had lost weight too. Her bum is a nice round shape. Her ribs werent visable, but they were easily felt. This time last year she weighed 400kg and now she weighs 354kg (but weight wise, she looks just right now).

She is very shiny and seems ok in herself, although she lacks energy when ridden in comparison to 2 months ago. She doesnt want to work forwards at all. She is usually very forward going (push button).

I dont like the fact she is clicking now and she is very uncomfortable when you pick up her hind, almost kicking out! Her routine hasnt changed.

She was being fed the Premierflex plus with Devils claw.

I spoke to a few people down the yard tonight and most dont feed a vit/min supplement and every horse is in great condition. Our grazing is something we have always been very lucky with (unless your horse is a good doer lol!) it is just taking its time to come through this year!

I took a photo tonight (although not a good one). Will try and post it on here.

Thanks again ;)
 
I never used to feed any general supplements, just a conditioning mix plus chaff but I have changed over to using Alfa-A Oil + Naked Oats + Dengie Competition Vits & Mins. I get more energy now and horse is looking fab. I think it depends what you are doing with your horse and what your horse needs - in your case I think I would feed straights + a decent joint supplement, perhaps Synequin?
 
I dont do too much with her, mainly because I now have an 8 month old daughter who takes up all of my time. I try to ride her 3 times a week for 30-45 mins and that maybe schooling or hacking.

I have no knowledge of feeding straights so wouldnt have a clue what I was doing. Wish I did because they probably work out a lot cheaper!
 
SmartieBean09 said:
she lacks energy when ridden in comparison to 2 months ago. She doesnt want to work forwards at all. She is usually very forward going (push button).

I dont like the fact she is clicking now and she is very uncomfortable when you pick up her hind, almost kicking out!
Click to expand...

I suspect it is not that she lacks actual energy, but that she is finding work harder because of the problem with her back legs. I would definitely put her back on the Premierflex Plus to see if she improves.

Can't really tell anything from the photo as too dark! However, if you can't see her ribs but can feel them easily then it sounds as if she is in good condition. If you couldn't feel them easily then she would be too fat!
 
I think you are right TGM.

As for whether she needs the balancer, I may just see how she goes. If she looks good and has bright eyes and a lovely shiney coat then I would assume she is getting all she needs.

Premierflex it is then :)

Thank you everyone for your help.
 
My lad did very well on bailey's low cal and the dengie balancer, and I saw improved overall condition, but Im not not sure it would help hugley for something like joints?? Not sure prehaps ring the feed company
 
Hi Vicksey,

The reason I feed Topspec Senior is because it contains Glucosamine and was told by their feedline that I wouldnt be compremising anything by removing her joint supplement. Looks like I have though as she is really clicky.

Am going to put her on a general vit/min supplement if she needs it but def back on her Premierflex! :)
 
This is a copy of a post I made back in '08 to save me writing it all out again (bless the improved search thing on here now!) The horse involved, is still going strong - and sound! His only supplement is Synequin and his feed is only a cheap cool mix, chop and sugar beet.


A friend has an ex racer, he's now 24 (26 now!) I think. Since he was 12, he's suffered with arthritis in his knee, which was treated with bute, oil, cider vinegar, Cortaflex, Blue Chip Dynamic over the years; you name it, they tried it. I had a horse with a damaged hock capsule which was treated with Synequin which repaired very quickly. At the time, S was probably the most expensive of those sorts of supplements but the vet's had been using it with a lot of success and rated it higher than anything they had tried before. I told friend who was a bit sceptical but wanted him off the bute as he needed at least 2 a day and over a long period, that's not good. He was on bute, BC Dynamic and Cortaflex and was still sometimes quite stiff. She started with the loading dose, gradually weaned him off so many bute but left the Dynamic in as he looked so well on it. After three months, he was off the bute completely and totally sound, bouncing around like her old horse even in damp weather. That was three years ago; he is still on a half dose of Synequin a day and nothing else and still as sound as a pound; his original vet is amazed he's bouncing as they had been thinking his time was up.
It doesn't work for all horses of course but must be worth a try surely. The most reasonable price we found is from
http://www.wormers.co.uk/acatalog/On...ements_26.html
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