Balancers....again... sorry!

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Jericho

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Just a quick question - I really like Top Spec Balancer as it seems to be ticking all the right boxes for my boys requirement other than putting weight on him. At the moment he has this with TS Cool and Condition, linseed flakes. corn oil and Alfafa A Oil (which he doesnt particularly like a lot of) and I dont feel like the Cool and Condition is doing much. I have experimented with the TS Conditioning flakes but not keen on the cereal element and I think it is heating him up (very light work so he doesnt need energy just something to give him a good diet and keep/ put weight on) He is out 24/7, rugged, unclipped and 12 years old, teeth checked in Jan, adlib haylage.

My question is that I also like the look of Allen and Pages Calm and Condition because of the linseed and oil, low starch combo but can I mix Top spec balancer and Calm and Cond rather than the TS Cool and Condition?? He is not a great eater hence I cant feed him large amounts which is why I liked the balancer option. Help I am confused (again!)!!!
 
Allen and Page feeds are complete feeds - so you dont need to feed the Top Spec alongside if you are feeding the full amount of the Allen and Page. Otherwise your feed bill will be HUGE!!
 
Calm & Condition sent my Welsh Cob round the twist
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Within a week she was totally neurotic on only a small amount of feed. I swapped to something like Spillers/Baileys conditioning feed and she was "calm" again (as calm as a Welsh Cob can be anyway!)
Anyway to answer your question, as CassandraRose said you won't need to feed the TopSpec if you feed the recommended amount of C&C, but seeing as your horse isn't going to want to eat a lot then as long as what he eats is below the recommended amount, you can keep the TopSpec.
 
I recently rang Top Spec for advice because my RID who is a good doer seems bored with her Happy Hoof and Hi Fibre Cubes
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Top Spec were very helpful and suggested Top Spec Lite with Apple Chaf so might give it a go.
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You could always ring them or e-mail them from their website
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Allen & Page Calm and Condition contains the same amount of calories as the Top Spec Cool Condition Cubes (12.5 MJDE/kg) but contains some cereal (maize) whereas the TS CC Cubes are grain-free. So I don't think swapping will increase weight gain, and as someone else pointed out, you would be doubling up on vit/mins, and perhaps run the risk of fizzing your horse up.

Oil is a very calorie-dense feed and is useful in situations like this when you want to maximise the amount of calories fed without using cereals. If your horse is not a great eater he may not like straight oil, so you could consider an oil-rich supplement such as Bailey's Outshine which will supply 24 MJDE/kg.

Edited to clarify the product names as they are rather similar which could be confusing!
 
It would be worth checking with TS, but I am as sure as I can be that they don't in fact add any vits/mins to their C and C cubes, reason being they are designed to be fed alongside a fortified balancer.

If that is correct then there are no concerns with oversupplementation.
 
To clarify, the TS Cool Condition Cubes are NOT supplemented being designed to be fed alongside a balancer or supplement. The Allen & Page Calm & Condition IS supplemented, so would be doubling up on vit/mins if OP was to feed full amount of Calm & Condition alongside TS Balancer - which is what she was considering doing.
 
thanks for your replies - I know that TS C&C are not vit/min enhanced because the balancer does that - I was feeding them to out weight on,. Basically I need to get as many calories in without the bulk but he doesnt tolerate high levels of neat oil or ALfafa A Oil. I didnt want to continue with the TS con flakes as cereal based / too heating and was thinking that the AP C&C had linseed and oil in it (both of which I feed separetly as much as he would tolerate). Seems a bit of a waste adding AP C&C just for that I suppose.

Anyway on TGMs advice I have gone for the Outshine - so he will be on TS Comp Balancer, Alfafa A Oil ( about half a scoop a feed), joint supplement and Outshine - does that sound OK? I could add cool and condition cubes but dont think it would do much more than bulk the feed out (which I dont need!!). The Outshine is expensive but if I ditch the C&C and £4 on oil and £5 on linseed a week it may work out better.
 
I was going to say the same as TGM. If he doesn't like the Alfa Oil I'd try swapping it for sugar beet, most horses love that & it seems to put weight on almost anything.
 
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