Balancers are they worth the price

[Perfectpony07]

Thinking about putting my Welsh A on a balancer for winter. He has a couple handful of chaff before being ridden and that’s all. He’s coming in at night for winter soon so will babe hay. We’re not allowed to supplement the fields with hay during the day, he lost alot of weight last year, just wondering if they’re really worth the price tag really and if people would recommend something else?

 

[Widgeon]

If he's losing weight due to lack of forage intake I don't think my first port of call would be a balancer - instead I'd go for big trugs of chopped meadow hay (or whatever - there are so many), and oil in his dinner.

However if his diet is that restricted (assuming no decent grass, and no hay during the day) then it might also not be balanced, so perhaps a balancer in addition to the extra food would be helpful.

 

[Gloi]

I agree with Widgeon ,also if weight is being lost on a hay diet make sure the pony's dental checks are up to date so he can get the most from his forage, presuming he has ad lib hay through the night.

 

[Widgeon]

make sure the pony's dental checks are up to date so he can get the most from his forage

Yes teeth, really good point. I was wondering if the pony is older as I would normally assume Welshies to be quite good doers under most circumstances.

 

[HopOnTrot]

Think of a balancer as a multi vitamin.

Multi vitamins don’t put weight on.

How long is he turned out for? How much grass is there? How much hay is fed overnight?

 

[onemoretime]

If you do decide to go with a balancer Spillers daily balancer seems to be popular and not as expensive as some others.

 

[Jenko109]

Just feed him.

Some sugar beet and linseed oil added to his chaff should really be all thats needed to give a bit extra to a native.

This is, of course, on the assumption that he has ad lib hay when in.

 

[Perfectpony07]

Thanks everyone for the replies so far, just to add some more context. He is an absolute great weight atm, if anything a tad crusty neck but not worried. The grass is still pretty good where we are. He doesn’t come in at night until the start of November and does indeed have ad-lib hay. He was in a different field last year that flooded awfully but thankfully has moved this year, so hopefully the weight won’t drop off as much.
I feed my youngster linseed so may try to just adding that to his chaff then, which might be enough, it will definitely save my bank balance as feeding them different things is going to cost me a fortune otherwise. Thanks for the replies so far.

 

[Jellymoon]

In answer to your question, who knows if they are worth the price, but they make me feel like I have all bases covered. Probably just clever marketing, but it makes me happy.

 

[maya2008]

So… if you are only feeding a Welsh A, anything will last a long time.

Is a balancer good? It might be, depending on what is in it. Is it better than powdered supplements? Well I’m pretty impressed with Codlivine but that’s not the cheapest either so you get what you pay for!

What do you need to do if your pony needs more weight in winter?
- rug if clipped or maybe if not if pony is older and standing in the stable and his ears are cold;
- make sure his teeth are good and that he is getting 2% of his body weight in hay per night (should be some left over then);
- feed hard feed if needed still to put on weight.

 

[poiuytrewq]

My little Welsh pony has Spillers Lean and Lite balancer. I didnt actually go buy it for him but was given nearly a whole bag and it lasted absolutely ages so fed at the correct amount/weight it won't cost very much at all to add a balancer to his chaff, along with some linseed.
I know there are better balancers out there probably than Spillers but I'm going to stick with it for my pony. Apart from anything it smells lovely and he happily eats his prescand pill in it.

 

[ecb89]

My little Welsh pony has Spillers Lean and Lite balancer. I didnt actually go buy it for him but was given nearly a whole bag and it lasted absolutely ages so fed at the correct amount/weight it won't cost very much at all to add a balancer to his chaff, along with some linseed.
I know there are better balancers out there probably than Spillers but I'm going to stick with it for my pony. Apart from anything it smells lovely and he happily eats his prescand pill in it.

Lite and lean is a very good balancer

 

[kerrieberry2]

I dont think there's any point in feeding a balancer, unless you've had everything anaylised, and you know what is currently missing from his diet. I don't feed them, I just give a simple feed, with supplements to support the gut.

when I did look at starting to feed a balancer, I looked at the ingredients and it was just filled with a load of fillers, and ingredients that I wouldn't choose to feed my horses.

 

[anglo]

Thanks everyone for the replies so far, just to add some more context. He is an absolute great weight atm, if anything a tad crusty neck but not worried. The grass is still pretty good where we are. He doesn’t come in at night until the start of November and does indeed have ad-lib hay. He was in a different field last year that flooded awfully but thankfully has moved this year, so hopefully the weight won’t drop off as much.
I feed my youngster linseed so may try to just adding that to his chaff then, which might be enough, it will definitely save my bank balance as feeding them different things is going to cost me a fortune otherwise. Thanks for the replies so far.

If he is a good weight then I would not worry . All equines and especially natives should lose weight over winter to prepare them for the extra calories and sugars in spring grass , otherwise you are setting them up for metabolic problems and laminitis. Every horse would benefit from going into spring a little on the lean side .