Balancers- Blue Chip Vs Top Spec

[SatansLittleHelper]

As per the title really...and why??
Ive narrowed my choice down to these 2, just need pros/cons for each.
Horses are heavy weight Breton 14 years old, good doer, very light work.
Other is a growing sport horse type, good condition, 3 and a half years old.

 

[Flora]

Tried Blue Chip few years back on a Tb and had to take him of it! He was just too full of himself! I have a Tb and Id x on cool balance and a yearlng on stud balancer and would highly recommend top Spec!

 

[SatansLittleHelper]

Thanks for that...its driving me nuts tryingto work out which is the best :/

 

[missmatch]

My very good doer is on Top Spec Lite and hes never been happier or healthier. His feet are great, tummy is settled and he just looks and feels good. Would never want to take him off it x

 

[starryeyed]

We swapped to TopSpec after using Blue Chip, their customer service has been amazing and they are so incredibly helpful if you're ever unsure about anything - but give advice without pushing you into buying their products. We did a comparison when we were trying to choose one over the other - there is a really useful information sheet online somewhere which lists all the ingredients of different balancers, I will try and find it for you.

I do remember that Blue Chip has a very high level of starch (not good!), and that Topspec has a higher level of vitamin & mineral spec than Blue Chip so you are getting more for your money - it is also cheaper.
Some balancers will suit some horses more than others, but all ours look amazing on the TopSpec and we wouldn't go back to BC. x

 

[starryeyed]

Sorry to double post but can no longer edit - here's the link to the comparison spreadsheet I mentioned: http://www.freewebs.com/higgyleiko/

 

[JillA]

Oh wow, that is useful, thanks for posting

 

[flintfootfilly]

Just had a quick look at that comparison spreadsheet. The figures for selenium in Blue Chip are totally wrong, not even close to the right amounts. Either the spreadsheet is old and out of date, or it is just totally inaccurate in this respect. I haven't looked at any of the other figures, because the fact that such a vital element's information is so wrong just means I would never trust anything in this spreadsheet without checking the source of figures myself.

It says something about around 0.2mg of selenium per daily ration in Blue Chip. The actual figure is 1.8mg! Massive difference!!!!

The spreadsheet also does not distinguish which products use the more bioavailable organic selenium (selenium yeast) or the less available inorganic selenium (sodium selenite). It is because Blue Chip includes organic selenium at 0.9mg/500kg horse (in BC original) that I would opt for Blue Chip rather than Top Spec who use inorganic selenium and at a lower amount. If Top Spec switched to organic selenium, I'd be torn between the two companies.

Sarah

 

[McCauley]

I'd go for a company that can offer you a 'bespoke' balancer for your two very different horses.

It may cost you a little more initially to work with them as to what each one needs, but in my humble opinion you will be on the right track to giving each horse exactly what they do need and balanced for them both too.

I swayed away from 'off the shelf' balancers a while ago now and took the plunge with a product that has turned my boy around in just over 12 months feet wise. Money well spent in my eyes and i know that he's not being fed anything with any 'fillers' in that he doesn't need!

 

[Cop-Pop]

I had mine on Blue Chip for ages then switched to Baileys Lo-Cal and didn't notice a difference. One was a pony in very light work and one was a horse in medium work. Also, a lot of my customers have now changed from the TopSpec balancer to either the Spillers one (esp the senior one) and the Saracen one as they're both cheaper.

 

[starryeyed]

I have to admit to having no idea how old that spreadsheet is - it's just one I found online a while ago and had bookmarked, it may well be very out of date as I'm not sure who made it / when they last updated it. TopSpec used to do their own comparison sheet which they could send out to customers which would (obviously!) be accurate, but I'm not sure whether this is still the case - may be worth emailing them to ask x

 

[flintfootfilly]

Sorry to contradict you again, but the TopSpec one that I got earlier this year was inaccurate in at least one place (I didn't check everything fully). At the bottom of the table, it says " 04.04.11 (information correct at time of pring. Data taken from company brochures, web sites and official bag labels)".

It lists Blue Chip Original and Blue Chip Pro as having only 0.01mg/kg selenium. It actually has 3.6mg/kg selenium. Slight difference!!!

So I'm sorry to be cynical yet again, but I really wouldn't draw comparisons on the basis of that Top Spec table.

I've definitely found it worth jotting down the analysis for each mineral from the website, product label AND from what the company says over the phone, and checking for consistency in the answers. I have really focussed on selenium as that is the one that is most important for my gang with muscle disease.

Sarah