Balancers for good doers

[motherof2beasts!]

I usually use metaslim by simple systems but at over £70 a bag I just can’t justify the expense. Any alternatives of a good quality ?!

 

[HappyHollyDays]

If you are just feeding a balancer in pellet form rather than mixing your own powders and adding them to a carrier I have found Spillers Lite and Lean to be quite good. It’s low in iron which is a must for my EMS pony and a 15kg bag is about £33.

 

[Ali27]

I use Baileys no 19 - performance balancer on my good doer and she does brilliantly on it?

 

[poiuytrewq]

If you are just feeding a balancer in pellet form rather than mixing your own powders and adding them to a carrier I have found Spillers Lite and Lean to be quite good. It’s low in iron which is a must for my EMS pony and a 15kg bag is about £33.

Mine did really well on this also.

 

[MereChristmas]

Mine did really well on this also.

If you are just feeding a balancer in pellet form rather than mixing your own powders and adding them to a carrier I have found Spillers Lite and Lean to be quite good. It’s low in iron which is a must for my EMS pony and a 15kg bag is about £33.

My good doer pony did well on Lite and Lean too. I recently changed to the new Spillers Ulca Balancer as the pony had ulcers previously.

 

[spotty_pony]

I feed Topspec Lite and mine look very well on it.

 

[Bob notacob]

Heygates balancer has been very good for Bob

 

[tda]

The base of Metaslim is lucerne (alfalfa) and micronised linseed, so you could start by feeding that.

 

[Hormonal Filly]

Someone did a comparison and the best that came out of it (and value for money) was Equimins complete powder or pellets.

 

[MidChristmasCrisis]

Top spec lite here too

 

[cauda equina]

Mine have Equimins powder. The pellets smell awful

 

[HollyWoozle]

We also use Spillers Lite & Lean for EMS pony (but he is a mini and I guess it’s not the cheapest for a bigger neddy).

 

[Carlosmum]

I no longer bother with a balancer, if you have a reasonable quality of forage it shouldn't be necessary.

 

[southerncomfort]

Always used Baileys Lo Cal for all my natives. They've always looked fab on it.

 

[ecb89]

Top spec lite. Mine does really well on this, he didn’t get on with Baileys lo cal

 

[SO1]

Feedmark slim aid pellets were good and I have also used Blue Chip Native.

Both can be got on special offer if you watch out for the special deals.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

We also use Spillers Lite & Lean for EMS pony (but he is a mini and I guess it’s not the cheapest for a bigger neddy).

Mine is a good doer and is barefoot. A barefoot trimmer (Equine Podiatrist) recommended this ..........

 

[HappyHollyDays]

I no longer bother with a balancer, if you have a reasonable quality of forage it shouldn't be necessary.

I tried this as my two only get hay in the summer (on a no grass track) but it’s low fat meadow hay and I found their feet suffered from lack of protein so I went back to the Lite and Lean balancer until they recovered and they have been ok since.

 

[holeymoley]

I usually use metaslim by simple systems but at over £70 a bag I just can’t justify the expense. Any alternatives of a good quality ?!

I’ve done the same. If you break the composition of metaslim down it’s quite basic ingredients. I now feed most of them in powder form which is saving a fortune. Mine has a base of chaff with some lucie nuts then in powder form- micronised linseed, seaweed, bewers yeast, salt and magnesium.

 

[motherof2beasts!]

Has anyone used the top spec laminitis one?

thanks for recommendations so far ! X

 

[Orangehorse]

Or use Progressive Earth supplements.

 

[Orangehorse]

Has anyone used the top spec laminitis one?

thanks for recommendations so far ! X

I used it this summer for my two oldies.

Good - they didn't get laminitis (nor ever have, although I have to be careful as pony came with a history of laminitis and horse is a good doer.

Bad - seemed to make the droppings very loose certainly more with the pony.

It seemed rather expensive. So I stopped in the autumn

So after buying a tub of NAF Pink Powder, which I gave to the pony to help with his digestion, I have reverted to my old regime of Progressive Earth Pro Balance (have just changed to their Veteran supplement) fed with some linseed, mixed with a very small amount of non-molassed sugar beet and forage. They look very well on this regime.

 

[ozpoz]

GWF Equilibra for me as there is no soya or alfalfa which my horse doesn’t tolerate .

 

[saddlesore]

I just feed a vit&min supplement. Not sure I ‘get’ balancers. How can they know what they’re balancing lol

 

[Roasted Chestnuts]

I can’t fault Baileys lo cal. Im feeding a cup of that with a handful of hifi lite, some magnesium some vitE and 100ml of linseed meal. He’s lost a good bit of weight and is as shiny as anything. Plenty of energy as well ?

 

[AntiPuck]

Im using Feedmark Slim Aid. It's a teeny tiny supplement scoop of pellets even for my large horse, so you could feed it by hand easily and avoid adding any extra feed, if your horse likes the taste.

Feedmark regularly do offers as well, so if you wait for those you can save a lot of money on it.

 

[Dontforgetaboutme]

I used the forage plus balancer last year but they didn’t like the taste so swapped to Equimins complete which is apparently more palatable & seems to be working well as both have good bloom on their coat & nice amounts of energy. Both welsh ds

 

[Scottynewbie]

I used to use Lite & Lean and still think it's really good. But I swapped to Bluechip and their ultraconcentrated balancers and have to say I think they're even better. You give such small quantities that it's adding very little in the way of calories into the mix and both my good doers (one who's laminitic) have done really well on it and it's so easy to store in the small boxes it comes in which is a bonus!

 

[sunleychops]

All balancers are low calorie so doesn't really make much difference to a good doer which one it is, I just use stud balancers as they are significantly cheaper.

They're just high protein vit/min pellets at the end of the day

 

[Floofball]

Another vote for Spillars Lite & Lean here. Its also recommended by the laminitis site for equines on restricted diets.
The track livery we went to had vit/mineral blocks hanging around to supplement the low sugar/value meadow hay but I forget the brand.
Price has just gone up to +£30 per bag but lasts my 16.1 fella 5/6 weeks.