Balancers!

tonitot

tonitot

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Okay, so I have been advised many times to put Ethel on a balancer to give her a bit of a topline and to put a bit more wieght on here, but which balancer is best for this? I am clueless and just get confused when looking at pages and pages of different types so I am leaving it up to you lot to make the decision for me :D
 
What feed is she on at the moment?

If she's ok weight wise.... topline really only comes through proper use of the muscles. You can't really feed to get it.
 
She's on Alfa A Oil, Recoup and Speedi-Beet. Have been advised a few times on here to put her on a balancer which I thought was to help her put on weight and get a bit of a topline, but I could have read that completely wrong :o
 
I'm not familiar with Recoup.... Who makes it? Is a a mix or a nut? If so it will prob contain some vits and mins anyway.... Do you feed the quantities it says on the back of the packet?

Some supplements will aid digestion (like Pink Powder) which will help with weight gain. If the horse is not receiving all the vits and mins he needs he also won't be able to put on muscle. But no supplement or feed will put muscle/topline on by itself. Only correct work will do that.
 
I use Top Spec. Beanie has trouble holding top line and weight during the winter. But she becomes too fizzy on other feeds. Top spec is cereal free and the balancer has linseed, biotin and msn in it so no need to add all those extras. She looks fab on it and it is alot cheaper than the likes of Blue Chip etc.
 
tonitot it is like I am stalking you answering all your posts but I'm not a weirdo I promise :D

I use pink powder by NAF it is vitamins and minerals as well as probiotic. It is good for aiding the digestive system which is useful if you're after weight gain as healthy digestive tract means maximum energy absorbed from the feed you are feeding. Plus it is waaaay cheaper than top spec and blue chip. Plus as it is concentrated enough to be in a tub it doesn't mean yet another feed bin in my feed room. Five is enough as far as I'm concerned. I personally think it does a lot of good but that's just my experience

That said the vet on our yard feeds blue chip to her poor doer and she looks pretty smashing now too.
 
You don't say what sort of breed Ethel is, but as you say its to help gain/maintain her weight as much as anything, Top Spec sounds like a good one to try. Personally I use Bailey's Lo-Cal balancer, but I have good doer native ponies, so I'm generally not trying to help them put on weight!

I've seen fantastic results from using Blue Chip Original too.
 
galaxy - Recoup is a mix made by Saracen, we feed it to the racehorses who are resting, it's a convalescent (sp??) Ethel was on it when I was given her from work and looked well on it, but I wanted to see how she'd do on other feeds, but she dropped weight and condition so I've put her back on Recoup and she is doing much better. She was on pink powder for a while and it didnt make any difference to her. As she is only 3 she isn't in work so I guess the muscle/topline will be on hold for a bit

cougar - okay thank you. Ethel isn't in work so I'd guess it wouldn't matter if she got a bit fizzy, she's always good to handle so unless it starts to affect her in that way then a bit of fizzyness wouldn't matter.

jesstickle - haha thats okay, as long as you're putting ideas in my head on how to make Ethel look better than she does now then I'm more than happy for you to stalk me ;) :D Pink powder made no difference to Ethel, so need something else really :/

I was looking at Dodson and Horrell Build and Glow, it looks quite good, but has anyone got any experience with it??
 
FWIW I think despite the fact Ethel is a little bit on the scrawny side she does look very well in your pictures. And she is pretty. I love TBs :)

I don't know if it would work but what would happen if you called top spec or blue chip and asked for a sample? Maybe you could buy a little bit or even get a bit for free before shelling out on a whole sack? I've never tried it but sometimes it pays to be cheeky.
 
PennyJ said:
You don't say what sort of breed Ethel is, but as you say its to help gain/maintain her weight as much as anything, Top Spec sounds like a good one to try. Personally I use Bailey's Lo-Cal balancer, but I have good doer native ponies, so I'm generally not trying to help them put on weight!

I've seen fantastic results from using Blue Chip Original too.
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Oh sorry! Ethel is a poor-doing Thoroughbred :)
 
jesstickle said:
FWIW I think despite the fact Ethel is a little bit on the scrawny side she does look very well in your pictures. And she is pretty. I love TBs :)

I don't know if it would work but what would happen if you called top spec or blue chip and asked for a sample? Maybe you could buy a little bit or even get a bit for free before shelling out on a whole sack? I've never tried it but sometimes it pays to be cheeky.
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Aw thanks :D I think the being scrawny is part of being a 3yo TB filly .. and she's out of Kallista's Pride who throws scrawny fillies. Ethel is the eldest of the three and the 2yo is scrawny, and you should see the yearling! I don't think scrawny is the word for her!! :o Hmm, I could try that .. they can only say no :)
 
tonitot said:
Aw thanks :D I think the being scrawny is part of being a 3yo TB filly .. and she's out of Kallista's Pride who throws scrawny fillies. Ethel is the eldest of the three and the 2yo is scrawny, and you should see the yearling! I don't think scrawny is the word for her!! :o Hmm, I could try that .. they can only say no :)
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I think you're probably right. We had loads of fillys who looked like her when they started training. Can't remember how a single one was bred though. I'm lucky my 2yo TB is a porker. She seems to live on air. Even so she still has a stringy neck and is all legs. That's just what they look like until they start work I think.
 
jesstickle said:
I think you're probably right. We had loads of fillys who looked like her when they started training. Can't remember how a single one was bred though. I'm lucky my 2yo TB is a porker. She seems to live on air. Even so she still has a stringy neck and is all legs. That's just what they look like until they start work I think.
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All our fillies at work seem to be like it too, we only have one who is a 5yr old who is built like a tank, the others are all spindly. Ahh ... I knew there was a reason I always wanted cobs! :D
 
Blue chip, blue chip, blue chip :). I love it! My mare has been on it for 2 years now! She was a nightmare to keep weight on and her temperament made it difficult to find something to suit her (everything would send her crazy :(). The first winter she was on it was the best she's ever wintered and the first summer she was on it I got total strangers stopping me saying how good she looked (I got a big head :D) it didn't affect her temprement at all if any thing it calmed her down!
 
Do you feed the manufacturers recomended amounts of the mix to your horse, if not then a balancer or vit/min supplement is a very good idea. If you are then it is unnecessary.

If you are feeding other ingredients ie not just balancer then a vit and min supplement would suffice but would make sure it has prebiotics or is it probiotics in it to help your horse utalise the food proper. If it has this then the only difference between these and balancers is the balancer is pelleted so can be fed on its own.

Pink powder is good. As a balancer I find baileys stud balancer good value for money, and as it is marketed for studs it is cheaper, but can be used on any horse. The balancers coming out on the market think baileys and spillers have some also look good value especially as spillers were offering very good deals as it is new to get you to try it.

Correct work and feed together improves top line.

I have also in my tried blue chip, equilibria and top spec did not really notice any difference between any of the balancers to be honest except price.
 
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Topspec is brill, I use lite balancer for the ponies, stud balancer for the foals and the horses in work get topspec comprehensive balancer which has a full hoof supplement, pro/pro biotics and fully vit/min supple. It's £35 a sack which will give a 500kg a 40 day supple. A lot off people have results from pink powder but don't see how it works out cheaper when you still have to add the feed on top. Blue chip is not as good. I had a very good chart with all the balances being compaired and topspec came out on top by far. A lot off the balancers will not state actually how much off certain vit/min etc are added which I feel indicates that it's not worth stateing or they put lower level and blue chip are one off the worst ones for that.
Now iv been feeding topspec for 6 months there is no going back, the goodness you put into them shows on the outside.
The balancer will make sure your horse is receiving all the goodness they need
 
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