Barefoot peeps ... Pro Hoof -v- Pro Balance = much difference?

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As title, has anyone fed Pro Hoof then moved onto Pro Balance and noticed any difference in hooves? My mare has been on Pro-Hoof for 2.5 months, she has been barefoot for 6 weeks (I started the Pro Hoof a month before her shoes came off). She's a 10yro ISH mare and has good strong hooves and they are looking great so am loathe to change anything, just the Pro Hoof is sooo expensive and what with Xmas and hay delivery etc I'm wondering if I can get the same results with Pro Balance as so much cheaper, although I see it does have 1/2 the amount of methionine, lysine and biotin that is in the Pro Hoof and no B vits. Maybe I should stay on the Pro Hoof for another couple of months until she's been bare for 3/4 months then go onto Pro Balance, oh can't decide, please help, need to order one or the other this coming week as running out and then will be Xmas etc so no delivery!!
 
For what it's worth, I feed all my crew on Pro-hoof and all respond fantastically to it..with pro balance we weren't quite getting the rock crunching feet I was looking for..it seems like its been the final piece in the jigsaw for my boys, a haffy, a cobx and a Highland as well as my Friesian mare. I'd definitely recommend sticking with pro hoof at least a while longer..feet are incredibly quick to show change, especially detrimental!
 
Thanks for that Julie, ah maybe I will continue with it then, it does seem very good although of course I don't know what her feet would have been like if she hadn't been on it:-) Anyone else ... ?
 
I changed to Equivita. Its higher spec and works out at £12 a month per horse for me. I do have a bespoke mix as I add mag chloride, salt, breweers yeast and linseed. There was a noticeable difference in both mine when I changed :)
 
I liked the sound of Equivita - but fed at the rate they recommend a kilo would last me 15 days for 1 horse so the cost is far too much. Following this thread with interest as I am considering using pro hoof or pro balance for my boys.
 
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I emailed progressive earth a while back to ask what the difference was and whilst I can't remember the exact reply, pro hoof has added things in to support gut health whilst pro balance is just a vit and min supplement. They suggested that if my horses didn't have any existing gut problems to just feed the pro balance which I have and they do fine on it.
 
Yes I looked at Equivita too and googled, consensus seems to be a decent spec, it does work out cheaper than Pro Hoof so may give it a go.

dreamcometrue said:
Do these supplements actually make a difference? My mare is barefoot and I don't give her any supplement for her feet. She just gets a general balancer.
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I wonder about this too! Which general balancer do you use? I have read of people using mineral balancing and then going back to (eg) Spillers Lite balancer due to finances with no detriment to hooves,so makes you wonder although of course every horse is different.
 
Its def the cheapest way to feed mine. I buy 5kgs at a time and buy the linseed, brewers yeast and mag chloride in 25kg sacks. Costs less than £20 a month inc a small scoop of fastfibre to feed them :)
 
I can only give my own experience as to whether supplements make any difference. But since I started using pro balance a few years ago;
Horse 1 has been on it since weaning and has really, really hard hooves and is a genuine rock cruncher.
Horse 2 arrived with very wide white lines, lots of grit getting in, etc. After 6 months the white lines were nice and tight although as she had Cushings she always needed boots.
Horse 3 hasnt been on it very long but he arrived with flaky, chipped hooves so I am expecting to see improvements with the PB.
I do know that our grazing is magnesium deficient, but it has worked wonders on new arrivals.
 
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FrankieCob, do you buy the standard Equivita? I was looking at the Equivita Plus which also includes vitamin E and yea-sacc although if you feed brewers yeast you prob don't need it.

Also, I'm very interested to know more about the mag chloride and why you use it instead of the more usual mag ox - did you used to use mag ox and changed to mag chloride and if so was there a noticeable improvement in your horse's hooves? I was reading about this recently and how (apparently) it is much more effective for rock crunching hooves than mag oxide and would be interested to know if you feel it has made a difference to your horses hooves. Also where do you buy it from and don't you have to mix it with water or something?
 
Its on there as Bailey and Frankies winter blend. It has the vitamin E in it, basically the best bits from the 2 most expensive mixes and then I add breweers yeast, mag chloride, linseed and salt. It works out considerably cheaper to do it that way. The horses are doing amazing on it and my big cob who was an absolutle nightmare and came very close to being PTS is now hacking out with no boots, which I NEVER thought would happen!

And I changed to mag chloride and noticed a definite improvement :) I get it from ebay, costs me about £35 for 25kgs, but you can get the exact same one from most agricultural feed merchans for about £10 as its used for cattle. I just dump it on top of the fast fibre, add water and stir, but some people do mix it with water first.

The Phoenix Forum is the best place for info on it. Its where I found out about it and got all the info :)

http://phoenixhorse.myfastforum.org/index.php
 
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I started on pro hoof then moved to pro balance. If anything my boys feet improved. He came off the grass at the same time tho
He's only bf behind , has been since July
I was advised to try the pro balance and see how he got on, it's down to the individual horse tho. Im glad I started with pro hoof tho. Off to check that one out on first page
 
FrankieCob said:
Its on there as Bailey and Frankies winter blend. It has the vitamin E in it, basically the best bits from the 2 most expensive mixes and then I add breweers yeast, mag chloride, linseed and salt. It works out considerably cheaper to do it that way. The horses are doing amazing on it and my big cob who was an absolutle nightmare and came very close to being PTS is now hacking out with no boots, which I NEVER thought would happen!

And I changed to mag chloride and noticed a definite improvement :) I get it from ebay, costs me about £35 for 25kgs, but you can get the exact same one from most agricultural feed merchans for about £10 as its used for cattle. I just dump it on top of the fast fibre, add water and stir, but some people do mix it with water first.

The Phoenix Forum is the best place for info on it. Its where I found out about it and got all the info :)

http://phoenixhorse.myfastforum.org/index.php
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Hmm now I feel like I should do this. Not sure if I have any feed merchant selling mag chloride in my area tho
 
I tried Pro Hoof for months having been told it was wonderful - I don't think it did anything really. So I changed to Pro Balance - no change from the Pro Hoof. I now have both mine on Thunderbrooks base mix and chaff and both horses are doing fantastically on it, with superb feet!
 
I've had a fascinating time on the Phoenix forum reading about mag chloride! Yes I need to get out more:) I think I'll try the Equivita but with my own tweaks.

FrankieCob, which brand of mag chloride do you buy?

Holly Hocks, oh yes I'd forgotten about Thunderbrook. I used this for about a year with my old horse who also went barefoot and his feet were great, grew at the rate of knots, trimmer couldn't believe it. More decisions! Maybe I'll feed some of each although that would kind of defeat the saving money thing, sigh ...
 
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