Best gut balancer - NAF Pink Powder or Horslyx?

[Marilyn91]

Hi everyone,

My pony is an extremely good doer, but I'd like to make sure she is getting the vitamins and minerals she needs. She also cribs, so I'd like to get something to soothe the stomach wall, protect the stomach lining from splashing acid and help balance pH levels in the gut. She has ad lib hay in a hay net, plenty of turnout with another horse and I'm in discussions with the vet to get her scoped for ulcers.

To tide us over until the diagnosis, I'd like to try a digestive balancer. I was thinking of feeding a mineral supplement (for trace vitamins and minerals) and NAF pink powder (for gut health). But then I came across Horslyx Pro Digest Balancer, which is a lick you hang up in the stable or on the field. The big advantage is that it would omit the need for hard feed - currently, she only gets hay and is still very overweight! I'm a bit worried though, that she would just scoff the Horslyx block all in one go. I gave her a Likit once as as a treat and it was gone within an hour or two (never again).

So - any recommendations of what to give a horse that might have ulcers? And has anyone tried Horslyx?

 

[TPO]

Neither. If you read the ingredients they aren't great...

Personally I'd recommend Key Flow Pink Mash; its pellet that turns into a mash when soaked. Its designed for gut health and contains Protexin.

I'd feed a good vit/min balancer like Progressive Earth Pro Balance (from Ebay or Progressive Earth website (code: 10%OFF on website for new customers).

 

[Marilyn91]

Neither. If you read the ingredients they aren't great...

Personally I'd recommend Key Flow Pink Mash; its pellet that turns into a mash when soaked. Its designed for gut health and contains Protexin.

I'd feed a good vit/min balancer like Progressive Earth Pro Balance (from Ebay or Progressive Earth website (code: 10%OFF on website for new customers).

Thanks, that's really helpful. I'll have a look at the products you mentioned.

Super newbie question here, but what ingredients should I look out for (good and bad)? I've heard brewers yeast is good, aloe vera is anti-inflammatory which is good, and sugars and molasses should be avoided. Anything else?

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

PP made our horses very footy and spooky, I certainly wouldn't recommend it.

 

[TPO]

Thanks, that's really helpful. I'll have a look at the products you mentioned.

Super newbie question here, but what ingredients should I look out for (good and bad)? I've heard brewers yeast is good, aloe vera is anti-inflammatory which is good, and sugars and molasses should be avoided. Anything else?

Low sugar and starches, no molasses and molasses derivatives like mogolo. Usually avoid cereals but commercial brands are clicking onto the change in requirements so there are feeds like Baileys ease and Excel, Allen and page soothe and gain. As a good doer I dont think those feeds will be of much use to you.

Most people try to avoid alfalfa chaff but alfabeet tends to be more tolerable. Natural sugars (from grass chaffs for example) are ok over chaff with sugars added via coatings and additives.

Some "diet" chaffs contain NIS (nutritionally improved straw), this is generally avoided if possible.

With supplements you want the highest spec with low/no iron and minimal fillers. If you see ingredients starting with things like oat feed, wheat feed, alfa you know that fillers make up the bulk of the feed.

There are quite a few threads on here about vit/min/balancers. Progressive Earth, Forage Plus and Equivita are usually well recommended. Forage Plus have loads of info on their website and a link to their other site Forage Talk.

As for commercial balancers Spillers lite and Lean gets quite highly recommended. It doeant have high iron and is a nut so easy to feed to good doers who sont need any other feed.

Soya is avoided by some people. It's the main ingredient in Keyflow Pink Mash but it is the hull rather than husk that is used. Keyflow also use steam to produce their products and this appears to keep starch levels low. I've o ly ever had good results with Pink Mash and love it as a feed.

Adding salt (approx a tablespoon a day) is a favourable thing to do. Horses cant get enough from licks as their tongues arent really designed for licking like a cats for example.

 

[Marilyn91]

Low sugar and starches, no molasses and molasses derivatives like mogolo. Usually avoid cereals but commercial brands are clicking onto the change in requirements so there are feeds like Baileys ease and Excel, Allen and page soothe and gain. As a good doer I dont think those feeds will be of much use to you.

Most people try to avoid alfalfa chaff but alfabeet tends to be more tolerable. Natural sugars (from grass chaffs for example) are ok over chaff with sugars added via coatings and additives.

Some "diet" chaffs contain NIS (nutritionally improved straw), this is generally avoided if possible.

With supplements you want the highest spec with low/no iron and minimal fillers. If you see ingredients starting with things like oat feed, wheat feed, alfa you know that fillers make up the bulk of the feed.

There are quite a few threads on here about vit/min/balancers. Progressive Earth, Forage Plus and Equivita are usually well recommended. Forage Plus have loads of info on their website and a link to their other site Forage Talk.

As for commercial balancers Spillers lite and Lean gets quite highly recommended. It doeant have high iron and is a nut so easy to feed to good doers who sont need any other feed.

Soya is avoided by some people. It's the main ingredient in Keyflow Pink Mash but it is the hull rather than husk that is used. Keyflow also use steam to produce their products and this appears to keep starch levels low. I've o ly ever had good results with Pink Mash and love it as a feed.

Adding salt (approx a tablespoon a day) is a favourable thing to do. Horses cant get enough from licks as their tongues arent really designed for licking like a cats for example.

This is really helpful, thank you so much!

 

[Britestar]

Mine does very well on Protexin Gut balancer

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

I use the progressive earth pro balance and my horses look good on it, mine are good doers thet get soaked hay, small feed of spillers mash and grass chaff literally to put there supplements in.

I know someone who used the Ron Fields ulcer supplement and swears by it I have heard very good things about his supplements.

 

[Season’s Bleatings]

Mine does very well on Protexin Gut balancer

Same, it is very good and cheap as chips

 

[skint1]

I've had good results with my mare on Lincoln Yea-Sacc 30, but not sure how it compares to the Protexin one, which I am interested in trying as well. Tried Ron Fields and Coligone but tbh my horse seems to be best with the Lincoln Yea-Sacc 30

 

[Chappie]

Another big thumbs up here for Protexin - seems to have helped with chronic watery poo.

 

[Nicnac]

Just put her on a balancer with a scoop of Protexin Gut Balancer if she doesn't have hard feed.

 

[SpotsandBays]

Just FYI, horslyx contains so much molasses. It’s sticky, sweet, and if your horse is like mine (a pig!) then they will just gorge on it. Wouldn’t recommend leaving them with it, and I don’t think they’d get enough of the vits and mins you require

 

[lannerch]

Nothing wrong with pink powder , used for years on my horse who had colicked a few times on the advice of my very good equine vet, he certainly didn’t colic whilst on it and looked very well .

 

[TPO]

The "issue" with PP is that these are the ingredients and part of the spec (too long for a screenshot). There are supplements with better ingredients and a higher spec for the same/less money.

It did used to be the go to supp, especially around coat changing time for a boost. However times move on, as a whole owners are better informed and more likely to read ingredient labels than trust manufacturers these days. Manufacturers are responding to that when you look at the range of balancers and feeds available these days.

Back in the day I was a trained and qualified (only had to pass a test) NAF feed adviser and I thought that PP was the best.thing.ever. I was such a great owner feeding their vit supp and then PP for spring/autumn. Also fed a lot of their seaweed ??‍ you live and your learn, nothing stands still

 

[Flamenco]

Protexin is a good gut balancer. If you look at the ingredients in most gut balancers they are usually probiotics and prebiotics.

If you pick one of the balancers TPO recommended earlier you've covered all vitamin and mineral requirements. If you choose one which also contains a prebiotic or probiotic then you can just add the other.

I use progressive earth pro balance which contains RDA of vistacell and add brewers yeast (ebay) and salt. In a soaked feed e.g. grass nuts, a mash, speedibeet or pink mash and some chaff.

Looking at the ingredients and quantities I wouldn't buy pink powder or most of the "balancers" from a feed store

 

[AdorableAlice]

After a year from hell in 2020 with a mare that went into hospital three times with gassy colic for no obvious reason, and was scoped, belly tapped and every other possible test done with nothing amiss found, my vet used Succeed initially for a number of months gradually tapering it off and for the last 6 months a daily dose of Equine 74. I feed almost adlib soaked meadow hay and 500g of fast fibre to carry the Equine 74 plus salt.

The horse is a very good doer, looks fabulous and luckily is a forward going type not needing feed to give her any energy. She came out of hospital with strict instructions to give her the most minimal and plain feed possible, plenty of exercise and not allowed to gorge on grass. I have stuck to the advice and so far so good. She doesn't like the fast fibre but it is always gone in the morning.

 

[HappyHollyDays]

I suspect my Connie has ulcers and have had him on Protexin which hasn’t really done much for his grumpiness so prior to scoping I have ordered a tub of Gastrokind from Science Supplements to see if it helps him. It is supposed to line the stomach wall and protect from sloshing acid. He has always been on a low starch/sugar diet due to laminitis and at the moment he’s slim and trim on Baileys daily balancer, salt and hay.

 

[TPO]

I suspect my Connie has ulcers and have had him on Protexin which hasn’t really done much for his grumpiness so prior to scoping I have ordered a rub of Gastrokind from Science Supplements to see if it helps him. It is supposed to line the stomach wall and protect from sloshing acid. He has always been on a low starch/sugar diet due to laminitis and at the moment he’s slim and trim on Baileys daily balancer, salt and hay.

Out of the trillion supplements tried on mums last exracer it was SS Gastrokind that made the biggest difference. Shop around because it's cheaper elsewhere than direct from SS ?

Pink Mash and Gastrokind made a big difference to him.

 

[HappyHollyDays]

TPO thanks, that is really useful to know. I have already ordered it from SS but will look out for it elsewhere if it works and I need more.

 

[TPO]

TPO thanks, that is really useful to know. I have already ordered it from SS but will look out for it elsewhere if it works and I need more.

SS used to do some discount codes so worth signing up for their newsletters. In those instances it was cheaper from them