Can someone explain feed to me please?

A mix or "blend" is a complimentary feed to be fed alongside forage (hay, haylage, or grass) It will contain cereals, vitamins and minerals and be bound with molasses and will be aimed at a certain area, i.e veterans, stud and youngstock, leisure horses, competition horses etc. The protein and energy (calorie) content will reflect this. Generally mixes and blends tend to be quite high intake, you have to feed the average 500kg riding club horse around 2-3kg per day. This is simply too much for some horses who will become obese or go bonkers!!

This is where balancers come in, They are concentrated, nutrient dense feeds designed to be fed in small amounts - typically 100g per 100kg bodyweight. They are great for good doers who can be fed on these alone with hay, and for poorer doers they provide good quality protein to aid muscle development. The average protein content of a low energy mix is around 9 -10% a balancer will be around 25%.

Yes, you can feed them alongside a mix, if you were feeding less than the recommended amount then you would top up with a balancer. so if the recommended amount of mix was 2kg and you were feeding 1kg then you would give an average 500kg horse 250g of balancer.
 
Fabulous - that has made it very clear.

I think I will start my new boy off on a balancer for now and see how he goes - he seems to be a 'good doer'
 
I personally think balancers are best fed with straights, or with special non-fortified pellets etc like Top Spec Cool Conditioning that are designed to be fed alongside a balancer. It means you avoid the whole issue of underfeeding vits and mins when reducing hard feed levels, if the horse puts on weight, whereas if you feed a mix and a balancer you still have the change the ratios of each. I like Top Spec balancers the most, as a group, I'd avoid any with high starch like Blue Chip, and then I'd add low starch straights like beet, alfalfa, copra, linseed....where needed!
 
Pure feeds have mix and balancer that are complimentary.

I feed 25% RDA mix and 75% RDA balancer, and meet all my horses needs that way.
 
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