Does anyone feed Top Spec?

meardsall_millie

meardsall_millie

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My local feed merchants had an open day on Saturday. A number of the different feed suppliers came along to give general advice, etc. :)

I had a chat with the lady from Top Spec. She gave me good advice about feeding a stressy horse which is prone to losing weight over the winter, however I was left a little :confused: about her advice for a good-doer in medium work.

She suggested that he would need only 250 - 300g (twice daily) of the Lite Feed Balancer and (if I chose to give it) a small amount of chop. Now I understand that it's a concentrated feed source with added vits & mins, etc, but I'm finding it very difficult to get my head round this being enough grub for a fairly substantial Irish X who is eventing to Novice level. I'm not convinced he would be very happy to receive a bucket full of nothing either!!

So before I get onto their advice line - any comments from you knowledgeable bunch please?

(Not much on offer this morning as I've already eaten most of my lunch and it's only just gone 10am..... :o)
 
I really really like the topspec feeds, but struggled to find suitable chaff to feed to madam to go with it as she is intolerant to Alfa in any quantity...

Goddy went really well on Topspec, Alfa A and oats, as a baby... but changed it when I moved to B's. You can adjust the chaff/oats with the workload...

For P, the cool condition cubes would be FAB. Worked really well on madam, but again, just struggled to find suitable chaff at the time (before TS brought their own out) to continue feeding them....
 
I do but Pidge isn't a good doer so is on the comprehensive feed balancer.
His feed split over two feeds is 600g of the feed balancer, four handfuls of alfa oil, 1kg of TS cool and condition cubes. Ad lib haylage when in. He's in a reasonable amount of work and more than fit enough to cruise round BE90's.
He's 17hh ISH so a big lad and copes very well on his TS diet. Sisters cob is a good doer and is on the Lite FB and a handful of light chaff and does very well too.
What do you feed him at the moment?
 
I love Topspec & feed all my horses there feeds. When my Dressage horse was competing (medium working Adv) he was fed. Topspec Lite Balancer, Topchop Lite & Coolcondition cubes he had more than enough energy on this diet.
 
Thanks guys.

Dressagecrazy - was yours a good-doer? I think mine will need something extra on top of the balancer and the chop but the rep was adamant he wouldn't!

Pidgeon - he's currently on D&H Staypower Cubes and Hi-Fi. His weight is fine (but I keep a sharp eye on it) and he has enough energy. I just worry that he's not getting sufficient nutrients as he's not on the recommended amount.
 
Hi
I feed my 16.2hh, 6 year old TB who loses condition quickly on Top Spec Feed Balancer, Show Mix (chaffy type mix) and pasture mix. It seems to be really good for maintaining and improving condition. Hope this helps!
 
all of mine get Topspec and do really well on it.

some just get Topspec and Hi-Fi, some get it with the Conditioning Flakes and some get it with D&H Staypower Museli depending on weight and energy levels.

fwiw, when Pilfer was eventing at Novice he was on Topspec and the Staypower and it worked brilliantly- he is a very good doer (grey in my sig) but didn't get fat and it really helped with his stamina at the longer courses like Weston Park etc.
 
meardsall_millie said:
he's currently on D&H Staypower Cubes and Hi-Fi. His weight is fine (but I keep a sharp eye on it) and he has enough energy. I just worry that he's not getting sufficient nutrients as he's not on the recommended amount.
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If you are happy with his condition and energy on his current diet, why not just top up the vitamins and minerals with a reduced dose of either a vit/min supplement, such as Benevit, or a balancer. So if he gets half the recommended amount of Staypower then give him half the recommended amount of supplement/balancer.

Another thing to consider is the quality of the forage he is getting - if he is on good quality haylage, for example, then he is less likely to be short of nutrients than if he is on soaked hay.
 
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Top spec is great. I would think the comprehensive may be fine for a good doer that was eventing.

Essentially you feed the balancer and a source of fibre for the nutrients, then add more or less depending on the workload. So I would add sugar beet in the winter. You can then add super conditioning flakes, condition cubes or oats if you need more energy, or just add them a few days before an event.

Essentially you can vary the "energy" bits being confident that they are getting full vits etc
 
Im also a TS fan, and have fed it to four different types of horses all of which look great on it, love it and behave well. If your a little concerned why not give their (very helpful!) helpline a ring and talk it through with them again?
 
Our 16.1hh ISH evented to novice level this season on Top Spec comprehensive balancer and HiFi. Also added Allen and Pages power and performance- increasing it a few days before an event as he sometimes needs some extra stamina.This worked very well for him and he looks fab. Now our season is over i have knocked him off the PandP so he is just on TS (600g) and HiFi for the winter. Saves alot of messing about with supplements.
 
Hi, have used Top Spec Comp Balancer for years now, I honestly think its the best balancer about if you compare analysis.

My horses are good doers and up until the middle of the season - when they sometimes are a little dull - they event on only two mugs of topspec and cortaflex. I dont even add chaff. Then if they need more energy later in the season will add a competition mix.
 
I popped in there yesterday and was very confused as to why there was a marquee and lots of bags of food on display - however what really caught my eye was the human buffet :D

I'm with you on the balancer approach - I know they are excellent, but Jemima would be disgusted with such a small amount :rolleyes:
 
TGM said:
If you are happy with his condition and energy on his current diet, why not just top up the vitamins and minerals with a reduced dose of either a vit/min supplement, such as Benevit, or a balancer. So if he gets half the recommended amount of Staypower then give him half the recommended amount of supplement/balancer.

Another thing to consider is the quality of the forage he is getting - if he is on good quality haylage, for example, then he is less likely to be short of nutrients than if he is on soaked hay.
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This was exactly my point to the rep TGM - her reasoning was that you could feed a lot smarter (and more cheaply in the long run) by switching - well obviously she would say that wouldn't she! ;)

Really grateful for the comments from others about eventing on just the balancer and chop - that sets my mind at rest a lot.

ISZ - yep we did happen to sample the human buffet too (chocolate fudge cake - yummy! :p )
 
We've just started feeding my sister's ex-racehorse TopSpec (at our trainer's recommendation), and it seems to have had a really good effect. Previously he was on fairly large amounts of Alfa-A pellets, which we've now cut down to go with the TopSpec. He's being re-schooled at the moment and he seems to be building muscle much better now he's on it, and his coat has improved too. I'm not sure if it's related to the schooling or the TopSpec, but he's also crib-biting a lot less these days as well.

Suffice it to say we're fairly happy with how it's going- we may end up feeding it to my sister's eventer as well, but we'll count the pennies first. She gets fed next to nothing atm (Alfa-A pellets), so it's not the case that we'd be exchanging an expensive competition mix for it and cutting costs that way.
 
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