EquiVita Forage & Mineral Balancer

ktj1891

ktj1891

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Has anyone used this supplement?
I have just bought FP Winter Hoof Health Balancer with cost me £65.99!!! Which is fine if it works but I have just found EquiVita Forage & Mineral Balancer and the ingredients seem very similiar but costs £20 less.

EquiVita Forage & Mineral Balancer

A 70g measure contains:
10g YeaSacc1026
20g Brewers Yeast
15g Magnesium (magnesium oxide)
10g L-Lysine
5g Phosphorous (monosodium phosphate)
400mg Copper Sulphate (25% Cu)
1200mg Zinc Sulphate (35% Zn)
1mg Selenium (yeast)
5g Sodium (Pink Himalayan course salt)

Recommendation: During winter months, we recommend adding 100g Linseed (micronised) for the omega/amino acid benefits, and 2000iu Vitamin E.

FP Winter Hoof Health Balancer
Each 100 grams contains:
13 grams of micronised linseed meal
12 grams magnesium (magnesium oxide)
10 grams lysine
5 grams salt
5 grams phosphorous (mono-sodium.phosphate)
1200mg zinc (bioplex)
400 mg copper (bioplex)
1mg selenium (yeast)
2000iu vitamin E oil

In addition optimum levels of the following are also included:
methionine, thiamine, biotin, folic acid, pyridoxine, B12

Does anyone know what differences there could be and whether I am better off with FP. Just appears on face value that Equinatural do the same product but a lot cheaper!
 
I would query the levels of copper and zinc in the first supplement - it is difficult to read whether it is 35% OF 1200mg zinc which would be 420mg, and 25% of 400mg copper which would be 100mg. If it is not that way round and the supplement actually provides those full levels of copper and zinc it looks pretty good. Other than the Himalayan salt which can contain reasonable levels of iron.

Edited - although they say that bioplex copper and zinc is absorbed better, there isn't any evidence to support that I don't believe. I would question how they can produce that supplement so cheaply though!
 
samlf said:
I would query the levels of copper and zinc in the first supplement - it is difficult to read whether it is 35% OF 1200mg zinc which would be 420mg, and 25% of 400mg copper which would be 100mg. If it is not that way round and the supplement actually provides those full levels of copper and zinc it looks pretty good. Other than the Himalayan salt which can contain reasonable levels of iron.

Edited - although they say that bioplex copper and zinc is absorbed better, there isn't any evidence to support that I don't believe. I would question how they can produce that supplement so cheaply though!
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Yes I did wonder in the price
Difference? I will pose the question to them regarding amounts of zinc and copper. Would the iron in the salt be a considerable amount or enough to get away with?
 
Sulphates are cheaper than bioplexs and the EquiVita one doesn't contain...

" In addition optimum levels of the following are also included:
methionine, thiamine, biotin, folic acid, pyridoxine, B12"

EV has yea sacc but no vitamin E. FP winter HH doesn't contain yea sacc. I also don't think mine would take to the coarse salt easily, I tried coarse salt a while back and they didn't like it. Its just another thing to possibly get them used to.
 
I think I have my answer now the EV only has the % of zinc and copper as stated so I will stick to FP and see how we go!
 
Even if the levels of actual copper and zinc provided were the same; having bought both Zinc Oxide and Copper Sulphate as straights and the Bioplex versions there is a huge different in price. About £5 for the Copper Sulphate which supplies about 25% copper compared to £17 for Bioplex copper which provides 10% so you have to feed more.

The Bioplex versions are supposed to be better absorbed, I say supposed and I feed them but I know lots of people who happily feed other forms of copper and zinc and have good results.

Good to see another option though.
 
I looked in to this in great detail a year or so ago, and it is very difficult to compare one with the other, but the linseed puts me off, a horse needs 100 gms per day, for condition, and to me this is being used as a filler to some extent.
I know when I looked at [well known company] supplement for the barefoot horse, it was twice as much as buying linseed and the minerals separately, its called marketing. Or perhaps "increasing profit margins"
I would be wary of anything that contains salt as it tends to absorb moisture from the atmosphere
The other problem was comparing apples and oranges, one recommended eg 50 gms per day and another 30gms per day, so I had to work out the cost per 100 days per 500kg horse.
 
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MrsD123 said:
the linseed puts me off, a horse needs 100 gms per day, for condition, and to me this is being used as a filler to some extent.
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It is being used as a filler but to bring the volume to a round figure. So they can say feed a 25ml scoop or a 10ml scoop rather than feed 16 and 3/4 ml or something odd.

I've done the same thing myself when I mixed up a big batch of minerals so it measured out in even scoops.

The progressive earth one uses wheatfeed and calcium carbonate for the same reason and I suspect if you have the full ingredients list the Equivite one has something too.

I did do an excel sheet comparing all the forageplus and progressive earth balancers a while back.
 
I've been using Equivita for about 6 months now and can honestly say that its had an amazing effect on Norm's hooves - I've been through the mill with trying to get him sound and have tried just about everything on the market. Analysis was critical for me and I asked them thousands of questions and was assured no fillers - they were really helpful.EV works for us and I'm not changing.
 
criso said:
It is being used as a filler but to bring the volume to a round figure. So they can say feed a 25ml scoop or a 10ml scoop rather than feed 16 and 3/4 ml or something odd.

I've done the same thing myself when I mixed up a big batch of minerals so it measured out in even scoops.

The progressive earth one uses wheatfeed and calcium carbonate for the same reason and I suspect if you have the full ingredients list the Equivite one has something too.
Yes i understand the idea of a filler to make up the weight to the scoop size, I just feel its not enough to make a difference to the diet, and may lead people to assume they have the correct amount of linseed, though a little is better than none.

I did do an excel sheet comparing all the forageplus and progressive earth balancers a while back.
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Yes i understand the idea of a filler to make up the weight to the scoop size, I just feel its not enough to make a difference to the diet, and may lead people to assume they have the correct amount of linseed, though a little is better than none.
 
MrsD123 said:
Yes i understand the idea of a filler to make up the weight to the scoop size, I just feel its not enough to make a difference to the diet, and may lead people to assume they have the correct amount of linseed, though a little is better than none.
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Forageplus recommend adding 100g - 200g of linseed alongside it so they are not suggesting that it provides the daily requirement. Equivita also suggest adding 100g linseed.

StorminNormin if you add the ingredients listed in the 70g dose they come to 62.6g so they are adding something to round up but it's not a bad thing if it is just to make it up easy measure.

It does look like a good supplement to me and like I said I know lots of people feeding the cheaper forms of copper and zinc happily.
 
Did you find out then which is the best value for money among all the minerals, for various reasons, I used a mix of Hoof Pro and Feedmark Original, I've got 7kgs here, pony gone.
New owner [big noise BHS] would not be be convinced about my diet, so I expect he has metal shoes, and probably gets pony nuts nowadays, new owner told me, and I quote "things have changed since your day" lol.
This to me is "head in the sand" that prevails in BHS. My diet, which I gave him a copy is cheaper than the branded pony nuts, about the same as cheap pony nuts, but these would not provide the same nutrition.
The local committee have organised a confab and discussion night, so I thought, great I'll get up and give a paper on The Barefoot Diet" .....nope....... its all organised already, typical BHS AND its £5.00 a head. No list of speakers.
 
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None are exactly the same, there are tiny differences could suite different people in different circumstances and both do basic and premium options.

However they are very close in terms of value for money and you are getting what you pay for.

The forageplus balancers have about twice the amount of magox, copper and vit e but cost a lot more.

In theory you could even that out by feeding FP at half the rate or Pro hoof at twice but if you did the latter, you would have to be careful of pushing selenium too high.

If you are buying something small then Progressive Earth's postage is better but as Forageplus do a flat rate and free over £80 then that helps for bigger orders

I think this new supplement looks good value for money. Yes is has a cheaper form of copper and zinc but so do lots of other balancers and it has a good ratio and the key elements I like to see.

re other people, I've just moved to a new yard and I'm sure most people think I'm mad with my grass analysis and mixing my own blend. But I can see a fantastic first inch of growth in my new horse's feet and I find I don't struggle with allergies and mud fever with my retired boy (both tbs) so I'll stick with what works for them.
 
criso said:
re other people, I've just moved to a new yard and I'm sure most people think I'm mad with my grass analysis and mixing my own blend. But I can see a fantastic first inch of growth in my new horse's feet and I find I don't struggle with allergies and mud fever with my retired boy (both tbs) so I'll stick with what works for them.
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I know exactly: I am bible thumping with a horse owning customer, who does do quite long hacks, not quite endurance, I told her about barefoot diet, and gave her some minerals and some linseed to help her out with her problems [mud fever and thrush] in one horse, yes she has bought 20kgs of linseed from Charnwood Milling, but only to add to the pony cubes, so once she runs out of my mineral mix the mare will be back on pony cubes, so we can expect the problems to re-occur, you can lead a horse to water.......................
They just will not buy minerals. Very head in the sands.
Re mud fever: I helped a friends mum for a week, when friend was away, mare had bad mud fever and also sore round the tail area, I put on light bandaging on both for a week, stopped overkill with Hibitane, stopped washing mud off excessively, and by the time she came back it was all healing nicely....... I explained what I had done and that changing the management slightly had made all the difference, two weeks later............ "my mare's got mud fever again " grrrrrrrrr
 
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Well this hasgot me querying, so I called up Equinatural yesterday to check everything. Spoke to Carol (she's so friendly!) abd she said:


- (amandap) re those extra optimal levels you mentioned, these are found as trace elements in the brewersyeast content other than the B12
- the percentages of zinc and copper, i'm a bit of a numpty on percentages so hope ive understood this right, she said that shes had other people question this and appreciates it can confuse, so said she'd amend the page,- apparently the measure of the sulphate is to provide the 400mg daily copper and 1200mg daily zinc requirement
- (mrsd123) re salt absorbing moisture, she said that the whole blend is a powder so the risk is there for the whole content – I can confirm it’s a powder, a crunchy one (the lysine apparently) but I keep mine airtight anyway
- fillers – she said there are none at all. She said they originally designed it with linseed at a daily level of 40g but she felt that this meant her customers would be adding a huge amount of blend into feedbowls which would make us run out really quickly and it wouldn’t represent good value to us. She also said she had a customer saying they were really unhappy about seeing the seeds fromlinseed in the blend and was worried about the toxic risk. She explained about micronisation but the customer didn’t want the linseed so she decided its easier t remove the linseed and let us add to our liking as it’s so cheap anyway from charnwood.

She totally reassured me and im staying with it as Norm wolfs it down, he;s hooves are amazing on it and its FREE SHIP!

oh she also gave me a massive tip and said i could buy vit.e really cheaply from equimins.

Hope this helps.
 
StorminNormin said:
Well this hasgot me querying, so I called up Equinatural yesterday to check everything. Spoke to Carol (she's so friendly!) abd she said:


- (amandap) re those extra optimal levels you mentioned, these are found as trace elements in the brewersyeast content other than the B12
- the percentages of zinc and copper, i'm a bit of a numpty on percentages so hope ive understood this right, she said that shes had other people question this and appreciates it can confuse, so said she'd amend the page,- apparently the measure of the sulphate is to provide the 400mg daily copper and 1200mg daily zinc requirement
- (mrsd123) re salt absorbing moisture, she said that the whole blend is a powder so the risk is there for the whole content – I can confirm it’s a powder, a crunchy one (the lysine apparently) but I keep mine airtight anyway
- fillers – she said there are none at all. She said they originally designed it with linseed at a daily level of 40g but she felt that this meant her customers would be adding a huge amount of blend into feedbowls which would make us run out really quickly and it wouldn’t represent good value to us. She also said she had a customer saying they were really unhappy about seeing the seeds fromlinseed in the blend and was worried about the toxic risk. She explained about micronisation but the customer didn’t want the linseed so she decided its easier t remove the linseed and let us add to our liking as it’s so cheap anyway from charnwood.

She totally reassured me and im staying with it as Norm wolfs it down, he;s hooves are amazing on it and its FREE SHIP!

oh she also gave me a massive tip and said i could buy vit.e really cheaply from equimins.

Hope this helps.
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When I emailed her she said the copper and zinc amounts were not actually 400mg or 1200mg but the % of that amount. So I think the copper was 100mg and the zinc 420mg. So no where near the amounts that forage plus provide? I am confused as to whether it is the same/just as good as forage plus as said its a lot cheaper!
 
ktj1891 said:
When I emailed her she said the copper and zinc amounts were not actually 400mg or 1200mg but the % of that amount. So I think the copper was 100mg and the zinc 420mg. So no where near the amounts that forage plus provide? I am confused as to whether it is the same/just as good as forage plus as said its a lot cheaper!
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Lets assume that the levels of zinc and copper are the same.

Forageplus (and progressive earth) use bioplex copper and zinc; equivita uses copper and zinc sulphate.

the bioplex forms are much more expensive (about 6 times more). That is why it is cheaper.

There is alot of debate about different forms of minerals and how they are absorbed but which I'm not going to get into but if you use an expensive ingredient, it will cost more; if you use a cheaper one you can produce a more economical product.

By the way, progressive earth on eBay were cheapest for vitamin e last time I looked but equimins are good for other straights.
 
criso said:
Lets assume that the levels of zinc and copper are the same.

Forageplus (and progressive earth) use bioplex copper and zinc; equivita uses copper and zinc sulphate.

the bioplex forms are much more expensive (about 6 times more). That is why it is cheaper.

There is alot of debate about different forms of minerals and how they are absorbed but which I'm not going to get into but if you use an expensive ingredient, it will cost more; if you use a cheaper one you can produce a more economical product.

By the way, progressive earth on eBay were cheapest for vitamin e last time I looked but equimins are good for other straights.
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Equivita have confirmed it is the elemental amounts listed on their website http://www.equinatural.co.uk/EquiVitaForageMineralBalancer

Forage Plus balancer contains:

400mg elemental copper in bioplex form
1200mg elemental copper in bioplex form

Equivita balancer contains:

400mg elemental copper in sulphate form
1200mg elemental copper in sulphate form

I currently mix my own minerals and feed sulphates, so Equivita looks comparable to my analysis, and could save me a lot of time.

They will do custom mixing, so I could have no Magnesium and vitamin E added, and little cost increase.

Tempted.
 
Also tempted as does seem cheaper than forage plus.
bouncing_ball said:
Equivita have confirmed it is the elemental amounts listed on their website http://www.equinatural.co.uk/EquiVitaForageMineralBalancer

Forage Plus balancer contains:

400mg elemental copper in bioplex form
1200mg elemental copper in bioplex form

Equivita balancer contains:

400mg elemental copper in sulphate form
1200mg elemental copper in sulphate form

I currently mix my own minerals and feed sulphates, so Equivita looks comparable to my analysis, and could save me a lot of time.

They will do custom mixing, so I could have no Magnesium and vitamin E added, and little cost increase.

Tempted.
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