Feed balancers, are they really required (summer)

[I'm Dun]

I made my own, vitamin e, magnesium, copper and zinc, and MSM. Covers most of the bases and worked out about a tenner a month. I added in oily herbs as they made a huge difference to my TB, but the cost of those was negligible. I think about 12 quids worth lasted me 3 months. I strongly believe that all horses do better on that sort of mix, but you can get far too bogged down in minute details. No way on earth would I be spending £250 a month on supplements! Even my little PSSM mare didn't cost more than about £35 and for PSSM its essential.

 

[Fieldlife]

Funnily enough I know all that, thanks. But you'll still need a forage and soil analysis to know what is going into your horse.

You definitely dont need a soil analysis to know what is going into your horse (though soil analysis can be useful to know how to improve your forage). Soil analysis will not necessarily reflect the same results as a forage analysis.

 

[Fieldlife]

I made my own, vitamin e, magnesium, copper and zinc, and MSM. Covers most of the bases and worked out about a tenner a month. I added in oily herbs as they made a huge difference to my TB, but the cost of those was negligible. I think about 12 quids worth lasted me 3 months

what about sodium and selenium?

 

[Cortez]

You definitely dont need a soil analysis to know what is going into your horse (though soil analysis can be useful to know how to improve your forage). Soil analysis will not necessarily reflect the same results as a forage analysis.

Well, precisely, that's why you do both: What's in the soil is what's going into your grass/hay, which is what's going into your horse. I realise that probably most people are not able to manage their own grazing and don't make their own hay, but if you want to feed supplemental micro nutrients you would be best to know what you're doing rather than just flinging them into animals willy nilly because everyone else says so.

 

[WestCoast]

People make this so damn complicated - usually to sell something expensive. If they won’t eat their bucket feed they’ll be fine for a few months if they’re well nourished before - my warmblood mare did her first 6 months without anything for that reason. When I did my equine nutrition course they taught us about racing Standardbreds on forage only diets.

I never feed anything more than a low volume balancer with a bit of chaff - unless you’re doing high level eventing they just don’t need it. Was using a couple of mugs of Bailey’s stud balancer - it’s pretty much the same as their performance balancer but a tenner less due to no marketing budget. It was mixed with a couple of handfuls Alfa-a molasses free as she loves the mint and fenugreek. Currently spoiling her with Saracen competition fit balancer which is super palatable for the fussies and again only needs a couple of mugs. It does have molasses so probably not for the fatties but in that volume fine for a sports horse in work.

 

[Ratface]

Old Horse gets TopSpec Anti-Lam in his feed. He had a very slight brush with laminitis a few years back and we don't want to risk that again. The feed is very basic old-fashioned: grass chop, basic horse nuts from the local mill, mixed herbs and speedi-beet in winter. Ad lib hay from YO's well-managed 50-acre farm, which is all grazing. She sub-lets some of it in Spring to a local farmer who runs his sheep and lambs on it for a few months. All the horses are retired successful competition horses and have pretty much the same diet.