Feed balancers - Which do you use and your opinions?

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Benjamin

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Okay, I want to start feeding Rudy as he is doing more work and looking leaner than I would like.
I used to feed Benj Bailey's Lo Cal, but just looking into the other options available.

Obviously Top Spec and Blue Chip, but does anyone use the following, and what are they like?

Dodson and Horrell Ultimate

Gro Well Equilibra 500

Saracen BioLife.

Thanks
 
Feed balancers are very expensive and you ought to have a good reason for feeding one.

My TB is a good doer and I have no need to stuff her with hard feed. I feed a simple chaff type feed which makes her satisfied that she gets a bucket of food. This year I have added Top Spec to see if it will encourage her feet to grow, as she has poor hoof quantity and quality. None of the hoof supplements work for her and TopSpec does seem to be making a difference.
 
Feeding a balancer is a cheaper way of getting all the nutrients that both of my horses lack in their high fibre diets.

I don't understand why I need a reason to feed a balancer
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Have used TopSpec before, was just wondering how the others were thought of.

Thanks
 
Sorry, I didn't make myself clear. I meant to say that I read a lot of posts where people feed a scoop of this and that and then some balancer. They don't seem to understand what these expensive products are meant for and they overfeed their horses, which is just a waste of money.

ie, A bag of complete nuts is meant to contain all the nutrients they need, if you feed at the makers recommended rate. You are doing what I do, I feed a cheaper fibre food and add the missing nutrients from Top Spec.

Some balancers can also be used to fatten up horses, but the amount you have to use makes them even more expensive to use. If you just want to fatten up a horse, you can buy other feeds that will do it cheaper.
 
Oh, I am not using it to fatten him up, he's just doing more work now.

He gets ad lib hay, massive net at night, and out during the day.

All I am feeding at the minute is Happy Hoof, but that is mainly for Benj's benefit.

Thanks for your reply!
Sorry I misunderstood.
 
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Sol was on Equilibra 500 , highly recommend it
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Thanks
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Sorry didn't go into much detail , forum being soo slow :P

Sol gets half a cup once a day and has been on it 4 months now .
There is a huge difference in her weight and condition than before she went on it .
Also been great as it doesn't send her loopy !
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Mine is also fed on Equlibra 500 and eats it - which helps. We have tried blue chip and baileys lo cal and this was better IMO
 
I love Top Spec and have always fed it along with good quality chaff plus speedibeet in the winter as it keeps my horse in excellent condition without being overweight and it means that I can rest assured her nutritional needs are being met.

However, with life being so expensive at the moment, I'm planning to try Baileys Lo-Cal as it is £10 cheaper a bag.
 
Both my two are on Bailey's Lo-cal as they are fed fibre based diets and are prone to being over weight. They have good feet etc and currently have no health problems. I feed a balancer to ensure they are getting their vitamins and minerals.
 
I feed naf pink powder as i love the fact i can add it to my horses normal feed ( she is a fussy cow and wont touch top spec or blue chip)
I really rate it and skye looks great on it ( although i am obviously a biased owner!!) have never weighed up the costs but i think i pay about £12 a tub and it lasts a month ish.
 
I feed Chancer and now Farra Equilbra - they are on half the recommended amount. I feed this as I feed fibre products only.

Made a real difference to Chancer. He has put on so much topline muscle and Farra is really improving her topline since being fed it.

I also wanted a little more weight on Chancer so in addition he was fed a small amount of Spillars conditioning cubes - just one bag did the trick.

If you just want to make sure they are getting general minerals and vit, then Benevit is excellent, but the Equilbra seems to do a bit extra in terms of building them up, hence why I am feeding it to mine as they are both four year olds.

I found Equilbra to build them up but not much different with Blue Chip.
 
I have in the past used equlibria, bluechip, topspec., I now use baileys stud balancer as it is the cheapest and best value.

To be honest find no difference when compared to the others however the spread sheet recommended by kit279 is a must for reading.

I use the balancer 2 cups ( now baileys stud ) as a sole feed, well almost I mix it with sugarbeet, garlic and baileys outshine ( one cup ) and my horse looks fantastic on it, and he previously has been very difficult to keep weight on.
 
Have a look at the spec for D and H Sure Grow. Some years ago we had a talk from their rep who basically said it was just as good as any other balancer, but cheaper as it's intended for a different 'market'.
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That said it does contain some cereal products which I can't feed to the old boy so have bought a shed load of Feedmark Benevit to supplement their fibre only diet. It works out at 18 pence per day, considerably less than Baileys Lo Cal!
 
I love lo-cal, and it's cheaper as well. Mine lives out all year and I feed 3 mugs of this and a mug of outshine with a small handfull of chaff. That's it, alongside haylage in winter. I did try topspec once but no difference, other than the price (a good bit more)!!
 
I use D+H suregrow, its essentially the same as the ultimate balancer but aimed at a diff market so cheaper. I use pink powder but not as a long term balancer, just as an occasional tonic as am unkeen on powders being fed long term. On the other horse he has F4F which is a balancer in itself.
Neither horse gets fed enough of any other mix- hence the balancers and I dont like vit and min powders etc.
 
I've used lo-cal last winter and over the summer and really noticed when I stopped feeding it. Brilliant stuff.

Thanks for s/sheet link BTW- but can I add to it that lo-cal does contain yeast.
 
I'm glad this is here as I was thinking of getting a balancer for my 3 1/2 year old, as he is on ordinary nuts and happy hoof, plus 24/7 turnout, and seems to be losing condition and topline (though still has a big belly).

Would a balancer help with this? As he's a youngster I was wanting something thatwould give him all his V&Ms.
 
Another LoCal fan here. I've now fed it for going on a year and my horse has really thrived on it. His coat is shiny, feet are good, and he has plenty of energy without getting too fat. Brilliant stuff. (he's a competition horse).
 
TopSpec. My girls look fantastic, are level headed, perform well and are nice to be around. Mare has a habit of being a total hot head and stressing weight off, on TopSpec she is less stressy, holds weight and is a happier person as she doesn't have to have such big feeds.
 
ive used blue chip,pink powder, low cal and baileys stud balancer
not found a great deal of difference between them
all the horses are on topspec now plus fibre chaff.2-18yrs of age.
ive gone for topspec as it seems to work out cheaper and the feed store always has some.
 
I have looked at dobson and horrell suregrow, and ultimate balancer, both have excellant vitamin and mineral analysis, however if you feed at the recommended rate, then for a 500kg horse you are recommended to feed 1250g of suregrow and 500g ultimate balancer, making the ultimate balancer cheaper on price per day, and both dearer ( allthough with a wider vit/min spectrum than local or stud balancer.
 
i feed baileys stud balancer it is brillient i dont feed any nuts or mix just alfa a and the reccomended ammount of balancer my colt is 18 months old warmblood he has good strong feed a glossy coat and a super temprement i highly reccomend it for older horses blue chip is my favorate
 
I'm another for Pink Powder! If you Google it there is plenty of info, and I saw results within 3 weeks. I feed it for digestion, feet, coat, show condition (not fat), general well being, and you just use it with your normal bowl of feed. Great stuff.
 
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