Feed balancers. ???

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sykokat

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As above. Do we REALLY need to feed them to our horses? Surely if the mixes etc that we give to them have all the necessary vits, mins, oils etc there shouldn't be a need for expensive extras?? Just wandered what you all think and as to what you use and the results/benefits your horses get.
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sure your right if you feed a mix in an appropriate quantity and not always as much as stated on the bag ( accourding to spillers ) then you certainly do not need the additional cost of a balancer or even vit min supplement at all.

I am currently feeding a balancer but that is all I am feeding
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I was asking this same question many years ago, and as has already been said, as long as you are feeding a compund mix, then that is enough.
 
I wouldn't use a balancer in addition to a compound feed that I was already feeding at the recommended levels. That isn't what they are intended for, though.
 
Ive fed one for years, thinking Im doing the right thing. I fed one because I dont feed my horse anywhere near the reccomended amounts. I went to feed merchants recently for my Top Spec and he said why are you feeding this. They are meant to be fed to horses who get straights so they get a balanced feed. Never thought of it in that way before. He sold me a bag of HiFibre cubes instead for a quarter of the price. Thought Id give it a go and so far so good. My horse does get good haylage and is on good grazing though. His feeds are a token gesture, so we will see how we get on.
 
I feed lo-cal because my boys dont get feed as such- just a handful of Stay- sound and not a lot of it so its not at the manufacturers recommended rates hence they need the vits to keep growing nicely.
 
I'm looking at the balancer route at the moment because to feed the recommended amount of cereal/concentrate in order to provide sufficient vitamins etc I would be having to pile the feed in, He doesn't require that much feed as he is a good doer and I don't like to provide large concentrate feeds. I am also considering though a fibre diet (less than recommended amount) with a supplement such as benevit etc, as this also provides the levels of vitamins he needs.
 
Mine is fed balancer with Alfa chaff and sugar beet. No point in feeding one if they are getting a "complete" feed. For me feeding a high oil/fibre diet, it works wonders for alot cheaper than feeding lots of grain/concentrates
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If I feed the 'reccomended' amounts of hard feed on the bags my horse would explode. And I'd be horribly poor too. They only get all the vits and minerals they need from a hard feed if you're giving the 'full' amount.

As I'm not, like many people, I use a feed balancer (or general supplement) instead.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Do we REALLY need to feed them to our horses?

[/ QUOTE ] No, not all horses anyway! There are lots and lots of horses that do very well without being fed a balancer.

Balancers were first designed to balance the feeds of growing youngstock who require a higher level of protein than adult horses. Protein levels may be satisfactory in the summer on good grazing, but in the winter a hay only diet would not provide the recommended level. Trying to boost the diet using high levels of cereals or cereal-based mixes/cubes often resulted in developmental disorders due to high levels of starch, so balancers were devised to provide a concentrated form of protein and vit/mins for youngstock on a fibre only diet.

Aside from protein and vit/mins, the other key constituent of balancers is prebiotics/probiotics which are said to help maintain a healthy gut flora which helps aid fibre digestion. However, a lot of healthy horses on a high fibre diet will already have a healthy gut flora, so this addition is of most benefit to horses whose gut flora has been compromised by stress, antibiotic treatment, high cereal diet etc.

Balancers are very concentrated and contain the daily RDA of vit/mins in a small serving - often about 500g. Standard mixes and cubes are less concentrated and are designed to supply the RDA of vit/mins when fed at or near the recommended amount - for example Spillers recommend 3kg a day of High Fibre Cubes for a 500kg cob. If you are feeding the recommended amount of a complete feed then you don't need a balancer on top! However, if you feed just a handful of High Fibre Cubes then don't kid yourself they are giving your horse its daily dose of vit/mins!

I've noticed people say that the ingredients in standard fiver a bag cubes are very similar to the ingredients in the more expensive balancers so they must do the same job. This is not actually true because the proportion of ingredients is different - there is a higher quantity of the more expensive ingredients in the balancers. (Although I do feel that balancer manufacturers do whack the prices up due to the 'fashionability' of the product!
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So, it is worth feeding a balancer if you need the prebiotic/probiotic content, the high protein level and the vit/mins.

If you only want the vit/min content, then you would be better feeding a broad spectrum vit/min supplement which will usually be significantly cheaper.

If you are feeding a handful of cubes or mix to your horse then don't kid yourself that it contains the full RDA of vit/mins, but having said that it is quite possible that your horse is already getting all he needs from good grazing and/or good quality haylage. I must confess that my daughter's pony just gets a couple of handfuls of Bailey's High Fibre Cubes twice a day, which is way under the recommended amount, but she still looks wonderful as I suspect she is getting a lot of her nutrients from grazing and good haylage!
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In theory I should change to Bailey's Lo Cal, but I can't see the point whilst the current diet is working!
 
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