feed balancers

I use Topspec senior balancer for both of mine - my 26yr old arab and 7yr old OSH as it incorporates a pink powder and joint supplement type things in it.
 
None.

Completely unnecessary, ingredients are unsuitable for most horses, particularly metabolically challenged or laminitic. It's a purely market driven product.

If you are going to feed at the recommended rate, it is far too much for most horses.

Far better to stick with a good mineral supplement and a good forrage/fibre based diet. Far better for your horse.
 
brucea said:
None.

Completely unnecessary, ingredients are unsuitable for most horses, particularly metabolically challenged or laminitic. It's a purely market driven product.

If you are going to feed at the recommended rate, it is far too much for most horses.

Far better to stick with a good mineral supplement and a good forrage/fibre based diet. Far better for your horse.
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Totally disagree, a lot off horses Wont use a mineral lick and a lot off mineral supplements aren't as high spec as balancers.
Topspec is by far the best and is cereal/grain free and low sugar and starch.
My laminitic and my ir pony oh and my horse with several allergys all have topspec in different forms and never been better.
And iv saved a lot off money by using topspec and I don't feed anything else now. Great stuff and will not swap.
 
I think balancers are a bit of a rip-off and you're better off feeding Pink Powder or similar.

I feed mine this:-

http://www.naturalhorsesupplies.co.uk/p/product/1004042114-Herbal+Shine+Extra+900g++%A3349/

I would call it a herbal version of Pink Powder. I feed it along with chaff, basic cubes and sugar beet - works out much cheaper than a balancer and my ponies look great.

I did try a balancer once, and although my horse's coat and hooves were fab, it did not keep his weight on so I had to add conditioning feed to it which made it really expensive.
 
Blue Chip! Yes people say its cost a bomb but you use so little of it that it actually works out cheaper then other balancers that seem to be cheaper.

I've fed the pro and original and they both gave my horses shiny coats, weight gain (for the bad doer) and they just looked really good on it. My current one is on the original soon to be moved onto pro when the snow melts and he looks fantastic, you wouldn't believe he's been turned away for 3 months if you saw him :)
 
brucea said:
None.

Completely unnecessary, ingredients are unsuitable for most horses, particularly metabolically challenged or laminitic. It's a purely market driven product.

This is utter rubbish, I think you need to understand the reasons/ indications and suitable times for feeding a balancer. They are particular useful in the feeding management of laminitic horse and ponies as certain balancers have a very low starch content. A bag of H+P nuts could be much more damaging to a laminitic!
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Another vote for Baileys Lo-Cal. I feed it to all of my horses (two are cob types and good doers and the other one is an elderly welsh mountain pony) They all do very well on it and it means I don't have to feed a large feed of mix/pony cubes to make sure they are getting all of the correct vitamins and minerals. :)
 
its all so confusing with feeds as to whats best im feeding my 5 year old the top spec light balancer purely because i hope it is helping his growing
 
Southywesty said:
brucea said:
None.

Completely unnecessary, ingredients are unsuitable for most horses, particularly metabolically challenged or laminitic. It's a purely market driven product.

This is utter rubbish, I think you need to understand the reasons/ indications and suitable times for feeding a balancer. They are particular useful in the feeding management of laminitic horse and ponies as certain balancers have a very low starch content. A bag of H+P nuts could be much more damaging to a laminitic!
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Well said.
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Never used Baileys and wouldnt even think about spending that amount on bluechip!! My friend had her mare on Blue chip for a while and it drove her skin mad. Her fur all started falling out and her skin went all scurffy, took months to clear up. I have used Bluegrass Stud Balancer its the exact same as the saracen one. Only £15 and really done the job for my wee tb. He always had trouble with keeping weight on and being to lazy or to excitable but this really helped him gain weight, muscle and gave him enough energy without exploding. I really rate it :D
 
If your mare is a good doer and all you want to do is make sure she's getting her vits/mins than feeding her topspec lite would do this fine plus you have the added benifit off a hoof supplement within the balancer. And for £25 ish for a 40 day supple for a 500kg or 80 days for a 250kg pony it does not work out expensive.
So many people feed hoof supplements, pink powders, this and that on top the feed which works out expensive not the balancer.
If you read the ingredents in horse and pony nuts there really is some crap put into them.
Topspec is low starch and low sugar and cereal free which is very important for laminitics and horse and pony nuts would not be as good as a balancer for such a problem. And would have to feed a huge amount to get all the daily vits/mins so a balancer is great for laminitics.
 
I'm currently feeding both my 17 year old fell and 4 year old connie (both good doers) the top spec balancer lite. Both seem to be doing brilliantly on it and the 17 year old seems to have more life and energy about her.
 
We feed Top Spec balancers to our horses and wouldn't change. At first glance it might look expensive but you feed only a very small amount. Time and again in independent tests/trial Top Spec comes up top in terms of vitamin and mineral content.

Have several friends who feed Baileys Lo Cal and are pleased with that.
 
Personally find something like Feedmarks Benevit much better value than a balancer. Has all the vitamins and you are paying for what you get rather than some fancy marketing. if you add this to a chaff its a feed for all types.
 
Baileys lo-cal is brilliant. I've been using it for around 5 or 6 years & give it to everyone from full tb's to little fat ponies. However I do only feed at half the recommended rate, along with molli-chaff extra, and seem to have the same results! Shiney coats, healthy hooves (rarely have one throw a shoe) & no explosions in temperament :) I've even converted another lady on the yard, who has fed it to hers for about 2yrs now!
 
brucea said:
None.

Completely unnecessary, ingredients are unsuitable for most horses, particularly metabolically challenged or laminitic. It's a purely market driven product.

This is utter rubbish, I think you need to understand the reasons/ indications and suitable times for feeding a balancer. They are particular useful in the feeding management of laminitic horse and ponies as certain balancers have a very low starch content. A bag of H+P nuts could be much more damaging to a laminitic!
Click to expand...


Yes - you are absolutely right - a bag of h&P nuts is not suitable feed for a laminitic either!

Actually I have 2 laminitics - both sound. I won't feed any balancers at all and in my personal opinion there is no real justificaiton for feeding balancers to laminitic or metabolically challenged horses.

A balancer that is mass produced cannot possibly balance your specific forrage or diet. To do that you need to have minerals specific to the circumstances in your area to address shortfalls and issues in your soils and grasses - for example high iron, low copper and zinc......

So, no, it is not rubbish. Suggest you have a look at Sarah's site

Sarah Braithwaite of the UKNHCP has introduced a new service "Forage Plus" which provides a bespoke equine nutritional service.

Her site is http://forageplus.com/
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I feed equine americas top form pellets. £13 for 6 week supply. Works out cheaper and is very highly recomended. Im on my third pot now (they come in pots as opposed to bags/you feed much much less of it than a bag of balancer) and he look fab on it! (12 yr old tb) Very pleased with it. I do have to order it in at the feed merchant but i just text them and they order it in for me.
http://www.equine-america.co.uk/proddetail.php?prod=VMPPowder
 
brucea said:
Yes - you are absolutely right - a bag of h&P nuts is not suitable feed for a laminitic either!

Actually I have 2 laminitics - both sound. I won't feed any balancers at all and in my personal opinion there is no real justificaiton for feeding balancers to laminitic or metabolically challenged horses.

A balancer that is mass produced cannot possibly balance your specific forrage or diet. To do that you need to have minerals specific to the circumstances in your area to address shortfalls and issues in your soils and grasses - for example high iron, low copper and zinc......

So, no, it is not rubbish. Suggest you have a look at Sarah's site

Sarah Braithwaite of the UKNHCP has introduced a new service "Forage Plus" which provides a bespoke equine nutritional service.

Her site is http://forageplus.com/
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so in that case no multi vit/min supplement is any good either.
My laminitic has a lite balancer, he's on no grass and just soaked hay so has no nutrition goodness at all so that is where the balancer comes in.
The big horses get no hard feed so just get topspec for goodness. Without that they would have no goodness which would result in crap overall health.
It would be imposable to make a supplement off short falls between every horse as grazing varies from time off year, batches off hay being different nutritional value and so on.
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so in that case no multi vit/min supplement is any good either.
My laminitic has a lite balancer, he's on no grass and just soaked hay so has no nutrition goodness at all so that is where the balancer comes in.
The big horses get no hard feed so just get topspec for goodness. Without that they would have no goodness which would result in crap overall health.
It would be imposable to make a supplement off short falls between every horse as grazing varies from time off year, batches off hay being different nutritional value and so on.
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You can only do what you can do within the parameters you can control..

The ideal is to base on a forrage analysis and then get the supplement balanced to your specific forage.

I feed washed unmolassed SB, B Yeast, Mag Oxide, specific mineral mix. linseed meal, sprinkle seaweed, some herbs - and the big lad gets sprouted oats (somethng new I am trying) - and they look very well on it and have plenty of energy. And ad-lib hay of course.

Thae hay is unsoaked for the laminitics - it turned out getting adequate minerals was more important than soaking the hay it seemed.

If you look closely at the balancers, the ingredients are often what you might not want to feed your horse.

If you look at a popular balancer the ingredients are:
Contents
Black Oats 44 %
Non GM Soya 27 %
Lucerne Meal 10 %
Micronized Beet Pulp 5 %
Vitamins and Minerals 4.5 %
Molasses 3.5 %
Vegetable Oils 2.5 %
Yeast 1 %
Oligosaccharides 1 %
Sodium Bicarbonate 0.5 %
Oat Bran Concentrate 0.5 %
MT.X+ Microscopic Binder 0.3 %
Seaweed Meal 0.2 %

I would not be feeding my laminitic black oats, or soya or lucerne meal - or molasses for that matter.
 
Not just forage, soil , water, each batch off forage etc etc. Would be imposable to get it spot on on each horse. Parts off pasture can differ as well. So if you look at it that way it's totally imposable. You just do your best to make sure your horse is getting goodness
 
brucea said:
You can only do what you can do within the parameters you can control..

The ideal is to base on a forrage analysis and then get the supplement balanced to your specific forage.

I feed washed unmolassed SB, B Yeast, Mag Oxide, specific mineral mix. linseed meal, sprinkle seaweed, some herbs - and the big lad gets sprouted oats (somethng new I am trying) - and they look very well on it and have plenty of energy. And ad-lib hay of course.

Thae hay is unsoaked for the laminitics - it turned out getting adequate minerals was more important than soaking the hay it seemed.

If you look closely at the balancers, the ingredients are often what you migh
t not want to feed your horse.

If you look at a popular balancer the ingredients are:
Contents
Black Oats 44 %
Non GM Soya 27 %
Lucerne Meal 10 %
Micronized Beet Pulp 5 %
Vitamins and Minerals 4.5 %
Molasses 3.5 %
Vegetable Oils 2.5 %
Yeast 1 %
Oligosaccharides 1 %
Sodium Bicarbonate 0.5 %
Oat Bran Concentrate 0.5 %
MT.X+ Microscopic Binder 0.3 %
Seaweed Meal 0.2 %

I would not be feeding my laminitic black oats, or soya or lucerne meal - or molasses for that matter.
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go and take a look at topspec balancer.
 
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