Feed comanies and weigh bridges/scales

[Leo Walker]

Which ones come out to your yard and weigh your horse? Ive been meaning to organise this for ages, but cant remember which ones do it.

 

[AFB]

We've had A&P & Spillers out to our yard.

I didn't use the Spillers one as I don't generally like their products but was impressed by A&P. The first time they came we all got a free bag of their suggested feed.

 

[Annagain]

We've had Spillers, Dengie and Top Spec come to our riding club camp. Top Spec give you the best freebies but are the most difficult to book. Dengie seem to be the easiest to get hold of but that might just be as I have our area rep's direct contact details now! The advice for my two has been pretty much the same from all of them - low cal balancer - and I've ignored it every time! I'm very happy with what I feed them and don't feel I need the advice, I just find it useful to have an annual record of their weight and have someone objective to condition score them. Both their weight and their condition scores are pretty stable (5-6 out of 10) even at 23 years old.

If you can get enough people together and a venue, the one thing Dengie do really well is a talk on the digestive system. They bring a full size model of the stomach and intestines and explain how it all works. We had a presentation at the riding club AGM then they did 2 weight clinics the next day at different ends of our catchment area. Combining things like that, seems to make an overnight stay worth their while.

 

[Leo Walker]

Spillers are only about 20mins away so I've contacted them. The Dengie talk sounds really good, but not sure I could get enough people interested in it sadly!

 

[MyBoyChe]

Im only 5 minutes from Spillers but they wont come out to me as sadly not enough on the yard will take part

 

[ihatework]

Spillers have always done my horses, either at yard or often have their scales at BD champs/camps

 

[Sandstone1]

Allen and paige are good.

 

[lottiepony]

I go down the route of an independent lady. She has her own weighbridge and literally travels anywhere in the UK. She ties in my visit when she's down Newmarket way. I originally got her details as she a talk for our riding club. I like it as she has no affiliation to any specific feed company so feel like I am putting my horses on the best available out of the whole market. She runs a full analysis on the diet and gives exact amounts to feed. Another thing I like is she looks at the fields to see what the grazing is like so it's really taken into consideration. Just feels like you get the full package! Granted the cost is higher - think a lot of feed companies do it for free but I'm been very impressed with her, and it's been 3 years now that I've been using her.

 

[supsup]

We've had Spillers for years on our yard, and I think they've done a great job (advice if wanted without being pushy, vouchers for money-off on their products, and obviously a weight and condition score).
However, it's always been a bit challenging to set up an appointment as they keep weekends for large yards, and they are always booked months ahead. Trying to find a date when owners aren't at work during mid-week, there's still enough daylight to see etc. and getting enough people on board to make it worth while (usually around 12-15 horses, 8-10 owners) has become more difficult over time, so we actually lapsed the last year.

 

[SEL]

It was Topspec last year at our yard but one of the more professional riders uses their stuff. They needed 8 of us I think.

I use topchop zero so felt I justified a weigh-in with my two despite not using any of their other products. Eye opening!!

ETA - the lady who came out was extremely tactful about a pony who had 'done summer very well'. Tactful but didn't avoid the subject of the pony being obese.

 

[Leo Walker]

I go down the route of an independent lady. She has her own weighbridge and literally travels anywhere in the UK. She ties in my visit when she's down Newmarket way. I originally got her details as she a talk for our riding club. I like it as she has no affiliation to any specific feed company so feel like I am putting my horses on the best available out of the whole market. She runs a full analysis on the diet and gives exact amounts to feed. Another thing I like is she looks at the fields to see what the grazing is like so it's really taken into consideration. Just feels like you get the full package! Granted the cost is higher - think a lot of feed companies do it for free but I'm been very impressed with her, and it's been 3 years now that I've been using her.

She sounds great, but I dont really need feed advice, I just want to know what the pony weighs. I do know other people on the yard would be interested in diet advice though, but not sure anyone would want to pay for it

 

[Tiddlypom]

Do your vets have a weighbridge? I get mine weighed every time they're up at the vets for anything else, there's no extra charge for it.

 

[Leo Walker]

Probably, but my transport is off the road and it will cost me the best part of £100 to hire a box to take her there!

I filled in Spilers on line form this morning, they emailed me back saying the nurtritionist would be in touch, she emailed me this evening and they are coming out May 15th. I'm pretty impressed with that!