feeding supplements with balancers?

[Jericho]

I am trying to give my horse the best possible diet to support remedial shoeing programme with impact pads and encourage horn growth and keep the darn shoes on! Currently feed TopSpec Comp Balancer with Happy Hoof, sugarbeet and outshine and this combo works well with my horse - he is looking fabulous (and I suspect the grass coming through is helping this!) however if I feed a specific foot supplement like Formula4Feet will this unbalance his diet / be a waste of money becuase it doesnt add anything.

TS Comp has the 15mg of biotin recommended plus he gets a wee bit more from the happy hoof so what else goes into hoof supplements that the TS Comp Balancer doesnt have?

I have also started using Kevn Bacon dressing as we have had one day of rain here in the last month and the ground is cracking already so I think he needs some moisture in there. Also rub cornecresine in around coronet band once a week but bit awkward as he lives in over reach boots and it just makes a mess and irritates.

 

[Nari]

You shouldn't feed F4F with TopSpec Comp Balancer, you'll cause problems as he'll be getting far too much of some vits & mins. Why not call Top Spec & have a chat, maybe they can offer some more ideas? They're very helpful & will recommend other companies products if they think they'll help.

I've found TS Comp Balancer & AntiLam (I swap depending on his weight) have produced far more improvement in Jim's hooves than any hoof supplement did.

 

[RachelB]

TopSpec Comprehensive is called 'comprehensive' because it includes all the "essential" vitamins and minerals, plus a few extras such as enough of the vital ingredients for hoof quality improvement and other such supplements. Therefore it should not be necessary to feed another hoof supplement, and certainly not Formula 4 Feet which is actually a balancer and hoof supplement in one. This would overdose the horse on most of the nutrients!
I actually find that TopSpec Lite (also has the TopSpec hoof supplement in it, as does the Comprehensive) doesn't produce as much of a difference in my horse's feet as Formula 4 Feet did. It maintains a good enough quality hoof, whereas F4F improved my mare's feet no end. If you find F4F works better for your horse's feet, I would drop the TS and feed that instead.
Otherwise, IMO the best you can do is to keep to a good farriery regime, ensure he is getting a balanced diet (as you are), and rub Cornucrescine into his coronet bands.

 

[Jericho]

Thank you - that is exactly what I wanted to hear - just wanted to make sure I wasnt missing anything!

I'll stcik with TS because he looks so good on it. I have only had him 7 months and the poor feet has a lot to do with his past than more recently. My new farrier said he could tell I had changed his diet when I bought him as his horn looks better higher up the hoof.