For those who dont feed a balancer...

[Winklepoker]

What DO you feed?

Just considering alternatives to the completness a balancer provides

Thanks

 

[Spyda]

Either the full recommended level of a compound feed, or, if too much - less than the recommended level with the necessary amount of a complete supplement added to balance the ration. Which one of these I'd select would depend upon the horse in question and what his age, condition and work level was.

 

[Jane_Lou]

Either the full recommended level of a compound feed, or, if too much - less than the recommended level with the necessary amount of a complete supplement added to balance the ration. Which one of these I'd select would depend upon the horse in question and what his age, condition and work level was.

Exactly this /\ /\

 

[POLLDARK]

The New Forest who just hacks gets hay & grass, does very well on it too. Lovely coat & hoof condition.

 

[stencilface]

Just what we always feed them tbh! Never feed the full amounts of anything, but supplement with a broad vit and min supplement, linseed oil and a joint supplement for those that need it. None of our horses ever seem to be sick, always have healthy shiny coats, and I wouldn't want them any more full of beans! I put mine on a balancer in sept as I thought if he had everything, it would aid his recovery. All it did was send him a bit loopy tbh, which I've heard is quite common.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

We were feeding PinkPowder (started because a change to haylage led to very 'runny bums'). After having to swap to Haylage Balancer, we realised that it was causing more problems than it was curing and that the PP had started the problems. We stopped feeding supplements (one does get Brewer's Yeast, the others tums are sorted now).

TBH unless you know via a blood test that your horse is deficient in something, there really isn't much point in feeding a 'balancer' which could unbalance your horse.

They do all have access to a Himalayan salt lick but don't bother with them half as much as they did while on PP - must say something!

 

[Rowreach]

Good quality haylage and nothing else - this applies from youngstock through the kids ponies through to my comp horses. Only one of my horses gets hard feed because she has supermodel genes

 

[Clippy]

Good quality haylage and nothing else - this applies from youngstock through the kids ponies through to my comp horses. Only one of my horses gets hard feed because she has supermodel genes

This goes for me too. I give a small bucket feed after hunting so I can give electrolytes but apart from that, they never see a bucket. They all look well, and are able to perform sensibly

 

[LadyRascasse]

My mare has pink powder, as she only has small hard feeds. with ad lib hay/haylage.

 

[Oberon]

We were feeding PinkPowder (started because a change to haylage led to very 'runny bums'). After having to swap to Haylage Balancer, we realised that it was causing more problems than it was curing and that the PP had started the problems. We stopped feeding supplements (one does get Brewer's Yeast, the others tums are sorted now).

TBH unless you know via a blood test that your horse is deficient in something, there really isn't much point in feeding a 'balancer' which could unbalance your horse.

They do all have access to a Himalayan salt lick but don't bother with them half as much as they did while on PP - must say something!

I agree to a point. Other than whole blood selenium levels, taking blood for nutritional deficiency is only a snap shot of that day. It's more reliable to test the forage instead of the horse.

 

[Oberon]

Balancers are feed company jargon.

What are they balancing?

How do they know what's in your grazing or haylage to balance it?

Some supplements work for some horses - but that's down to the luck of hitting the right mix for the individual horse on that particular forage....feed company hype has nothing to do with it.

 

[stencilface]

In fact, I've even recommended someone take their very bouncy bolshy cob off their balancer, just to see if he's more manageable. I don't see why if a horse has access to good quality forage they need anything else really (despite feeding it myself!). Horses can and do self medicate and if they have access to good, varied turnout with a variety of grasses, herbs, and other things to snack on they should be able to get everything they need.

I do realise that some horses do not have access to this though, only stamp sized grass monocultures, that look pleasing to the eye, but can be a nutritional desert. Our horses will eat ash tree leaves and twigs, brambles, thistles, and occasionally lick mud around the spring. We always seem to have oldies and they always seem to go on forever, I think our spring must be some kind of elixir.

 

[Alphamare]

Mineral lick in the field. I do have meadow grazing though and make my own hay. I plan on adding some herbs into the grazing too.

 

[toomanynags]

Have finally settled on a home-made mix of a good broad spectrum vit/min supplement, seaweed, micronized linseed and brewer's yeast. Fed according to size/workload with small amounts of unmolassed beet/alfa or hi-fi. All five (sec A, cob, three TBs) have wonderfully shiny coats, good hoof growth and steady temperaments, but if we use commercial balancer we've had fizzy horses with poor hoof quality.

 

[Supertrooper]

The shire x who is out 24/7 has am and pm.....

1 scoop fast fibre
2 handfuls of hifi mollasses free
2 good wedges of hay (bit more if really cold or wet)

We've recently had Allen&Page out and he's been weighed on scales at 812kg, the nutritionist is very happy with how he looks and will be weighing him again in march.

That quantity of fast fibre (ie two stubbs scoops a day) gives him all his vit/min xxx

 

[Kat]

Mine has the full recommended amount of conditioning cubes so no need for a balancer.

 

[touchstone]

Balancers are feed company jargon.

What are they balancing?

How do they know what's in your grazing or haylage to balance it?

Some supplements work for some horses - but that's down to the luck of hitting the right mix for the individual horse on that particular forage....feed company hype has nothing to do with it.

This! Unless you have an analysis done on everything else your particular horse is eating a balancer is pointless, it simply means you are topping up on things your horse may be lacking and overdosing on others. Mine is doing very well on just haylage and fast fibre with minimal grazing.

 

[scarymare]

This! Unless you have an analysis done on everything else your particular horse is eating a balancer is pointless, it simply means you are topping up on things your horse may be lacking and overdosing on others. Mine is doing very well on just haylage and fast fibre with minimal grazing.

Same here. I've mares, foals, geldings all on ad-lib haylage. Only clipped one is rugged. My neighbour who has 4 of her own even commented on their coats which shine in the sun. They look amazing though I say so myself! My haylage this year was very late cut so the weight issues aren't occuring either. I didn't even feed 'balancers' whatever they are when I just had the one!

 

[Izzwizz]

For the gelding who is in full work just haylage and the odd carrot and for the mare who's out of work at the moment, hay and a handful of Happy Hoof with which she has her MSM and Oestress supplements and the odd couple of carrots. Thats it, no balancers, they do well on this and the gelding has enough energy for me. Had to feed him a mix in Summer as he is on limited grass, hay at night as he came in as we have to watch his weight. Sounds contradictory but my Trainer recommended a feed as he regularly "ran out of petrol". It worked well for him.

 

[fidleyspromise]

Mare 1 is on formula4feet.
Mare 2 is on a handful of high-fibre nuts.

Ad-lib Hay for both of them.

 

[Abbeygale]

My girls have good grass, and hay for one, haylege for the other. In terms of hard feed they have a handful of Alfa a and a handful of fibre nuts - more a token for them to come in from them field from than actually feeding them tbh.

Both my girls are looking fabulous - shiny coats and good weight. And both are feeling very well!! IYKWIM lol

 

[walkers_dream]

my section c is on apple chaff, stud mix and conditioner, and my cob is on herbal chaff and stud mix, both do wonders on it.

A mix of hay and haylage depends what we are given down the yard as its included in the rent

 

[Holly Hocks]

Both of mine are currently on Fast Fibre and unmolassed chopped oat straw chaff (just plain old chaff!). Ones a TB and the other a New Forest X. Both look well. They both also get micronised linseed.

I won't feed a balancer - never have, never will as I don't know exactly what I'm trying to balance without a full analysis of bloods being done.