Good doer needing vit/minerals?

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horse812261

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Hi I have a 22year old warmblood who is in light hacking work living out 24/7 on sparse dry hay like grazing. He's a good doer and could do with losing a bit of weight although can drop off in the winter if not careful. He shares his field with a 20 year old arthritic Shetland (not lami prone). He has been using his salt lick a lot recently which is very unlike him - he barely touches it normally. I wonder if I should feed something to help his vitamin and mineral uptake but definitely don't need any feed as such as he is in very little work. Thanks in advance
 
Feed a lite balancer - there are many on the market. I'm using Topspec Lite because vet college feeds it but have used Baileys Lo cal balancer too with good results.
 
I used to recommend standard shop buy balance era but after finding out many of them are high starch content I would say just buy a broad spectrum vit and min supp and add to a handful of dampened chaff, something like dengie good doer would be ideal.
 
Their tongues aren't rough enough to get all they need from a lick. http://calmhealthyhorses.com/solution/salt.html Feed salt in daily feeds, as an electrolyte to ensure cells are fully hydrated, and if you are concerned about other minerals, Forageplus do a very good balancer based on the average soil/forage deficiency results from around the country - add to a small handful of damped bran, which they find very palatable
 
Look at Progressive Earth on Ebay. I buy Pro mineral & brewers yeast for the b vits and it has really perked my horse up - I think he was lacking copper from unbalanced grass
 
Try Pure Feeds - they have a basic balancer or more depending on the individual horse needs, they are incredibly helpful if you e-mail them
 
Thanks for all your advice. I don't currently feed any hard feed so would only want to feed something minimal. The other problem is that if he tastes a supplement he won't eat the chaff so end up feeding more to a horse in next to no work! Will keep looking into it though thanks. Any opinions on top spec lite balancer?
 
horse812261 said:
Thanks for all your advice. I don't currently feed any hard feed so would only want to feed something minimal. The other problem is that if he tastes a supplement he won't eat the chaff so end up feeding more to a horse in next to no work! Will keep looking into it though thanks. Any opinions on top spec lite balancer?
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No full of cereal despite saying cereal free :( trust me I tried it last year and then had to spend a fortune after my horse took a reaction. He is cereal intolerant but half the yard was on it and they all went down with hoof issues inc footyness, WLD and thrush. Try to get a pelleted supplement.
 
It does sound like a simple pelleted balancer would be the easiest option in your situation, or maybe a treat-based supplement (i.e. you feed a few fortified treats each day, like D&H Equi Bites), though I'm not sure if those are truly covering the daily requirements.
I quite like the Spillers Lite balancer as an affordable and palatable option - at £19.99 per 20kg bag it's on the cheaper side compared to other brands, and comparable in terms of what vits & mins are included. Spillers have just rebranded their range though, I think the "Daily Balancer" (16.99 for 15kg) is now the most economical. It's fed at a rate of 100g per 100kg bodyweight, so only 2-3 handfuls. Shouldn't add a lot of calories, and when I've tried it, it was tasty enough that my boy would eat it neat with some extra salt added.
 
Oh I thought top spec lite was pelleted? Like the comprehensive one? Will steer clear of that then! They claim to be the lowest in calories so that's what caught my eye. Thanks so much for the help. I'd be inclined to call some feed companies but they will just try to sell me anything - obviously their job to sell what they can!
 
Yes, the top spec lite is pelleted, as far as I know, and you could probably feed it "neat". I wouldn't worry too much about the calories in a balancer since it's usually fed at such a low rate (around 500g for a 500kg horse) that the overall calories it adds to the diet are low compared to the horse's total daily requirements.
I'm pretty sure top spec is more expensive than Spillers though, and some people report their horses don't tolerate it well (though it's always hard to judge how common that might be based on posts floating around the internet). I also think that it will be very hard to find a pelleted balancer that doesn't contain cereals in some form or another. After all, it's supposed to be palatable, and for most horses a small amount of cereals aren't going to be a problem. If you go for a supplement that is completely "junk free", it'll probably taste pretty disgusting if you don't mix it in with something more tasty, and then you'll end up having to buy a different feed on top of the supplement.

In your position, I'd google around a bit and compare pelleted balancers. Figure out how much each costs to feed per day at the recommended dose, and see how the mineral/vitamin levels compare per dose (I'd pay most attention to zinc and copper levels). If you like top spec, go for it. I happen to like Spillers, purely because it seems to be best value for money.
 
I feed mine top spec lite balancer, one mug morning and night on its own, has shiny coat and tail and amazing feet. It is pelleted so you don't need anything with it. Occasionally it's on offer at half price, was on offer a month ago, I have also used top spec cool balancer simply because it has been on offer (can't say I noticed a difference between the 2!)
 
You could always look to try the NAF optimum balancer. I use it on mine and it is great as it is fed in such low quantities I just feed mine the recommended amount by hand to save the need for buckets of feed. He looks great on it! NAF are also great in that I emailed them for advise and they sent me a palatibility sample to make sure my fussy boy would eat it before I committed to buying a bag!
 
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