Horse fizzy on top spec balancer

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crazycoloured

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Iv been feeding my gelding topspec for a good 2 months now but have noticed lately he has been spooking and behaving badly rearing etc which is not his normal behaviour.im wondering wether its to do with the balancer? He is also fed the top spec cool condition cubes..
 
I am of the gaming thinking as you. I had my boy on top spec senior which made him look amazing in a month. Secound month he started to put on weight so we changed to top spec senior lite. Over a week he turned very spooky and not nice to handle in the stable. We took him off and he returned back to his lovable gentle self. Such a shame as he looked amazing and the joint supplement in the feed really helped him. Out of curiosity I have started him back on it today just to see if I wasn't going mad.

I contacted top spec for a break down on the feed. It does have a high protein level and oats so maybe just to much for my boy.
 
Are you sure they arent just extra fresh with this weather,limited riding, not much fast work, limited turnout, wind up their tails? Especially if they are clipped out. All ours are on their toes too and theyve had no change in feed.
 
stormox said:
Are you sure they arent just extra fresh with this weather,limited riding, not much fast work, limited turnout, wind up their tails? Especially if they are clipped out. All ours are on their toes too and theyve had no change in feed.
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Could be this... also topspec as has mollasses etc in so you could try switching to one without suvh as blue chip, pure feeds, simple systems, horse and pony direct all do them.
 
My horse went loopy on the TopSpec lite balancer and I’ve heard of a few other horses that this has happened with too.

However it is definitely spooky weather at the moment so could be worth cutting it out and then reintroducing it again and then you’ll know whether it’s that or something else.
 
I didn't get on with Topspec Cool Conditioning Cubes at all - didn't find they made a difference to weight/condition and I'm fairly sure they also sent him spooky and silly!
 
Top spec is full of all sorts of crap and fillers. You could try feeding a basic mineral balancer, salt and linseed which should give the same results without the fizz.
 
I'm another one who does not get on with Top Spec. Massively overpriced and their nutritional analysis is incomplete so you can't know how much additional rubbish - and sugar - is in there. The idea of a compound feed designed to only be fed alongside a balancer - complete waste of money IMO. But leaving that aside - both your cubes and your balancer are 12.5MjKg which is very high so it could just be that you are blowing his mind with too many calories.
 
Im cutting out the condition cubes and leaving him off the balancer for a few days see if it makes a difference.it could also be the weather and the fact he is feeling fresh.
 
Never again! I had my mare and foal on TopSpec Stud Balancer for a short time. Said baby was absolutely loopy on it, but went back to her normal self after I connected the dots and cut it out of her diet.
 
My horse went loopy on bailey's lo cal, took him off it and a few days later back to his normal chilled self.
 
Feeding Topspec ended up costing us about £100 in replacing stable boards once upon a time! It sent the old guy completely nuts and he hammered his stable walls until I figured out the connection.

I wouldn't feed it even if I was given it for free.

I do like their Topchop Zero in principle. In practise the mare won't eat it. :lol: But the balancers? No way.
 
I always us the rule, that if I have changed something in the horse's diet and the behaviour changes for the worse, I change back to what I was feeding before, to see if that stops the poor behaviour. I can't imagine why anyone would do anything else, in the first instance. Obviously if the behaviour doesn't revert to normal, there are further investigations needed.
 
Apache Warlord said:
My horse went loopy on bailey's lo cal, took him off it and a few days later back to his normal chilled self.
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This happened to me. My late gelding was the chillest dude ever, especially on the roads. On Baileys Lo Cal he became a real handful: spooky, bolshy, joggy - a real git. Took him off and he went back to the laid back horse he’d been before.
 
crazycoloured said:
Iv been feeding my gelding topspec for a good 2 months now but have noticed lately he has been spooking and behaving badly rearing etc which is not his normal behaviour.im wondering wether its to do with the balancer? He is also fed the top spec cool condition cubes..
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Depends what else your feeding but the magnesium level is 6% in Top spec so it could be a build up with other feeds/supplements your giving, could put the magnesium levels over the recommended dose. My mare we found is sensitive to magnesium and as we reduced nuts out she improved then the equivite she is now a different horse. I found Equifeast brilliant at working our plan to what we have now. She is now on 0% magnesium and the major spooks and sharpness as gone wayyyyyyyyyyyy down and she is now 90% better . She is now on Cool Core which has added minerals so we could drop the equivite, and the last one we could do is the bomproofing one, but yet to phone up with update of her being on the cool core.
 
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crazycoloured said:
Iv been feeding my gelding topspec for a good 2 months now but have noticed lately he has been spooking and behaving badly rearing etc which is not his normal behaviour.im wondering wether its to do with the balancer? He is also fed the top spec cool condition cubes..
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I appreciate it is a long while since this post but I am so pleased I found it! I started my little mare on Top Spec Lite on May 5th, her behaviour began to deteriorate within 24 hours. Her refusal to co-operate culminated in her rearing whilst doing routine ground-work last Saturday 15th. Thankfully I was wearing my helmet and gloves as she reared twice, the first time striking the side of my head knocking me to the ground, then she went up again and landed on my hip/groin area. My husband was with me and called an ambulance. I was taken to A & E - so lucky not to be permanently injured. Her aggressive behaviour continued specifically towards me until I began more research and stopped the Top Spec on Tuesday. By today - just 72 hours later she is noticeably better, more normal. I spoke to Top Spec who advised they never heard of issues wit
h their Balancer before. Within 24 hours of starting an effect would be seen, and within 7 days of stopping if it was having a negative effect the behaviour would stop. One bag of feed cost me dearly. I would be interested to hear of any other similar horse / pony behaviour with similar side effects from what is meant to be a light feed for good doers! Thanks
 
shortstuff99 said:
I can't feed my Spanish horses on any sort of balancer ie top spec, baileys etc as they make all of mine mental and fat (even lite versions).

Now I only feed vits and mins that don't have fillers.
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Thank-you so much. She was fine on Spillers and Baileys. I feel so guilty to have caused this problem. I just hope I can regain my confidence and get back on again. Haven't been allowed to ride for a week....I have a lesson tomorrow - booked to address what I thought was "mareish belligerance". That may be a part of it but it was certainly fuelled by the diet change....only chosen because the others were out of stock.
 
Follychops said:
Thank-you so much. She was fine on Spillers and Baileys. I feel so guilty to have caused this problem. I just hope I can regain my confidence and get back on again. Haven't been allowed to ride for a week....I have a lesson tomorrow - booked to address what I thought was "mareish belligerance". That may be a part of it but it was certainly fuelled by the diet change....only chosen because the others were out of stock.
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Bless you both. I'm sure she will back to normal soon and your confidence can build back up.
 
shortstuff99 said:
Bless you both. I'm sure she will back to normal soon and your confidence can build back up.
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Thank-you for being so kind. I hope so too :) Apologies for the photo quality, that was after 2 days - she became obsessed with the young mare in the next field. Repeated flehmening - yes there is such a thing now!! :(
 

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ecb89 said:
Top spec lite suited my boy. Baileys lo cal, on the other hand, turned him into a monster.
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I am finding it extremely interesting how different Balancers / diet can have such a detrimental effect on behaviour! As a now retired Secondary School Teacher, I also taught Food and Nutrition the joys of e numbers / sugar rush / inappropriate food choices after break and lunch were often very apparent! Please note this was an observation not a parental criticism:) Thank-you for the reply.
 
I put my mare on topspec balancer and she went nuts! I had the most horrendous weekend camp away with her and couldnt work out what was wrong with her and i mentioned to friends and they all said its like rocket fuel for some horses!
 
Thank-you. We hope the effect wears off soon. Her aggression has been monsterous. This afternoon we went to our "Coach". I have never seen my pony behave so badly. We are now questioning a trauma from early on in her life. One thing we do know is stopping the Top Spec has made a noticeable difference already. Isn't it terrible but common judging by your experience :(
 
It took me a long time to realise that feed companies only have their own interests at heart, and that horses are basically just grass processing machines. I only ever feed mine fibre/grass nuts and chaff. sugar and alfalfa free. If they need a bit more energy then chuck in a handful of straights. Ive seen so many people end up with unmanageable horses and ponies because they've believed what the feed companies have told them and started feeding all kinds of unsuitable products because they've believed what's printed on the bag.
 
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