Is Top Spec Senior Balancer as good as it claims?

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shmoo

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Hi, I've been giving my oldie (20 this year) this since January, and haven't seen any miraculous changes. Anyone else feed it? Is it worth the money? Would you give up and try something else or shall I stick with it?

Any good / bad experience welcome.

Thanks :O)
 
I fed it to my old boy. I got him when he was 21ish and he looked fab up to the day I lost him at 28. I chose this balancer as it has a high spec joint supplement in it. His coat looked much better, his breathing improved and I think it did help his joints as he was a big heavy lad. I guess it depends on what you expect to see in the way of improvements. In my lads case he had poor nutrition before he came to me so he may have looked just as good with correct feeding and care. I would use it again because it worked for my horse.
 
If you compare what it contains it has a third more and in some cases as much as twice the amounts of some of the others. It's expensive but you don't need to feed much at all :)
 
I may have been expecting too much, she's looking better this winter than last though. I'll keep with it - just find feed a minefield these days with so many products out there all claiming to be better than the next. Thanks :O)
 
shmoo said:
I may have been expecting too much, she's looking better this winter than last though. I'll keep with it - just find feed a minefield these days with so many products out there all claiming to be better than the next. Thanks :O)
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It won't change a horse's condition as such as it is just vitamins, minerals and a pre and probiotic to ensure your horse is getting everything it needs. For actual condition change you need to look at calorie intake.

Mine were great on topspec but I had to also feed Alfa oil, conditioning mix, linseed flaked and sugar beet - worked out quite expensive.

Baileys are now doing badmintons high fibre complete nuggets and I am feeding these. It's high fibre, contains linseed and also all vits, mins and has a pre and probiotic. It's about £11 for a 15kg bag and lasts a week on two feeds a day - cut my feed bill in half... It's big nuggets so you can feed in a treat ball or from the floor.

Once summer is properly on us and I don't need calories I will switch back to
Top spec and plain chaff
 
I have her on conditioning flakes (the top spec ones that are really just oats & soya) sugarbeet and molasses chaff and then a cup of micronized linseed to keep her extra supple, and the senior balancer. She's an ex polo pony so her joints have taken a battering over the years, retired before major injury though, and very very well looked after her whole competing life.

We've had her 18 months now and she's no thinner than when she was competing, but the muscle isn't there on her topline any more. The winter has been so wet my daughter has had trouble riding anywhere and schooling has been a complete no as the ménage has been flooded most of the time.

She doesn't fizz up so can eat pretty much anything but is prone to lymphangitis so I need to keep the cereal content as low as possible.

Is the Baileys badminton an alternative to the top spec? Sorry to be dumb, I've had 10 years off before getting my current 2 and the horsey world didn't so much move on as totally reinvent itself in that time. I'm from the mainring blue & red depending if you wanted a loopy pony, bran mash and spillers ponys nuts era!
 
shmoo said:
Is the Baileys badminton an alternative to the top spec? Sorry to be dumb, I've had 10 years off before getting my current 2 and the horsey world didn't so much move on as totally reinvent itself in that time. I'm from the mainring blue & red depending if you wanted a loopy pony, bran mash and spillers ponys nuts era!
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Sorry not clear there was I? Badminton is a feed company that were bought out by baileys. They used to do a high fibre complete feed that is big nuggets (think treat sized). It is low in starch and high in fibre and oil so good for fizzy horses but it is a totally complete feed so you don't need to feed a balancer. As the nuggets are big you can feed from a treat ball rather than a bucket to slow down eating and as they are high fibre you don't need chaff/sugar beet and it has linseed you don't need oil. I couldn't get them for 2 years and am overjoyed they are doing them :)
 
I don't rate topspec at all, I use to feed it with a huge feed bill every month and when I started to look into the ingredients, I wasn't happy to see so many cheap fillers in an expensive feed plus v low levels of vits/mins. Plus our grazing is very low in copper and high in iron so topspec having iron in and low copper wasn't suitable. I changed to equimins advance complete after reading their money back offer if I saw no improvements and iv been on it ever since. No fillers at all its linseed based and the spec puts topspec to shame and with no iron and high copper it was what I needed. My bay horse is now black and blooming and my 21 yr old looks like a fit 4 yr old. Will never change of this and all I use is a handful of healthy hooves to put it in. Even the tb who is a poor doer and before equimins his winter diet was ( baileys no 4, Alfa a oil, sugar beet, topspec and linseed twice a day) is now a double handful of healthy hooves with a mug of linseed and 2 scoops of advance complete and has saved me a furtune and has never looked so good. Iv recommended this to so many people but its because I really do think its fab.
 
Thatsmygirl - that is expensive!! I can source top spec balancer for £32 for 15kg... Gram for gram it works out much cheaper... Yes it has more nutrition per gram but it is a lot, lot more expensive...
 
schmoo, what differences were you expecting? give them a call and see what the suggest if you haven't already - I was told to put my boy on the light one as he is a very good doer.
 
i don't use the senior fed balancer but do use another top spec feed balancer and found it did give great results, results i got from nowhere else. i was looking for general improvement in condition and saw changes with this.
 
So baring in mind I only started feeding this is January - at the height of winter, and I only have last year to go on (she looks much better this year) its probably doing her the world of good and I should leave well enough alone I guess. I just didn't want to be being taken in by hype.

She's my oldest ever pony and I'm worried I'm not doing enough.

Many thanks to all for advice :O)
 
My ISH looks great on top spec comprehensive balancer, over winter I added the cool conditioning cubes, I used the recommended amount and he looked great all winter. He is having one meal a day now and has lost a tiny bit but that's fine as the grass will be shooting through soon. Mine cribs and had ulcers so the low starch and sugars in the top spec are great for him. :)
 
Fides said:
Thatsmygirl - that is expensive!! I can source top spec balancer for £32 for 15kg... Gram for gram it works out much cheaper... Yes it has more nutrition per gram but it is a lot, lot more expensive...
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It's not expensive and saved me around £30 a month compaired to topspec where I was getting through bags of the stuff. Equimins is such a tiny amount to use plus I don't need the baileys or Alfa a and non get big feeds as all hold their weight so my feed bills have reduced so much. It's worked out far cheaper plus I'm not paying for wheat feed and oatfeed.
For my 600kg horse a 15kg sack of topspec at your price of £30 would last me 25 days ( for 1 horse)
Same horse in equimins a 2kg tub
At £16 which is my price last that horse 25 days plus the extra feed I now don't buy.
 
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