Meta Balance or Pro Hoof

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zoon

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I have a rising 2 year old that lives out with ad lib hay when grass is poor. He was previously having Suregrow in decreasing amounts as he was getting fat - he is a very good doer. So hay and grass will be enough for him and his weight is now good with just hay, but grazing is poor so would like to supplement with a powder vit/min that will balance it - so either meta balance or prohoof. Started feeding him pro hoof and have now seen mata balance is cheaper, but is it jsut as good?
 
cant comment on meta balance, but I am using pro hoof and have only noticed a slight improvement, I would suggest it'd be getting to just get forage tested in the long run
 
Haven't tried Meta Balance but swopped from Balieys Lo Cal to Pro Hoof a couple of months ago and so far, not impressed. Black mare's coat is usually very soft and shiny, its now dull and scurfy, cob's feet don't look as good as usual, so may try Meta balance next, otherwise it'll be back to good old Bailey's Lo Cal.
 
That is not good - had heard such good things about it :( My hay comes from different sources, so no point in doing a forage analysis. I figured with a supplement like pro hoof or meta balance that I am meeting somewhere in the middle. :S
 
There is nothing wrong with his feet at all - vet at futurity commented on how good they were. But I know the grass in our area is copper and zinc deficient so guessing my grazing will be the same. So these supplements seem to cover those bases.
 
I have had a lot of success with Pro Hoof. Horse had a bad case of thrush in the horrible wet autumn and winter we had here (west of Scotland) and ended up with an abscess. I had been treating the thrush with every thrush product I could get my hands on, and it just wasn't going away.

I saw a throwaway comment somewhere about persistent thrush and copper deficiency... YO/farmer had mentioned we had high levels of iron, and I knew these often meant copper would be low as a result. Bought first batch of ProHoof at start of December and continued to treat thrush as before... but this time, it started to clear up.

In the last week (now just starting 3rd batch) I have noticed a persistent crack in one hoof has started to close up... and again, we've done nothing different... feed is same, it's still a horribly wet winter (and now a pretty damp spring - sorry people on hosepipe bans ;)) and the trim is the same and when trimmed today was actually a few weeks overdue. But there is clearly much tighter growth at the top of the hoof. I'm pleased with the results, horse is much happier over all surfaces (he's not shod and we mainly clock up our miles on tarmac, but we're managing great over rough tracks too at the moment). I will definitely keep going, as it appears to be compensating at least in part for whatever imbalances the grazing may have.

The all round supplements don't do this... they take as their starting point the recommended daily allowance for the average horse, and don't take into account that the horse may be hugely deficient in one and overloaded on another mineral, so you could potentially end up with even more pronounced imbalances.
 
Spookily, I was just about to comment that my friend was using prohoof but I had gone with metabalance as she had mentioned it was a bit unpalatable. And lo and behold, Brightbay beat me here :D

I've been using mb for a month now and I have to say I think I am noticing an improvement. He is certainly a lot better on his feet although we have only been barefoot since november so it could just be that time is doing its stuff but, funnily enough, I noticed tonight that his mane is much much softer and silkier. He usually has a really grotty mane - very harsh and dandruffy. Its lovely and soft now :D
 
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