Mineral supplement for a good-doer?

[MS123]

Toying with the idea of whether I should be feeding a mineral type supplement to my 6yo.

She's currently fed a very small amount of hi-fi + pony nuts (x2 a day), is out from 8am-5pm (grass I would say isn't very rich), and has a good amount of quality hay in the evening.

Would you say she needed some sort of mineral supplement on top? Her weight is fine at the moment, though her coat I have to say isn't as "bright" as what it could be.

 

[MS123]

Not sure why my thread has ended up here, sorry. I wanted it in horse care and feeding.

 

[Sugar_and_Spice]

Feedmark supplements I have always found to be good. If you're happy with pony's weight I would choose Benevit as the added oil content will help to make the coat shiney.

Alternatively you could cut out the pony nuts and feed a balancer. I like Blue Chip Original. Depending on the quantity of pony nuts you feed, cutting those out might not be enough and pony could get fat on a balancer. Balancers make them digest all their food better and get more nutrition from it, as well as providing vitamins/minerals and protein for muscle development (so if your pony lacks stamina /topline despite going through a fitness /schooling plan then this could help). Balancers are expensive but you only feed a small amount.

If pony is currently on a weight loss diet, Slimaid from Feedmark is a vitamin and mineral supplement with minimum calories.

If you're not sure if a supplement is needed you could try feeding one at half the recommend dose to account for the vitamins and minerals that may be in the pony nuts and hay. Probably won't be getting much from the pony nuts as it sounds like you're feeding them at far less than the recommend rate (most ponies would go pop if fed at the recommended rate so I don't suggest you do that just to get the vitamins and minerals).

 

[SO1]

My good doer pony is on Blue chip lami light but he is on a very restricted diet muzzled living out and no hay so he does need a balancer to get all the vitamins he needs.