More Help for my horses diet... confused.com! (Feed Balancers?)

dominobrown

dominobrown

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I am not normally such a numpty but I am a bit confused! :D

My orginal post, and my horse's current diet is here...
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=495446

Bearing in mind that *hopefully* (when he feels better) he will be hunting or stressaging or show jumping most weekends over winter, I was thinking his futrue diet to be this...
BADMINTON ALFALFA WITH OIL - which is mollasses free, unlike the Dengie one.
Speedi beet- which is also mollasses free.

Then I was thinking a feed balancers, either...
Blue Chip Orginal (£41.20)
Blue Chip Pro (£44.31)
Badminton Equipower Base Feed (£15.20) (Why so much cheaper??)
Dengie Alfa A Balancer (£25.65)
TopSpec Balancer (£39.10)

He will still get NAF Superflex supplement and maybe a course of Global Herbs Restore to start with.

What do you think, and what feed balancer? Its a right minefield out there!!:o:D
 
Hi,

I have a 16 year old ex racer who I currently feed blue chip and molichaff condition along with pony nuts and badminton cubes. I would also love to hear what people think of the various feed balancers. There is also equilibra, which is much cheaper than bluechip!

Mine does quite well on bluechip, but I'm interested to hear feedback on the other brands!!
 
My friend also feeds Blue Chip to her ex-racer and it has made one hell of a difference. However as you can see it is very pricey, but I want to know whether the other balancers are as good. They used feed Equilibra where I used to work, and it was a ok though nothing seemed to particulary 'thrive' off it. I did once try D+H Ultimate Balancer as I was told it was the same as Blue Chip. Within a few days my horse went crazy, looked on the ingredient list, one of the main ingredients was Glucose!!
 
For a horse with issues, like yours, I think I would be inclined to get your hay/grazing analysed - it may be that he's lacking in something specific.
 
Blue Chip and Top Spec both contain a probiotic, the idea of which is to help create optimum conditions in the hind gut for fibre digestion, helping the horse to make the most of the food it eats.

The Dengie and Badminton balancers don't contain this (although the Dengie one contains a prebiotic) so presumably explains the difference in price. The probiotic would be useful for a horse who struggles to maintain condition, but if this is not the case and you just want a broad spectrum of vit/mins and some extra protein, then I would go for the Badminton product. (Check feeding rates though - if, for example, the Badminton product is fed at a higher rate than the others, it might not be as cost-effective as it looks!)

By the way, Dengie Alfa A Oil is NOT molassed, although others in the Alfa A range are.
 
Thanks TGM, clear things up a bit there. The Badminton one is also a bit cheaper than the dengie alfa-a, but its not always in stock while Dengie is.

Thanks for clearing up the complicated world of feed balancers. So am I right in thinking for a horse in harder work the Blue Chip or Topspec would be better?
:)
 
What about pink powder? Mine was on blue chip and switched to PP and he looks better for it and my bank balance is also better for it to :p The only thing I am tempted to add is the Yeasacc (sp) (£15 for 3 months) as this is a prebiotic and PP only contains a probiotic. Bluechip contains both (confusing or what!) :)

Even with the yeasacc & PP it's under £20/month

What about the baileys balancers? Lo-cal or pro?
 
Mine are currently on Spillers original balancer (£25) and seem to be doing fab on it (plus its a bit cheaper than other balancers).

Ive used Topspec and had good results off that too.
 
I do like pink powder, my pointer is on that and he has a fantastic coat, though I am thinking of Blue chip because everything is in one bag, and seems more palatable. Leflynn- You can see how I am confused!
The feed merchants where I have an account don't stock much Spillers stuff :( and only have Baileys Low-Cal, which I am worried won't provide enough for a horse in med work. He is not a good good doer, and although is more or less a perfect weight at the mo, he is more likely to loose weight rather than gain it unless he is on really good grazing. :)
 
Thanks for the link abitodd.
The more I think about it the more I think his problems are due to his feed. His feet are not brillant (poorish horn quailty and slow growing), as well as his coat. He has never had a good winter coat, or good feet, even before I bought him, but thinking about he used to be fed mollased sugar beet and lots of straight cereals. The only time his coat looks brillant is in summer when he doesn't get much hard feed but is on grass 24/7, alfalfa and supplements. Strange that I never really put 2 and 2 together :o
 
If you are worried about coat quality and hoof quality then I would go for the TopSpec as this contains a hoof supplement, plus oil, plus is lower in starch and sugar than Blue Chip.
 
dominobrown said:
The feed merchants where I have an account don't stock much Spillers stuff :( and only have Baileys Low-Cal, which I am worried won't provide enough for a horse in med work. He is not a good good doer, and although is more or less a perfect weight at the mo, he is more likely to loose weight rather than gain it unless he is on really good grazing. :)
Click to expand...

I buy the lo cal and feed it all round to my horse who's not a good doer, I just add alpha a chaff over winter to up the calories as that chaff contains the same calories as a cool mix :) he's been doing great on it.

It makes it easier for me this way as have a little pony who is a good doer and I can feed them both the lo cal balancer.
 
Another one to throw into the mix is Hickstead Leisure balancer. Low starch and Sugar, £17.99 a bag (and they will deliver) and know 4 horses who are all doing a decent amount of work (one is eventing at PN) on it who look fantastic. Great coat, condition etc. It contains Yea Sacc to help digestion, plus biotin etc.
 
dominobrown said:
The feed merchants where I have an account don't stock much Spillers stuff :( and only have Baileys Low-Cal, which I am worried won't provide enough for a horse in med work. He is not a good good doer, and although is more or less a perfect weight at the mo, he is more likely to loose weight rather than gain it unless he is on really good grazing. :)
Click to expand...

A balancer won't put weight on him - it can only fill in the gaps in the nutritional profile of his "main" feed. Though they contain things such as probiotics, etc, which may aid digestion and help him to get more from his feed. If you're worried about him losing weight you need to be looking at the nutritional content of the other components of his feed first I think.

I've used Baileys Lo Cal on my old pony for about 4 years and he's looking great. His coat always shines (which, given that he's a woolly, mud-loving grey, is saying something). I chose lo cal because it's lo cal but my other 2 horses are also on it now and I'm happy with it.

In my opinion, any of the basic balancers will do a good job of filling in the gaps so your horse's diet is complete. If you then want over and above a basic balancer, try one of those with more extravagant claims and see if it helps.
 
Just to add another opinion to the mix....I do not like alfalfa. I don't like it's compatibility with UK grazing and horses can often react badly to it.

I fed alfalfa for years and was shocked by how much my horse's improved once off it!

Given your horse's skin issues - I would drop it from the diet.

If he were my horse (and I didn't have a forage analysis to work from) then I would feed:

Fast Fibre (a 'neutral' fibre base)
Pro Hoof (new on the market and designed to be compatible with UK grazing. High levels of copper and zinc which are often low in UK. Zinc is required for skin health among other things. This is where the 'neutral' base of FF is handy as it balances with it well)
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PRO-HOOF-...r_Equipment&hash=item415ecd69e0#ht_1466wt_952
Micronised linseed (excellent for coat and skin health, joint health and also gut muculage).

This would be my basic diet and provides everything your horse needs in addition with forage.

If the horse required more, I would just add Speedibeet and a cupful of straight oats.

You can also add herbs to the diet, depending on the horse's needs. For example, at the moment I'd feed chamomile, marigold, nettle, clivers and mint for your horse. Or a ready mixed bag is easier http://www.equinatural.co.uk/epages/BT3755.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/BT3755/Products/005

Also Fenugreek Seeds for taste and weight.
 
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