Pink Powder v's Feed Balancer

[Halfpass]

My mare is a pretty poor doer over the winter.

I am 100% happy with her main feed and she is currently looking well going into winter but I am unsure about supplements.

During the summer she had limited hard feed balanced with Equi jewel. which she di well on with a lovely shiney coat good feet etc etc

I obviously want her to get the most out of her hard feed so would swapping to something like pink powder be better?

Or maybe I should feed both..................but then it starts getting expensive!

 

[SmartieBean09]

I always add Pink Powder. Mainly because I have had best results with this.

 

[dressedkez]

We have a new horse this season whose stable name is now Spot......He came to us from Ascot and had extreme nettle rash within days of arriving - got that under control- then he had a wind op - more spots......following a visit from the Vet and a steroid jab - he was fine - then 2 weeks as spotty again......I put him on pink powders, blood cell formula and Veg oil and now he is fairly alright - vary his routine by 5 mins a day - he is spotty again.....but we feel we are getting there with the feed supps- V frustrating though. The most laid back horse in the stable we have ever had - but he demonstrates his stress levels to us in other ways!!

 

[Shay]

I prefer pink powder to a balencer as I find I get better results - although obviously I haven't tried every single balencer on the market! You don't need both - you'd be giving too much of most of the main vits / mins - and wasting money!

 

[lachlanandmarcus]

Another vote for PP, cheaper, does the job as well if not better.

 

[TGM]

Equijewel isn't a balancer as such, as it doesn't contain the full range of vitamins and minerals, just the ones that enhance the high oil content of the product. Equijewel and Pink Powder do totally different things. Equijewel provides concentrated calories due to the high oil content. Pink Powder does not contain many calories, but does provide a range of vitamins and minerals plus a probiotic which is said to boost the health of the gut bacteria, so enabling the horse to make the most of the food it gets. Whether Pink Powder will help a poor doer depends on whether the gut bacteria is comprised in the first place - this is more likely if the horse has been ill, been on antibiotics, subject to stress, on a high cereal, low fibre diet etc.

You could feed both together, or another option if you want to watch the pennies is to swap the Equijewel for micronised linseed and feed the Pink Powder alongside it. Obviously it goes without saying that you should be feeding your mare adlib hay or haylage throughout the winter, otherwise all the supplements are a waste of money!

You don't say what hard feed you actually use - remember that if this is a normal commercial mix or cube, then it is probably already supplemented with vit/mins.