Saving money....Balancers

[SatansLittleHelper]

I'm trying to save a few ££ without cutting corners. I usually feed Spillers Daily Balancer, Speedibeet, plain cheap Chaff, and linseed over winter (plus natural Vit E).
I know I can change the speedibeet over to sugar been shreds are pellets but not sure on Balancers. Spillers has gone up by a few quid so just wondering if there is anything comparable but cheaper and/or in bigger bags?? I've seen one called Opti-Care but I know nothing about it.
Many thanks.

 

[Squeak]

I always recommend gwf’s one cup. It’s the cheapest one I’ve managed to find and my horses have seemed to do well on it.

 

[Britestar]

Gain opti care is excellent, and good value as its a 25kg bag.
Fed it for years.

 

[ycbm]

Do you need a balancer at all? We got on fine without them before they were invented. I've only ever feed them when there is a known risk of deficiency, for example if feeding only soaked hay.
.

 

[hollyandivy123]

Write down the ingredients in your balancer....it might surprise you

 

[maya2008]

We have swapped most of ours over to NAF vits/mins. Worked just fine before I ever knew what a balancer was years ago, will work fine again.

 

[SpotsandBays]

Do you need a balancer at all? We got on fine without them before they were invented. I've only ever feed them when there is a known risk of deficiency, for example if feeding only soaked hay.
.

I recently stopped feeding mine the balancer. They hadn’t ever had one until I hopped on the trend of it a couple of years ago - they were absolutely fine before and are now!

 

[gryff]

I stopped feeding mine balancer last year when I moved them home. I've not noticed a jot of difference.

 

[Surbie]

I stopped feeding mine forageplus hoof & skin about 6 months ago. Not enough time yet to see whether there's an impact on his feet, but he's on good grass and hay.

The GWF joint supplement I use was up £4.15 last night from last month and this morning I see it's up another £1.50. (kicking self for not buying a couple yesterday)

 

[SatansLittleHelper]

I was advised to feed a balancer all year round but I tend to only do it in the winter. I guess they possibly don't need it?? Would a vitamin supplement be a better idea?? Which ones are worth using??

 

[Flowerofthefen]

After spending £££££ on a little tb's feed oy for him to need rehabbing, I took him off everything during rehab and nothing changed!! I now feed my horses only the basics and have done for the last couple if years.. daily turnout, loads of hay, a couple of basic feeds a day, they both look great and the ridden one is going lovely so I definitely won't be buying expensive feeds again!!

 

[Griffin]

I would probably feed a vitamin and mineral supplement instead because they tend to be a bit cheaper.

 

[Meredith]

We have swapped most of ours over to NAF vits/mins. Worked just fine before I ever knew what a balancer was years ago, will work fine again.

A friend had been feeding Gain balancer for a few years. Recently she had trouble getting it so bought NAF balancer in a bag ( 5 star? )
She says her horses have never been better.

I have fed Spillers lite and lean balancer because less iron up to now.
I have just bought Spillers Ulca balancer, which is expensive, but I have a good doer who has suffered from ulcers.

 

[Identityincrisis]

I took mine off the progressive earth balancer 2 years ago when i was really strapped for cash, i felt awful for making the choice but there has been zero difference!

 

[SusieT]

Do you need balancer? Sometimes one thinks it might be a feed company snake oil type product.. And - do you need chaff? Do they need beet? Would they do fine on just grass + hay actually?

 

[Sossigpoker]

I've been feeding Saracen Shape Up but as it keeps going up in price , when the current bag is gone , I'm changing to a powdered multi vitamin. The Lincoln daily essentials seems pretty good value for money. With the Saracen I seem to pay a lot more for essentially a basic mix with the vitamins added to it.

 

[ponynutz]

You can get field/stable licks that act as balancers - last longer than a bag of feed (and then buy a cheap bag of pony nuts to keep his routine of getting something in a bucket)

 

[lynz88]

I stopped feeding mine forageplus hoof & skin about 6 months ago. Not enough time yet to see whether there's an impact on his feet, but he's on good grass and hay.

The GWF joint supplement I use was up £4.15 last night from last month and this morning I see it's up another £1.50. (kicking self for not buying a couple yesterday)

I'm afraid to stop the FP Hoof and Skin. The last time he ran out he went footy. The pigment around his chin/lips and between his back legs also came back when I put him on the FP. I am looking at other options atm to see if I can cut down on the number of stuff I have him on and consolidate/cut costs.

 

[LEC]

You are much better paying for a vit and min powder which hasn’t got filler like balancer. I tend to buy a tonne of Feedmark ones when reduced. We are copper deficient in Somerset so we feed vits and mins.

I find the feed companies balancer a rip off.

 

[Horseysheepy]

Anything from weanling up to 3yr old get a good quality balancer. We don't make high quality haylage at home, so need to provide goodness to keep them growing.
Anything 3 upwards just get hay and grass.

 

[ycbm]

I'm afraid to stop the FP Hoof and Skin. The last time he ran out he went footy. The pigment around his chin/lips and between his back legs also came back when I put him on the FP. I am looking at other options atm to see if I can cut down on the number of stuff I have him on and consolidate/cut costs.

It's quite likely you got those effects just from the copper and zinc, that stop the excess iron most of us have in our grazing and forage from being absorbed. I supplement just the copper and zinc, using food grade sulphates I buy from ebay. It costs pennies.

Likewise, most gut supplements are based on yeasacc and you can buy that, or the cheaper brewers yeast will usually work just as well for most horses.

The best, proven, ingredient in many joint supplements is MSM, available much cheaper from sports suppliers like Bulk.
.

 

[lynz88]

This is exactly what I've been spending a portion of my week working out. So far I have realized that if I get the equivita and PE B vitamins (as well as some salt) and feed at the correct ratios, I end up with my own balancer that gives me the same copper/zinc/vit e etc. As the FP H&S (winter version) and a halfway house between the FP and PE hoof supplement in the B-vitamin department. This would work out at half the cost of the FP H&S. I know from testing he needs the B vitamins so need to make sure I cover that off but now you've got me thinking of maybe trying just the copper/zinc alone with the B vitamins.

I do feed straight MSM which is cheap as chips. I have been getting the aviform and know when he's not got any MSM left.

My goal is to cut down cost but not require the girls at the yard to feed 50 different things but is looking more like making my own mix. Poor girls!!

I have tried straight yeasacc but have found a difference with the protexin.

 

[ycbm]

I mix my own once a week and put it in tubs from Poundland, then the stables put one in his feed every day.
.

 

[Goldenstar]

Gain opti care is excellent, and good value as its a 25kg bag.
Fed it for years.

This is what I use and I give it at half the recommended amount when the hoses are not in work .

 

[CarlungM]

It's quite likely you got those effects just from the copper and zinc, that stop the excess iron most of us have in our grazing and forage from being absorbed. I supplement just the copper and zinc, using food grade sulphates I buy from ebay. It costs pennies.

Likewise, most gut supplements are based on yeasacc and you can buy that, or the cheaper brewers yeast will usually work just as well for most horses.

The best, proven, ingredient in many joint supplements is MSM, available much cheaper from sports suppliers like Bulk.
.

Can I ask what ratio you feed the copper and zinc in please? I am very interested in doing this. I already feed brewers yeast and salt so would be keen to cut down from more expensive all round supplements and joint supplements. Thanks

 

[Irish-Only]

You are much better paying for a vit and min powder which hasn’t got filler like balancer. I tend to buy a tonne of Feedmark ones when reduced. We are copper deficient in Somerset so we feed vits and mins.

I find the feed companies balancer a rip off.

LEC can I ask you what problems are likely? We have moved to Somerset from limestone ground and are scrabbling around trying to find out what is wrong with my horse to the point where we are having to go down the CT scan route.

 

[LEC]

LEC can I ask you what problems are likely? We have moved to Somerset from limestone ground and are scrabbling around trying to find out what is wrong with my horse to the point where we are having to go down the CT scan route.

Copper deficiency is easy to identify as usually pink around eye, coat looks a bit sun burnt at edges or a bit dull. @TheMule is probably more of an expert on Somerset soil as got hers tested. I have never bothered but being on clay kind of know the issues with vitamins/mins so just dose normally. My ex racer arrived with copper deficiency as been chucked out on poor grazing after racing and came with pink eye. Fairly quickly resolved with fly mask and vits/mins.

Which type of soil are you on? Clay, red soil or more loam?

 

[SEL]

LEC can I ask you what problems are likely? We have moved to Somerset from limestone ground and are scrabbling around trying to find out what is wrong with my horse to the point where we are having to go down the CT scan route.

https://madbarn.com/copper-benefits...of the most obvious,or joints in adult horses.

^^^^ is a good read. I had a soil analysis showing my fields were low in copper confirmed by the local farmer who does my hay (fields are good for sheep he told me). We're also low in selenium so I have a copper / zinc / selenium mix for mine.

 

[Irish-Only]

Copper deficiency is easy to identify as usually pink around eye, coat looks a bit sun burnt at edges or a bit dull. @TheMule is probably more of an expert on Somerset soil as got hers tested. I have never bothered but being on clay kind of know the issues with vitamins/mins so just dose normally. My ex racer arrived with copper deficiency as been chucked out on poor grazing after racing and came with pink eye. Fairly quickly resolved with fly mask and vits/mins.

Which type of soil are you on? Clay, red soil or more loam?

I think we are probably a mix of clay and loam.

 

[spotty_pony]

I’ve just contacted spillers yesterday as I have started feeding the spillers conditioning chaff which is supposed to be a complete meal but I would have to feed 4.5 scoops of it per days to replace a balancer which is way too much. He usually gets 2 cups of balancer but they have said that since he now getting 2 scoops of chaff per day he will be fine with just one cup of balancer which is great to hear as my balancer will be lasting twice as long. I currently feed Topspec but am keen to try spillers. OP how much is the spillers daily balancer out of question?