the good old balancers vs traditional cubes debate.....

[georgiegirl]

In a quandry wether or not to knock my horses balancer on the head or not....

Shes currently getting topspec cool balancer at recommended rate (2 cups a day) and a stubbs scoop of hi fi mollasses free.....She also gets as much haylage as she will eat - no other feed or concentrates.

The reason Im wondering on wether to change back to good old plain pony/fibre nuts is she is looking EXTREMELY well. Her coat is like glass, shes neither too fat nor too thin and her topline since being fed this and doing a lot more work has turned her into the equine version of Arnie - I had the saddle fitter out today and she has put on nearly 2 inches of muscle at the back of her saddle area so were obviously doing something right.

However - like I say she is feeling VERY VERY well. No naughty behaviour as such really (in fact her dressage marks etc have never been better) however I think she could do with just being a little bit more chilled out and attentive rather than 'power, power power' which is how it currently feels! - now wether this is down to the fact shes fitter or down to the balancer and just feeling so well I dont know??

My question is really do our horses NEED such nutrient packed food? Would she be better on plain fibre cubes and if so would you bother feeding a general purpose supplement with them or just on there own? (I have to say I NEVER feed the manufacturers recommended rate with cubes/mixes etc as most seem to say they need about 4 scoops a day which to me just sounds daft and is horrifically expensive.

anyway, sorry for the rather rambling post - just thought I would see what peoples thoughts were.

Thanks!!

 

[Jazzy B]

I fed my tb the top spec comprehensive (as recommended) this time last year at the recommended levels... Like you, I had a pretty much the same result. Good coat, increased top line and a not naughty but powerful horse. However literally over night his behaviour became totally erratic after a particularly "eventful" ride I took him off it and he returned to his usual chilled out ways - I've returned to feeding straights this year and so far am very happy with the way his looking. In my humble opinion some horses don't agree with balancers.

 

[L&M]

I just don't get balancers - what are you balancing them against, unless you have your hay/grazing analysed?

If you are worried about their vits and mins, there are plenty of supplements out there which are cheaper and less likely to cause any behavioural issues.

 

[TGM]

To be honest, I'd be chuffed if my horse looked amazing, was in the correct condition, was getting best dressage marks ever and had plenty of power! Perhaps the trick is to make sure you channel that power correctly!

However, if you do want to change the feed to bring her down a tad, then I would look at giving a powdered vit/min supplement in a bit of beet or chaff, rather than switching to cubes. As you rightly point out, you will need to feed a great deal of cubes to supply the RDA of vit/mins, and sounds like she doesn't need loads of calories anyway.

 

[TGM]

I just don't get balancers - what are you balancing them against, unless you have your hay/grazing analysed?

If you are worried about their vits and mins, there are plenty of supplements out there which are cheaper and less likely to cause any behavioural issues.

I think the term 'balancer' is very misleading when talking about the general purpose 'balancers' on the market, for the very reasons you state. However, they do have their purposes for some horses - they contain probiotics yeasts and extra protein (and sometimes oil and other bits and pieces) that are generally not in powdered supplements. The probiotic yeast can help to ensure optimal conditions in the gut for fibre digestion, which can be useful in some horses. Likewise the protein content can be useful if the horse is otherwise on a low protein diet (poor winter grazing, soaked hay etc). But that said, many horses don't need them at all, so it is a case of horses for courses!

 

[Orangehorse]

Just give half the Balancer. I found that my horse was better on the Top Spec Comprehensive than the Lite, but he wasn't doing an awful lot, so I just gave him one mug a day instead of two.

 

[Darkwater]

Just give half the Balancer. I found that my horse was better on the Top Spec Comprehensive than the Lite, but he wasn't doing an awful lot, so I just gave him one mug a day instead of two.

I've done this in the past too, but found that without the full amount her feet weren't quite as good so put her back on Lite. You could always just feed the powdered Topspec all in one supplement in some fibre nuts/chop if you don't the extra energy levels?

 

[JoClark]

Money wise I took mine from top spec comprehensive and lite in summer to saracen essential balancer and he still looks fab. Saracen is £21.50 a bag. Saracen re leve is fab too.

The nutrients in the grass is dropping off now so might be worry staying on a balancer as they lose the goodness x