To supplement or not to supplement, that is the question?

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HaffiesRock

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I have a 10 year old Haflinger gelding. Lives out 24/7. Currently not much grass in the field so he gets hay and a scoop of fast fibre and a handfull of healthy hooves to add some texture. He was very fat when I bought him 3 months ago, but the vet said he is now about 25kg from being a healthy weight. He is used for hacking at the minute, about 20 miles at the weekend over both days. He seems happy and healthy in himself, but I worry he will start to lack vitamins and minerals as winter goes on.

Any thoughts or suggestions welcome. :O)
 
Check the composition of Healthy Hooves first and maybe feed a little more. If you are really worried you could add some Vits & Mins to his feed although in my opinion most horses would do perfectly well without supplements.
 
I used to feed Healthy Hooves, but tbh, you need to feed a large amount to give the horse the right levels of vits and mins (as per what the bag says).

So I gave up, and went onto a balancer. Shy now has one full mug of it a night, plus linseed,absolutely loves it, and is glowing - PLUS no more mixing feed with freezing water, one of my pet hates, urgh. Plus ad lib hay... he's thriving.

Worth looking into it - I use Top Spec Light, but there are other great ones out there. :)
 
Another fan of Top Spec lite. I somehow managed to let D&H talk me into trying their ultimate balancer but it has made my boy rather exciteable even on half rations! I'm going to take him off it and see how we go without. I think for horses in light work, good hay and grazing is probably enough but if horse was feeling a little deflated or dropping a bit of weight then I'd probably introduce a supplement/balancer and go from there.
 
I'm currently using the Top Spec stud as my mare is pregnant but she's a very good doer so was concerned about her weight but have had no probs there and intend to switch onto the top spec light once she comes off the stud. Am very impressed with it
 
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