What do you feed alongside a balancer?

[misskk88]

Out of curiousity, what do you feed your horses alongside a balancer (if you feed it!), and why?

Is your horse a good doer/bad doer and what supplements or feeds do you recommend for a fairly good doer?

Cheers

 

[Laura-Maybe-IV]

I feed my 2 year old cob and 12 year old Irish Sport Horse Spillers lite balancer.

2 year old Badger gets, 400g balancer alongside 1 stubbs scoop of Dengie Molasses free, plus a small scoop of Garlic

12 year old gets, 600g balancer alongside 1 stubbs scoop of Molasses free also, he also gets glucosamine as he has a touch of artritis in his shoulder but I know some companies do feed balancers with glucosamine in which I may switch diesel too. Diesel also gets some garlic.

I feed balancer because it gives them everything they need without the extra calories both hold their weight well, and are both out at the moment 24/7 but they will be coming in when the clocks change at night. They both have great feet and lovely shiny coats and look great. If one looses or drops some weight I add either speedi beet or fast fibre and can always add oil and change the chaff to a higher calorie one i.e alfa a oil.
For me it's an economical way of giving them everything they need without breaking the bank

Hope this helps!

 

[misskk88]

Thanks L-M-I

Mine is currently on Spillers balancer, pinch of black salt, handful of quick beet and token gesture of chaff twice a day. She is 17 and seems to be doing great on this, but keen to know what others feed too! She is on loan at the moment and the diet change has really done her well.

She returns soon and I will keep her diet the same, but with winter approaching know I may need to up some part of her diet to keep weight and condition. Your thought process seems to be along the same as mine, as I was thinking upping the amount of quick beet/chaff slightly and adding some oil if needed may be the right way to go!

 

[Tash88]

Mine is a fairly good doer and alongside his Saracen balancer I feed Hi-Fi only, he gets half a scoop in each feed at the moment but that will go up in the winter and I will add sugar beet then too. In terms of supplements he gets magnesium, milk thistle, brewers yeast, apple cider vinegar and linseed oil. He also gets ad-lib hay overnight.

 

[Ceriann]

My riding mare gets spillers lite with a small scoopof happy hoof and a spoon full of agnus castus (she can be a grump!). Her coat is definitely softer (she's dapple so you dont really get a shine) and i get comfort from the fact she's getting everything she needs without feeding her up (she's a good doer). I had my older mare on the lite balancer too - she had a turmeric mix in hers (slight arthritis in one of her back legs) - her coat looked fab this summer , with a brilliant shine.

 

[Follysmum]

All mine are good doers, we have really good grass. I had my grass analysed so feed a balancer that I know they need. I give them Pro Balance. I use fast fibre to mix it in and just add a few high fibre nuts. Also they have Mag ox, Linseed, Ground pepper and Tumeric.

 

[Embo]

How much do you feed in scoops? Someone mentioned they feed 400-600 grams, but interested to hear how many scoopers we have? I've never weighed mine!

 

[Wagtail]

I feed mixes which already contain a balancer (Pure Feeds). However, a couple of the horses do not receive enough of the Pure Easy to obtain their full portion of balancer as they are prone to weight gain, and so for those horses I feed an extra cup of balancer with their one scoop of Pure Easy. I find this gives me more flexibility for portion control. The horse that is on the Pure condition mix does not need extra balancer because he gets his full quota of mix. Pure Feeds also do a mix which is called Pure fibre balance. This is essentially a balancer with added fibre chaff so that you can feed very small amounts and the horses still get their required amounts of vitamins and minerals. This is really useful if you only have one horse and want something quick and easy.

ETA one stubbs scoop of Pure feeds mix is approximately 1 kg, so very easy to feed.

 

[misskk88]

How much do you feed in scoops? Someone mentioned they feed 400-600 grams, but interested to hear how many scoopers we have? I've never weighed mine!

Definitely a scooper, unless it comes to supplements which need to be measured more closely!

 

[Midlifecrisis]

My good doer mare is on Baileys Lo cal balancer - 16oz and a third of stubbs scoop soaked speedibeet with mudfever supplement and a probiotic supplement due to excess wind she has access to hay when I bring her in off the grass each day. Good doer gelding has 8oz of balancer with handful of dampened chaff and hay when he comes in off the grass. I weighed the balancer and put it in a container which I marked up so I know actual amount Im mixing at the yard and I don't get tempted to over feed.

 

[SO1]

My pony is on two half pint cups of blue chip lami lite and and he has grass as well as that as he lives out.

If you are feeding the recommended amount of balancer then you should not need to top it up with chaff or other processed feeds.