Yet another BF balancers thread

[DirectorFury]

Me, again!

Horse has well managed EMS but suffers with poor hoof quality and very thin soles. She’s also ridiculously fussy.
We’ve previously tried:
- Pro Earth Pro Hoof Platinum; this did amazing wonders for her feet, but she’ll only eat it mixed with a few tbsp of mollassed sugar beet which does rather defeat the object. Also the FP analysis shows it’s really high in iron.
- Topspec balancer; expensive sawdust. There was no difference when she was on or off it.
- Equimins advance complete pellets; made no difference, she will only eat them mixed with Re-leve (seeing a pattern?!), the recent Vitamin E stuff means I no longer want to give this company my money. Also the FP analysis shows it as high in iron.
- Farriers Formula; does actually make her horn quality better but not much and I know it’s not great.

So, what’s the best balancer that aren’t any of the above? I would go for the Forage Plus one but it’s expensive enough that I’d rather look for an alternative first. Powdered or pellets are fine. If she keeps being fussy I can mix the powders with water and syringe them in, I suppose.

If the verdict is that the Pro Earth is best then I’m happy to go back to it, I’m just wondering if there’s a lower iron alternativ!

 

[MuddyMonster]

My fussy laminitic prone is on Calm Healthy Horses Premium Vitamins and Minerals and is doing really well on it and actually eats it.

He had been needing to be hacked in hoof boots but since being on this for a couple of months, he can/could do short rides (1 hour ish) without - he's not being ridden at the moment for no related issues.

 

[ester]

Not sure if equivita came up in the iron testing?

 

[DirectorFury]

Not sure if equivita came up in the iron testing?

Yep, and quite high, though less than Pro Earth!


Edit: the yard is in the 60% percentile for soil iron quantity, 2.78 - 3.13%

 

[milliepops]

spillers isn't on there, if you need a pellet that doesn't have iron in though don't know how the spec compares, prob not great compared to others being a commercial product but mine like eating it

 

[Surbie]

I've had mine on the forageplus hoof & skin balancer for over a year and it has made zero difference to his painfully slow-growing crap feet. It's so expensive, took a while for him to agree to eat it and I wish it had worked for him.

Obvs this won't be true for every horse.

 

[Roasted Chestnuts]

Can I ask how this data has been checked? Just curious as I fed the ultimate balancer to a horse that was deficient in iron ( not for that purpose just because he would actually eat it fussy old git) and on his blood tests his iron levels never came up whilst on it so he certainly wasn’t getting too much. I was advised to feed sugar beet to help his levels if I didn’t want a supplement from the vet.

Also the D&H website states 310mg per Kg of iron in the balancer so doesn’t really match with the info in the graph?

Not looking for an argument I’m generally interested as it’s always changing what’s in balancers ?

 

[PapaverFollis]

Can I ask how this data has been checked? Just curious as I fed the ultimate balancer to a horse that was deficient in iron ( not for that purpose just because he would actually eat it fussy old git) and on his blood tests his iron levels never came up whilst on it so he certainly wasn’t getting too much. I was advised to feed sugar beet to help his levels if I didn’t want a supplement from the vet.

Also the D&H website states 310mg per Kg of iron in the balancer so doesn’t really match with the info in the graph?

Not looking for an argument I’m generally interested as it’s always changing what’s in balancers ?

https://forageplus.co.uk/iron-in-horse-feed-balancers/

 

[Roasted Chestnuts]

https://forageplus.co.uk/iron-in-horse-feed-balancers/

Thank you ?

Very interesting as when a company is stating what is in it but another company is doing a ‘blind’ test of these and finding different results how do you know which is correct?

Definitely Food for thought ?

 

[MuddyMonster]

Just to add, I've no idea how the CHH V&M is for iron - if that is something you are needing to avoid.

 

[TPO]

Would a lower spec Pro Earth supp have less iron?

I've mainly fed Progressive Earth Pro Balance in the 10yrs I've taken the horses barefoot.

On occasion I've used the Pro Hoof and Pro Minerals and tried different brands like Forage Plus, Equimmins, CHH and Equivita. I havent noticed any improvements so have always gone back to Pro Balance.

Its maybe not doing anything either but I feel better that I've ticked the box of giving them vits and mins ??‍

 

[GinaGeo]

Interesting - thank you for bringing this up.

Mine have been on ProHoof for years. No real concerns but one has white line disease that I'm struggling to shake. I am currently topping a few bits up but if the Iron is high that would interfere.

Typically I've just bought 4months worth. But I might try something else when I get through it!

 

[PapaverFollis]

I do think quite a lot can depend on what the mineral profile of your forage looks like, in conjuction with different balancers. So what one person swears by might make no difference to another. But the mineral profile of the forage can also be a somewhat moving target so it makes it tricky!

 

[DirectorFury]

I’m sure the FP link worked out the iron by feeding rate and Pro Earth wasn’t too bad then, but I either imagined it or it’s disappeared!

Given the improvement that she’s shown on Pro Earth before I might put her back on that as a stop gap and just syringe it in. It was such a dramatic change that the farrier now recommends it to everyone struggling with poor hoof quality, and he wasn’t best pleased when I moved her onto Equimins. He commented last time she was shod about how bad her feet have gone, and it does match up with making the change from PE.

Why can’t it just be easy .

 

[Tiddlypom]

I've had mine on the forageplus hoof & skin balancer for over a year and it has made zero difference to his painfully slow-growing crap feet. It's so expensive, took a while for him to agree to eat it and I wish it had worked for him.

Obvs this won't be true for every horse.

I too found that the FP Hoof and Skin balancer gave disappointing results.

I moved the one who is reactive to linseed (which is in FP H&S and a lot of other balancers) onto the fairly basic Pro Balance+. She did so well that I later moved the other two onto it as well - all doing better than on FP ?.

 

[ownedbyaconnie]

For those that use equimins (pellets) are they palatable? I'm thinking of swapping my handful of pony nuts out for this instead. I currently feed a handful of honeychop lite and healthy and a handful of pony nuts just to get her general vit and min supplement and mag ox in (plus agnus castus and nettle powder in summer). Wondering if I should swap the pony nuts and vits for equimins instead? She's not fussy at all so would be surprised if she didn't eat it but wonder if other horses are having it with something tasty rather than bland oat straw.

 

[HelenBack]

Probably not a popular answer but my horse does better on a pelleted balancer - his feet actually deteriorated when on FP. On the advice of an independent nutritionist I've swapped him to Baileys Performance Balancer and this seems to work well for him.

I've seen equine podiatrists recommending Spilliers Lite and Lean for fussy horses. It's probably got a bit of molasses in but I would imagine the amount is small enough overall that it's worth it if your horse will actually eat it.

 

[SEL]

Equimins pellets had a bit of an odd smell but I have greedy horses so they were eaten.

I've just taken one of mine off Pro Hoof platinum because her stomach started playing up and it was the only thing I'd changed ?

 

[criso]

Can I ask how this data has been checked? Just curious as I fed the ultimate balancer to a horse that was deficient in iron ( not for that purpose just because he would actually eat it fussy old git) and on his blood tests his iron levels never came up whilst on it so he certainly wasn’t getting too much. I was advised to feed sugar beet to help his levels if I didn’t want a supplement from the vet.

Also the D&H website states 310mg per Kg of iron in the balancer so doesn’t really match with the info in the graph?

Not looking for an argument I’m generally interested as it’s always changing what’s in balancers ?

I think it' the difference between incidental iron and added iron. Lots if not all of the balancers listed will not have iron as an added ingredient. However if the other elements are not pure iron can get in that way - for example magox can contain iron, some is very high purity guaranteed low iron including I think one of the versions FP sell. However if the version used in the balancer is not then iron can be present that way. And that's just one mineral, I don't know if iron content is a problem in others.

However I would like to see repeated testing and maybe the manufacturers carrying out their own testing to confirm or not these results.

 

[Cragrat]

I've fed a variety of PE and FP balancers over the years.
The FP ones annoy me becuase they contain linseed and salt - I buy those locally in bulk, and also vary the amount according to workload, so resent paying postage to have them delivered within the balancer.
I honestly don't think I noticed much difference in the horses whichever one I fed, ranging from the most expensive all in when they were competing BE frequently, to more basic ones.
THey have now been on PE Pro-3 trace, biotin and vit E(natural) , salt and linseed, for a few months, and have never looked better. ( 1homebred TB and 2 ex-racers, all barefoot).

 

[WispyBegs]

I use Spillers Lite and Lean balancer for my lad, it is pellets.
He is rather fussy when it comes to eating but he loves this stuff! He is barefoot and this balancer keeps his hooves in great condition, really would recommend trying it as it’s one of the cheaper options out there.

 

[vam]

I was going to post something similar. I couldn't get mine to eat pro earth in the quantities needed no matter what I tried, I now feed Pro mineral, brewers yeast, yesacc, linseed, salt and mag ox which she is eating even thou its a lot of powder. I think its working but I can't help but wonder if there is something missing. I don't think I will get her to eat FP as again its a lot of powder and I'm not sure what it is that she won't eat. I could feed less than recommended but I feel that defeats the object.
I'm not sure if I should keep what I'm on or look at something else. He feed are looking good but she has had really bad mud fever this year which she doesn't normally so not sure if she is missing something.

 

[Michen]

For those that use equimins (pellets) are they palatable? I'm thinking of swapping my handful of pony nuts out for this instead. I currently feed a handful of honeychop lite and healthy and a handful of pony nuts just to get her general vit and min supplement and mag ox in (plus agnus castus and nettle powder in summer). Wondering if I should swap the pony nuts and vits for equimins instead? She's not fussy at all so would be surprised if she didn't eat it but wonder if other horses are having it with something tasty rather than bland oat straw.

My fat greedy pig connie won't eat them unless it's fed in some equerry conditioning mash, which he ain't getting!

 

[jnb]

My cob will eat both the Equimins powder and pellets but preferred the powder (mixed in soaked Thunderbrooks Hay Cobs)
I recently got hold of a bag of Agrobs Weisencobs for him to try mixed in with the Thunderbrooks but so far it's a No on Agrobs, he eats it but leaves some which is unheard of (goes back later and hoovers it up though!)

 

[ownedbyaconnie]

My fat greedy pig connie won't eat them unless it's fed in some equerry conditioning mash, which he ain't getting!

Darn, I also own a fat greedy pig connie. I don't think I have much chance of hiding it in oat straw chaff...

Ah well, she'll eventually realise she's not getting anything else and eat it. Otherwise watch out, I might have a pot of equimins going cheap in a few weeks!

 

[MarvelVillis]

My barefoot gelding has Thunderbrook synergy powdered balancer (previously called base mix) and he has amazing feet (words of my farrier!) I've seen a few horses turn their nose up at it, but might be worth contacting the company direct and asking for a sample bag.

 

[daisie678]

Some basic rules of feeding horses.
Rule #1 Basic Nutritions:
The most essential part of any feeding plan is to satisfy your horse’s basic nutritional requirements, including energy, protein, vitamins, minerals, and water. Here’s what that means.
Rule #2 More Forage:
Hay or pasture is the most essential part of your horse’s diet. His nutritional requirements can probably be met with good-quality forage, and the more time spent consuming it the better, both for his brain and for his gastrointestinal tract.
Rule #3 Small Meals:
Your horse’s stomach is only designed to hold between two and four gallons of material at any given time, and in his natural environment, he spends approximately 16 hours each day grazing.
Rule #4 Food Quality:
We’ve already said that hay or pasture should be the basic nutrition of your feeding plan. And quality is critical. Hay should be weed-free and put up well. Moldy or dusty hay can make your horse sick, and is less likely to provide all of the necessary nutrients.
Rule #5 Trust Experts:
I am consistently surprised by owners who spend hours formulating baggies full of concoctions for their horses, containing everything from seaweed to diatomaceous earth and baking soda. Why? When nutritionists with college degrees spend hours formulating commercial rations to meet the needs of just about any horse, there’s no need.

 

[ester]

well that's helpful.

 

[PapaverFollis]

Educational.

What's your opinion on "scatter gun" vs "forage targeted" vitamin and mineral supplementation, daisie?

 

[daisie678]

I'm not a pro I don't know much about that sorry.