marvin
Grand Prix Poster
Posts: 1,069
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Post by marvin on Dec 8, 2011 15:24:41 GMT 1
Lots of people at the yard I keep my boy at use various balancers most seem to use topspec ones. They are so expensive though - to people who use balancers are they any good - are they worth the outlay.
My boy gets no additives in his feed only alfalfa chop & grass nuts with nothing added and he looks good, not overweiight, good feet, shiney coat and never down or ill. Also grazing for 9 hrs at least per day in winter and ad lib good quality hay.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Dec 8, 2011 16:07:53 GMT 1
Depends on your forage and if you give hard feed. Most forage doesn't supply enough minerals on its own and you can't tell from looking at it, appearance means nothing when it comes to mineral content.
The whole point of them is to give a top up of minerals and vitamins so that the bucket feed is balanced and the minerals can be absorbed from that meal. They don't (and aren't designed to) balance the forage as a lot of people seem to think.
I give Talin TS lite balancer as I had our grass and hay tested and it won't supply him with enough of most minerals but nothing is so out of balance that it needs supplementing separately.
MTA; without his balancer Talin's mane doesn't grow and it takes him significantly longer to heal any small scrapes. I pay £25 for 6 weeks supply.
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Post by medicinepony on Dec 8, 2011 17:10:57 GMT 1
I found that balancers often gave me more problems than they solved and have reverted back to balancing my own feeds using a variety of things as required, including alfa nuts, plain sugarbeet and oats which can be added to as required, having a lot of horses helps as I can buy in bulk and mix and match as required
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Post by jen1 on Dec 8, 2011 19:39:35 GMT 1
i beginning to think ready made supplements and the like are a total waste of money, how can you supplement when you don't know what thee getting in Grass and hay /feed , I'm going down the forage plus route , id imagine I'm close to the ideal diet but i wont know how much copper and zinc i need if any,
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Post by Catrin on Dec 8, 2011 19:48:52 GMT 1
A supplement should do just that. I feed grass and haylage to my horses. I know from haylage analysis that it needs balancing to provide a correct range of nuitrients. I feed magnesium and salt and 550g of Opti-Gro a day to each of them as a cost effective way of getting the balanced diet right.
In addition I have added linseed when my old TB lost weight and replaced his Opti-Gro with D&H Build Up cubes. I only feed a supplement to add what I think is missing or needed and I feed the cheapest/best I can.
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pd
Grand Prix Poster
Posts: 1,367
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Post by pd on Dec 8, 2011 20:01:05 GMT 1
IF you have a horse that's deficient, they're REALLY worth it. I like them for fatties, whom just balloon if they get fed, but show a lack of nutrients in their coats, body shape, hooves etc.
I have switched to Red Mills Lamicare instead of Top Spec Antilam because its a lot cheaper and delivers just as good a result in my professional opinion!! The only problem is getting it stocked locally.
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Azrael
Grand Prix Poster
Posts: 2,733
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Post by Azrael on Dec 8, 2011 20:38:38 GMT 1
We tried a few but never found them to be much use. The only one that did anything good was Equilibria which helped keep weight on Mia, I did notice a bit of a difference after taking her off it. Blue Chip made Bubbles very shiny but that's some very expensive shine when it did nothing else. LoCal didn't do much. Top Spec made Roxy fat and Mia very grumpy so didn't do anything good!
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Post by sophielouise on Dec 8, 2011 20:57:35 GMT 1
Im debating whether to start Pete on a balancer, as he is a fattie on a reduced diet and dont know whether that will be better than a general supplement?
Ive heard good things about the Blue Chip Lami lite?
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Post by marianne on Dec 8, 2011 21:28:15 GMT 1
2-3 of my 8 are on Top Spec balancers (yes funnily enough) most of the time. The others seem to thrive on air, grass and hay so I don't worry too much about them :-)
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Post by highlanderpony2002 on Dec 8, 2011 23:54:40 GMT 1
I use then as mine are on restricted grazing so I know they are getting all the vitamins and minerals they need. They wont eat wet hay so get balancer and a fibre feed in winter and grass and equibites in summer
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Post by irishcob on Dec 9, 2011 0:52:42 GMT 1
I changed my horses onto Topspec a year ago, and haven't looked back. So much glossier and brighter, great stamina and sensible, but with a little sparkle too! Just the light balancer and topchoc light for my big cob, and plus some cool condition nuts, balancer and alfalfa chop for the youngster.
Wouldn't have believed it unless I saw it with my own eyes! Very pleased and wouldn't go back to bog standard nuts having seen the difference.
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Post by gordo on Dec 9, 2011 8:36:38 GMT 1
Deffo gonna need a tin hat but owned horses for 25 years and all grown beautifully and performed as needed (Grand Prix Happy Hacking!) without the need of balancers or supplements! I am sure, if I fed them, my Gordo would look better but he has bright eyes, good feet, good weight without the need for a trendy feed. I think there are prob great benefits in these expensive bags but, if it aint broke, why fix it!! (think I may need full body armour too but this is a discussion board!!)
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Dec 9, 2011 9:16:42 GMT 1
Just the light balancer and topchoc light for my big cob I shall definitely look out for this one! ;D
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Post by KoLaTo on Dec 9, 2011 9:36:14 GMT 1
All mine live on fresh air, my pasture hasn't been rested for probably 15yrs now, i have a large selection of weeds etc but the land is deficient in lots of things, it isn't 'horsesick' per se but i have tried with and without balancers and the difference is quite remarkable, i use Baileys Lo-Cal but have heard interesting things about the RedMill one and am also investigating TripleCrown, both of which are considerably cheaper than Baileys.
Winter i also add Tiger Oats & TopChop plus FastFibre/Speedibeet increasing/decreasing as needed.
Supplment wise, Micronised Linseed and Magnesium alongside the balancer.
I use balancer for convenience to be honest, i could spend money analysing everything and then supplementing different things but it isn't broke, mine are happy, shiny and healthy so it is working for them.
Top Spec balancers didn't agree with mine so i shopped around for a bit and settled with Baileys.
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Post by Catrin on Dec 9, 2011 9:39:47 GMT 1
As the OP asked are feed balancers worth it, I forgot to say that it costs me £24 for six weeks' supply of supplements for my two TBs. Haven't a clue what it costs to balance the forage any other way.
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