Balancer for cob on restricted grazing?

[caroline/halle]

I emailed a few feed companies and have been advised a balancer would be beneficial for my cob who is on restricted grazing , paddock daytime sparse grass and haynet, and out muzzled at night in normal field (only recently - previously was just in paddock and hay). He isnt very energetic so they said he may be lacking in vits/mins due to the restriction, can anyone advise/recommend?
He is barefoot so if any feed good for his feet that would be bonus!

 

[chunky monkey]

When my lad lacked energy I had the vet do a blood test. He came back anemic. He is a good do cob didnt have feed as he didnt need it fat on grass alone.
Vet recommended balancer to me as it contains all the vit and mins supposedly. I said how can an fat cob be anemic, but it would appear that it can happen. Vet recommended Equilibra 500. Its a little pellet. But my lad wouldnt eat it on its own. So I mixed it with some course mix. I have swapped him to the top spec balancer which is a bigger pellet and he will eat on its own, but I have carried on with a bit of mix as well, to be honest. Just for some variety really. He is also on an anemia supplement to assist him.
I would suggest asking your vet to take a blood test just to check he isnt lacking something. My lad had to have B12 injections to boost him back up.

 

[squidsin]

I use Baileys Low Cal - seemed fine but actually my girl has dropped too much weight and has poor feet so is now on Farrier's Formula instead!

 

[Jessey]

My fattie was on blue chip, she looked superb on it and was fab to ride, but farrier commented the iron was a little high in it compared to the magnesium so I switched onto thunderbrooks, I didn't buy a 2nd sack of that as its linseed & rice bran based and she went lame just after we started it and she just piled the lbs on and I'm now debating what to give her, she looked so good on the BC I'm tempted to go back to that, we never had a problem with her feet/horn/walls but she has been lame from something inside the foot so I'm a bit torn and therefore making no decisions

 

[Mary Poppins]

If you horse is looking healthy (e.g. good feet, maintaining weight, shiny coat etc. etc.) I doubt he needs a balancer at all. Of course a feed company will tell you that they do because they will want to sell you one.

My horse is muzzled for all his field time (18 hours per day) and has a soaked haynet when he comes in during the day. I went out to the field with one of the yard staff who was studying for their stage 3 care exam. We picked out 5 different types of grasses growing in his field which collectively provide him with everything that he needs. The only addition he has is a salt lick in his stable.

I see horses on my yard being fed all sorts of things and in my opinion most of it is not necessary. The riding school horses who live over the road on exactly the same type of grass are perfectly healthy and happy without any feed at all - and they do far more work than any of the horses on livery.

 

[squidsin]

I'm not sure about that MP - a lot of feed experts say a balancer is an excellent way of ensuring your horse has the right vitamins and minerals without adding calories. Fibre + balancer is pretty much the crux of every article on feeding I've read recently. The riding school ponies near me aren't exactly the prime examples of well-kept horses either! God, some of them really need just to be retired out to pasture, the poor skinny bony things! Maybe we have poorer grass round here, as Roxy has gone from just grass to a ton of feed and supplements as she suddenly dropped off. She's starting to look better now but grass can be deficient in minerals/calories at different times of year.

 

[Mary Poppins]

You have to look carefully at your grass to ensure that there are enough different varieties to ensure that the horse gets all the vitamins that are needed - each type of grass provides different vitamins. If you have poor grazing then your horse may require a balancer, but our yard (and our local riding school) have really good grazing on pasture which is well managed. The type of hay/haylege that you feed also needs to be examined to ensure that it is cut from good quality grass. Most horses are fed additional hay throughout the winter in some quantity and this is what makes up their vitamins when the grass is at poorer quality in the depths of winter.

I do however think that the best way to tell if your horse requires any additional feed is to assess their health. If you have a horse with good feet, bright eyes, a good weight and nice shine to their coat - then they are probably getting everything that they need already. If not, then you may need to feed additional supplements as necessary.

It's a bit like giving vitamin tablets to children. If they have a well balanced diet and are fit and healthy then most do not need to have them. It probably won't do them any harm to have extra (although this is debatable) but they won't get any extra benefit from them.

 

[Apple24]

Balancers contain added protein as well a pre and probiotic if you have a horse who is prone to colic or loose stools an added pre and probiotic can work wonders mine get restricted grazing and a balancer. There is also a cob on our yard who always has restricted grazing and since being put on a balancer her coat has more shine and her feet are better. I think adding a balancer won't harm him and is a good place to start.

 

[Native Lover]

I am feeding grass nut to mine that need more feed and nutritional support... but ofteen wonder if a balancer would provided them all with vitamins and mineral they need... I feed grass, hay and grass nuts only currently ??? would you add a balancer if so which one??

Mine are all native ponies) except one) on very good grazing

 

[eml]

We had Saracen feeds out who took samples of our grass and hayage, asked about each horse/pony work load,age profile etc, looked at current condition and came up with feed suggestions for every one from fat Shetland who does very little to daughters TB's who are out competing! They even asked around heri supplier to find us the best delivered deal based on four products in various combinations thus saving us money on the overall feed bill.

May be worth getting together as a yard or a Riding Club or similar for an appraisal..

For straight forward vitamin/mineral supplementation I like Feedmarks Benefit or for horse with coat hoof issues their Equidermis

 

[Apple24]

I feed blue chip pro to my 23 year old poor doer( well was before pro), and there super calming balancer to my 16 year old both do fantastic on it. I picked blue chip as only one which has a respiratory supplement and one of mine has copd. They do a blue chip native one now may be good for yours native lover. There Laminit light for overweight ponies is also suppose to be fantastic. If you email there nutritionist she is really helpful.