Does anyone feed a balancer in pellet form

[MrA]

That their horse really likes the taste of?

I'm thinking of moving away from feeding hifi to A and just offering him salt that he can help himself to.

I'm reluctant to entirely stop feeding a supplement especially in winter and wondered about getting one that can be fed on its own (I currently use powder) Even better if it could be used in a treat ball or similar.

Does such a palatable pelleted balancer even exist?

 

[Bodshi]

I think Raf has happily eaten all his pelleted balancers on their own. We had Saracen Stamm 30, a brief try of Top Spec (but I thought he lost a bit of condition so put him back on the Stamm 30) and currently on Gain 32 stud balancer, because that's what AJ had before he came to me.

 

[MrC]

I give Faran Baileys local with a little bit of water as I don’t like feeding hard pellets. He gets a handful of hifi lite in it but only because he bolts and chokes himself

 

[carthorse]

I feed the Spillers Daily Balancer on it's own and the bowl is always clean. To be fair I've used a few different ones over the years and palatability has never been a problem.

 

[Jessey]

My lot get spillers everyday balancer and all scoff it on its own. It’s the only one I could find without added iron and a decent balance of zinc and copper which Jess needs for her feet. I can add salt with a dash of water and they still happily eat it.

 

[Frances144]

My lot have Baileys No14 low calorie balancer. They love it. They actually won’t eat their food without it.

 

[newforest]

I will be once I have decided which to get samples of.

 

[Mary Poppins]

At my yard they use saracens essential balancer. Most of the horses on the yard have this and all the horses eat it.

 

[MrA]

Thank you everyone, very helpful! So another question, do you feed the recommended daily amount?

 

[Jessey]

I do, but it’s not much in the grand scheme of things so I don’t tend to worry it’s too much even when they’re a bit rotund!

 

[diplomaticandtactful]

I use D&H light balancer for lamanitics and they wolf it down

 

[carthorse]

Yes I do feed the full amount, the only time I wouldn't was if I was feeding a lot of a hard feed that contained a good spectrum of vits and mins.

 

[Frances144]

recommended amount? No because mine have access to other forage, ie. minerals and vitamins. When they are on soaked hay only, then yes But at over £30 a bag, it gets very expensive.

 

[Jane&Ziggy]

Sid is on the Agrobs pellet balancer at the moment - I'd call it mid price, more expensive than Bailey's etc but not as much as the boutique balancers like ForagePlus - and he looks great on in. His coat is shiny, his mane is growing back a bit after his self administered hog and his feet are superb. He would eat the whole bucket if I let him.

 

[newforest]

recommended amount? No because mine have access to other forage, ie. minerals and vitamins. When they are on soaked hay only, then yes But at over £30 a bag, it gets very expensive.

So do you just feed over the winter months?

 

[Frances144]

So do you just feed over the winter months?

I feed it all year round but especially if they are on restricted grazing (soaked hay only) or inside (soaked hay only). I think they need the full amount, as stated on packet) if they are living only off soaked hay because how many minerals and vitamins are in soaked hay? (probably nothing).

When they have access to some grazing, I give them a tiny bit as they won't eat the stuff their meant to eat without it (bloody addicts). They have ForagePlus Laminae (which they all hate - hence the one cup between 6 to get it down them) in Spring/Summer/Autumn plus TurmerAid to ward off laminitis. It is god-awful expensive and I am not convinced tbh it helps.

 

[newforest]

I feed it all year round but especially if they are on restricted grazing (soaked hay only) or inside (soaked hay only). I think they need the full amount, as stated on packet) if they are living only off soaked hay because how many minerals and vitamins are in soaked hay? (probably nothing).

When they have access to some grazing, I give them a tiny bit as they won't eat the stuff their meant to eat without it (bloody addicts). They have ForagePlus Laminae (which they all hate - hence the one cup between 6 to get it down them) in Spring/Summer/Autumn plus TurmerAid to ward off laminitis. It is god-awful expensive and I am not convinced tbh it helps.

Thanks. I am looking into something for the autumn/winter.
She's not on hay, but there isn't that much goodness in the grass over the winter. So I wanted to make sure she has enough.

 

[Frances144]

Baileys No14 is good. Lo-cal.

 

[newforest]

Baileys No14 is good. Lo-cal.

Thanks will look at that.

 

[carthorse]

I chose Spillers Daily Balancer for two main reasons, independent nutritionists on fb give it good reviews and the price per kg is one of the cheaper ones