# Forage plus.



## zangels (17 July 2014)

For those who feed forage plus balancers how much do you feed?
I have a 16.2 and a 12hh pony.
I am thinking of swapping from progressive earth to the forage plus, there seems to be almost double of everything in the forage plus one.


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## Goldenstar (17 July 2014)

I saw a definite difference in the rate of horn growth when I swopped , I also have issues getting mine to eat pro hoof and did not with the forage plus balancers .
Unfortunately I have had such issues ordering online I gone back to pro hoof .


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## zangels (17 July 2014)

How much did you feed and to what horse/pony? What issues did you have with ordering?


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## mightymammoth (17 July 2014)

I use it and haven't had a problem with ordering, my main problem is getting him to eat it!


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## criso (17 July 2014)

I put in an order on sunday and it arrived tuesday.  Might it have been teething problems when they updated the website a while ago.


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## zangels (17 July 2014)

That's good to hear.What amount are you feeding and to what size horses/ponies?


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## Leo Walker (17 July 2014)

I feed Pro Hoof and had a look out of curiosity. It intially looks mega expensive but doesnt work out much more when you compare the per day cost. Is it much better than the progressive earth stuff? I've always had incredibly good results with that, but with a just gone barefoot horse with early signs of navicular syndrome, he wont be as easy as my others to keep barefoot and I'm always keen to hear about anything better for him!

Mines a pig, he eats Mag Chloride crystals dumped in his feed mixed with fast fibre and his other stuff, so palatability doesnt worry me


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## criso (17 July 2014)

Sorry I can't help you with amounts as I feed straight minerals, my order was for lysine, methionine and selenium.

As you said the levels of minerals are much higher than in pro hoof, there will be feeding guidelines on the packet though.


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## zangels (17 July 2014)

Thanks criso, it has put my mind at rest with order times.


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## criso (17 July 2014)

FrankieCob said:



			I feed Pro Hoof and had a look out of curiosity. It intially looks mega expensive but doesnt work out much more when you compare the per day cost. Is it much better than the progressive earth stuff? I've always had incredibly good results with that, but with a just gone barefoot horse with early signs of navicular syndrome, he wont be as easy as my others to keep barefoot and I'm always keen to hear about anything better for him!
		
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The forageplus has virtually double the levels of all the key ingredients so can be useful for particularly tricky horses.  You could always try reducing it to the Pro hoof levels to see if you can away with less.  

BTW I wouldn't suggest increasing the levels of the pro hoof as the one ingredient they have the same levels of is selenium which can be harmful if you feed too much.


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## zangels (17 July 2014)

I might try with using the same amount as we do the progressive earth on and see how we get on.


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## criso (17 July 2014)

Why not, mineral levels will vary from place to place and you can build up to the optimal dose for you.


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## Nugget La Poneh (17 July 2014)

I did a comparison between Pro-balance and Forage Plus Winter and there really isn't a great deal of difference, other than the Pro-Balance has wheatfeed in, as well as calcium, methionine and biotin. FP Winter has linseed in.


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## criso (17 July 2014)

I did a spreadsheet of all the FP and progressive earth products.

If you feed at the recommended rate 

Forageplus both winter and summer.

Lysine	10g
Monosodium Phosphorous	5g
Magox	12g
Bioplex Copper	400mg 
Bioplex Zinc	1200mg
Selenium Yeast	1mg

Pro Balance

Lysine  50g
Monosodium Phosphorous  2.5g
Magox  6g
Bioplex Copper  175mg
Bioplex Zinc  575mg
Selenium Yeast  0.75mg

The pro hoof 

Lysine  10.25 g
Monosodium Phophorous  2.5g
Magox  6g
Bioplex Copper  175mg
Bioplex Zinc  575mg
Selenium Yeast  1 mg

There are other differences but I tend to use those as a starting point.


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## amandap (17 July 2014)

I used to have problems trying to pay until they updated the site as I don't do paypal and it kept trying to muscle in on my orders! No problems now.

The feeding rates are on a tab on each balancer and the order comes with instructions and tips about getting more fussy horses to eat it. Here's an eg. of rates to feed but they all vary. http://forageplus.co.uk/product/forageplus-hoof-health-winter-equine-balancer/

ps. Personally I would feed at recommended rate for at least 6 months, especially if there are problems or signs of deficiencies. If I am short of dosh I reduce it to eek it out but return to full dose asap.


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## zangels (17 July 2014)

Thanks everyone, is there any one who does currently feed forage plus balancer at half or lower than recommended rates?


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## Leo Walker (17 July 2014)

criso said:



			I did a spreadsheet of all the FP and progressive earth products.

If you feed at the recommended rate 

Forageplus both winter and summer.

Lysine	10g
Monosodium Phosphorous	5g
Magox	12g
Bioplex Copper	400mg 
Bioplex Zinc	1200mg
Selenium Yeast	1mg

Pro Balance

Lysine  50g
Monosodium Phosphorous  2.5g
Magox  6g
Bioplex Copper  175mg
Bioplex Zinc  575mg
Selenium Yeast  0.75mg

The pro hoof 

Lysine  10.25 g
Monosodium Phophorous  2.5g
Magox  6g
Bioplex Copper  175mg
Bioplex Zinc  575mg
Selenium Yeast  1 mg

There are other differences but I tend to use those as a starting point.
		
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Brilliant thank you  I feed lysine and linseed as well, so probably no benefit to me in changing


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## criso (17 July 2014)

FrankieCob said:



			Brilliant thank you  I feed lysine and linseed as well, so probably no benefit to me in changing 

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Depends, the fp has twice the levels of copper, zinc and magox.  The zinc and copper particularly could be beneficial in a navicular horse that has soft tissue repair happening.

I actually feed even more after a forage analysis of all these after a forage analysis.


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## amandap (17 July 2014)

criso said:



			Depends, the fp has twice the levels of copper, zinc and magox.  The zinc and copper particularly could be beneficial in a navicular horse that has soft tissue repair happening.
		
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Yes, I've noticed such changes in coat colours and even hooves getting blacker or whiter strangely. Skin and coat health much improved and thrush is a thing of the past. My itchy ?sweet itch pony is now normally itchy and has a full mane! So tissue health is generally much improved.


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## Nugget La Poneh (19 July 2014)

criso said:



			I did a spreadsheet of all the FP and progressive earth products.

If you feed at the recommended rate 

Forageplus both winter and summer.

Lysine	10g
Monosodium Phosphorous	5g
Magox	12g
Bioplex Copper	400mg 
Bioplex Zinc	1200mg
Selenium Yeast	1mg

Pro Balance

Lysine  50g
Monosodium Phosphorous  2.5g
Magox  6g
Bioplex Copper  175mg
Bioplex Zinc  575mg
Selenium Yeast  0.75mg

The pro hoof 

Lysine  10.25 g
Monosodium Phophorous  2.5g
Magox  6g
Bioplex Copper  175mg
Bioplex Zinc  575mg
Selenium Yeast  1 mg

There are other differences but I tend to use those as a starting point.
		
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But when I looked into it and did my sheet, the websites show forage plus is based on per 100g and probalance is based on 50g, so technically the amounts are not that different. The only thing stopping the probalance being fed at 100g is that it would contain more selenium than the fp


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## cptrayes (19 July 2014)

Nugget La Poneh said:



			. The only thing stopping the probalance being fed at 100g is that it would contain more selenium than the fp
		
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That and the bankruptcy


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## criso (19 July 2014)

Nugget La Poneh said:



			But when I looked into it and did my sheet, the websites show forage plus is based on per 100g and probalance is based on 50g, so technically the amounts are not that different. The only thing stopping the probalance being fed at 100g is that it would contain more selenium than the fp
		
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I did the calculations on recommended dose not per 100g.  

Having done a few forage analyses now and know what I feed, the progressive earth levels look quite low to me. Even the Forageplus ones would  be too low in some of places I've been.  As you said you can't push the dosage of the pro hoof up far because of the selenium.  Plus I've pulled out the key minerals that are important to me, there's other stuff in it that I would be overfeeding which might not be harmful but a waste.

Spreadsheet also has cost per day, if you were to feed fp at half the dose then it prices come into line, possibly cheaper if start considering postage options.

Other option is the equivita one which as it uses sulphate versions of copper and zinc rather than bioplex works out cheaper.  Has the same levels as FP. 

http://www.equinatural.co.uk/EquiVitaForageMineralBalancer

Cheapest is to mix your own and just feed the essentials and shop around (i use different suppliers depending on what i'm buying) but most people don't want the hassle.


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