# cheap feed balancers?



## wench (17 November 2008)

Horse is currently on equimins feed balancer, which is good but £35 a bag getting a bit pricey. What are the cheaper options, or should i cut it out all together


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## TGM (17 November 2008)

What else are you feeding with it?  Is your horse on good grazing?  Is he getting hay or haylage?


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## Ziggy_ (17 November 2008)

You could try pink powder - I *think* its about £12 a month, maybe a bit less - have had very good results with it in the past.


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## wench (17 November 2008)

not good grazing, on hay and haylege at night but he scoffs it all. feed wise he is on 2kg of spillers slow release energy cubes


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## black_horse (17 November 2008)

my horse is on saracen releave, equijewl,biolife 2000, minty chaff and farriers formular (she is a poor doer who was v poorlier earlier this year) i find the equijewel to be very good value for money, its expensive but lasts ages!!! it also has added vit E and selemium in it and has a low startch content.


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## Persephone (17 November 2008)

I have just changed my mare to Equilibra. It's £ 23.99 for 60 days. I thought that was pretty reasonable.

If you google Gro Well feeds they have all the RRP on there.

Jo x


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## Halfstep (17 November 2008)

Mine's on Bailey's Low Cal balancer - £22 for a bag that lasts me around two months for one horse.


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## TGM (17 November 2008)

Are you feeding the recommended amount of the Slow Release Cubes?  If so, you definitely don't need to feed a balancer as well, as the Cubes will supply similar nutrients to that in the balancer.  If you are feeding significantly less than the recommended amount of cubes then you might want to top up with a balancer or vit/min supplement.    So if the recommended amount of the Cubes for a horse your size is 4kg a day, and you are feeding 2kg of Cubes a day, then you could feed half the daily dose of a balancer or a vit/min supplement like Equivite or Benevit.  To be honest though, a lot of horses would do well on such a diet without a balancer or vit/min supplement!


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## blaze (17 November 2008)

I'd be interested in how the balancers all compare - my mare is on TopSpec Feed Balancer and I don't really want to change it, but in recent weeks it's gone up from £28.99 to £34.99 a sack. I can't justify an increase of 20-odd per cent. Are there any nutrition peeps who know of anything that provides similar levels but at a cheaper price?


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## Taffster (17 November 2008)

What are you all feeding on top of the balancer i dont really want to give my welsh anything other than what he gets as he is a very good doer! 
He gets half scoop sugarbeet, full scoop of alpha oil and cup of top spec comp balancer twice a day with garlic and carrots/apples etc
Is this enough??


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## SHAYTAY (17 November 2008)

mine is on ad lib hay - fair grazing - handfull of hi fi lite apples and carrots and i feed equivite as a vit/min supplement - think its fairly cheap way to do it x


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## xnaughtybutnicex (17 November 2008)

You might be able to get the nutritional value off the feed websites.


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## blaze (17 November 2008)

I feed just Spillers Happy Hoof, then the Top Spec, plus she has to have a decent joint supplement as she has problems. She's on the Top Spec calmer when necessary, plus garlic and apples. Top Spec Comp is meant to provide all necessary nutrients when fed at recommended levels so you should be fine. Mine  would put on weight with sugar beet though, she never gets mixes or cubes, just balancer and a very low-calorie forage to mix the joint stuff in with.


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## TGM (17 November 2008)

[ QUOTE ]
What are you all feeding on top of the balancer i dont really want to give my welsh anything other than what he gets as he is a very good doer! 
He gets half scoop sugarbeet, full scoop of alpha oil and cup of top spec comp balancer twice a day with garlic and carrots/apples etc
Is this enough?? 

[/ QUOTE ]

The whole point of balancers is that you don't need to add anything else if the horse is getting enough calories to maintain weight from grazing/hay/haylage.  You only add things like alfafa/beet to the balancer if your horse needs extra condition.

If your horse is in the correct condition - ie you can feel his ribs easily but not see them - then you are feeding the correct amount.  If you can't feel his ribs easily then he is overweight and I would suggest removing the Alfa A Oil and beet.


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## Taffster (17 November 2008)

I feel a lot better knowing i'm not starving him and until he starts eating his hay on a night time i'll probably keep him on the above he does get worked a lot!


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## Theresa_F (17 November 2008)

I feed benevit which gives all vits and minerals mine need.  They also get linseed and brewyers yeast.

I do from time to time replace benevit with equilbra - for my two youngsters it really does help give them muscle build up and help fill them out when they are having a lanky stage.


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## Toby_Zaphod (17 November 2008)

I used Blue Chip for years but the price was getting ridiculous so I changed over to Bailey's No 14, Low Cal Balancer &amp; my horses do well on it. As has been mentioned it's £22 a bag, a big drop from the £37+ for Blue Chip.


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## kellyeaton (17 November 2008)

i use seaweed for my vits/mins coz balancers are to exspensive!


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## lannerch (17 November 2008)

I use baileys stud balancer.

The stud balancers are virtually identical in composition to the non stud varietys, however the difference is the price, the reason behind that is they are aimed at the stud market which have to be competitive so will not pay as much as the average private horse owner, so the price has to be less for the product to sell.


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