# Haylage balancer by NAF!!



## Oldenburg (6 November 2009)

The new Haylage balancer by NAF!!

Has anyone used it? Could you see any diffrence in your horse /pony?


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## Irishcobs (6 November 2009)

As far as I can tell, with out doing to much research into it, it is the same as NAF Pink Powder but with added herbs. I could be wrong though.
I have great success with pink powder but haven't tried the haylage balancer.


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## JanetGeorge (6 November 2009)

[ QUOTE ]
The new Haylage balancer by NAF!!

Has anyone used it? Could you see any diffrence in your horse /pony? 

[/ QUOTE ]

I've just started my husband's HW hunter on it - he's 19, on low level Danilon, and squitty!!  The first thing I noticed is he LOVES it - no powder left in the bottom of the bowl - it's licked clean!  And his droppings do appear a bit firmer - but it's early days (only been on it since Tuesday.)  We'd tried Pink Powder with him - he didn't like it and sifted it out.


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## teddyt (6 November 2009)

I am not convinced about the haylage balancer. The adverts are very emotive and carefully worded. Theres a bit about haylage potentially being the cause of ulcers, it neglects to mention that this is because horses fed haylage are more likely to be competition types. So on a cereal diet, limited turnout, etc. And you should feed more by weight of haylage than hay, which few people do so the fibre content of the diet can be insufficient- hence ulcers.

Instead they carefully word the ad to make it look like you need the balancer to prevent ulcers, etc.

Have no idea if its any good, just my thoughts on the marketing!


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## Spyda (6 November 2009)

[ QUOTE ]
I am not convinced about the haylage balancer. The adverts are very emotive and carefully worded. Theres a bit about haylage potentially being the cause of ulcers, it neglects to mention that this is because horses fed haylage are more likely to be competition types. So on a cereal diet, limited turnout, etc. And you should feed more by weight of haylage than hay, which few people do so the fibre content of the diet can be insufficient- hence ulcers.

Instead they carefully word the ad to make it look like you need the balancer to prevent ulcers, etc.

Have no idea if its any good, just my thoughts on the marketing! 

[/ QUOTE ]

I mirror this view. Figured it was just another ploy from the manufacturers to convince us [potentially gullable] horse owners that there's yet ANOTHER supplement our poor, suffering horses cannot live without. Hmmmm  
	
	
		
		
	


	





Mind you, I'll be happy to be proved wrong and will be interested to read opinions from those who've tried it.


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## joshuaada (6 November 2009)

I agree with teddyt and spyda. Have fed haylage for years and never needed a balancer. Why would you. It's a forage and because I don't give my horse a lot of hard feed either I give him Benevit and even at this time of the year he shines like a piece of coal. ( he's black, just in case you were wondering if I kept a lump of coal in my stable)


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## Oldenburg (6 November 2009)

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
The new Haylage balancer by NAF!!

Has anyone used it? Could you see any diffrence in your horse /pony? 

[/ QUOTE ]

I've just started my husband's HW hunter on it - he's 19, on low level Danilon, and squitty!!  The first thing I noticed is he LOVES it - no powder left in the bottom of the bowl - it's licked clean!  And his droppings do appear a bit firmer - but it's early days (only been on it since Tuesday.)  We'd tried Pink Powder with him - he didn't like it and sifted it out. 

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks for your views ladys!!

I just dont know what to do with my horse (larry) we have had a diffrent batch of haylage (Cause we have finished the other) I mixed the new stuff with the old stuff (gradule over 2 weeks) so there was not a sudden change in his diet and i have tried mixing the new stuff with hay and he wont eat it fussy but his dropping are still loose so i was just wondering if this stuff works!!


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## TGM (7 November 2009)

If you have a horse who is loose on haylage then it is worth a try, but otherwise personally I wouldn't bother.  Like others above, I feel their marketing is misleadingly written to try and worry owners of horses fed haylage in the hope they will buy the balancer.


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## eggs (7 November 2009)

Having had to cut back this past year I have cut out all supplements except for a general vits and mins and have not noticeed ANY difference to the horses.

My old mare used to get very loose droppings going into autumn - possible cause being extra moisture in the grass - and I would get calcium phosphate tablets from my vet which were a big help.


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## tonto (7 November 2009)

Not personally tried it but have a mare that is very squitty on haylage, tried allsorts including yoghurt, then I tried BioPro by Feedmark and hey presto no more squits!!! She also has a banana a day, somebody told me its good for the squits but don't want to change anything so she still has it!!


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## Spyda (7 November 2009)

My broodmare was squitty on haylage earlier this year (January) when she came home from stud. I put her on a course of Pink Powders which seemed to help. It improved certainly, but she was simply "runnier" when on haylage. Once back onto hay a few months later she went back to the normal consistency.


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## Razzle Dazzle (3 January 2012)

Oldenburg said:



			The new Haylage balancer by NAF!!

Has anyone used it? Could you see any diffrence in your horse /pony?
		
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Someone asked of this "Why would you?"  The short answer is "if you need to".  In the absence of being able to find good quality hay without being financially savaged by men in green tights sporting bows and arrows, I've had to put my boy back onto haylage, which, although he loves, his tummy doesn't and he goes into pebbledash mode.  I've just tried NAF's Haylage Balancer after being recommended by someone whose horse has the same problem as my boy and who uses it.  I gave my boy 2 scoops twice a day for two days then weaned it down gradually and now he's only on 1 scoop each day.  Within just 5 days, his droppings have gone from ...well, you know what, to good consistency.  It's fabulous stuff and I'm just about to buy my own stock because simply put, having tried it, I have faith in it.

Essentially, for those who need it, it 'equalises' the gut and lets face it, we can't work well if our tummy's are rumbling and we're back and forth to you know where so how can we expect our horses to!


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## Zebedee (3 January 2012)

Razzle Dazzle said:



			Someone asked of this "Why would you?"  The short answer is "if you need to".  In the absence of being able to find good quality hay without being financially savaged by men in green tights sporting bows and arrows, I've had to put my boy back onto haylage, which, although he loves, his tummy doesn't and he goes into pebbledash mode.  I've just tried NAF's Haylage Balancer after being recommended by someone whose horse has the same problem as my boy and who uses it.  I gave my boy 2 scoops twice a day for two days then weaned it down gradually and now he's only on 1 scoop each day.  Within just 5 days, his droppings have gone from ...well, you know what, to good consistency.  It's fabulous stuff and I'm just about to buy my own stock because simply put, having tried it, I have faith in it.

Essentially, for those who need it, it 'equalises' the gut and lets face it, we can't work well if our tummy's are rumbling and we're back and forth to you know where so how can we expect our horses to!
		
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My experience mirrors the above, except I use it for an elderly TB mare. I haven't got the money to waste on products that don't work, & the NAF haylage balancer is working for my old girl in terms of improved poo consistency !


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## Razzle Dazzle (3 January 2012)

The Archangel Zebedee said:



			My experience mirrors the above, except I use it for an elderly TB mare. I haven't got the money to waste on products that don't work, & the NAF haylage balancer is working for my old girl in terms of improved poo consistency !
		
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I totally agree.  I can ill afford to waste money (and time) on elimination theories but happy to try something I'm already witnessing works.


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## Janette (3 January 2012)

My girl is very loose on haylage and also good grazing which Pink Powder helped to a certain degree - BUT the Haylage Balancer is really good.  Her guts are far more settled and her droppings are much more normal.
This saves money on bedding (stay's cleaner), shampoo and time keeping her tail and hind quarters clean and her skin around her girly regions is in much better nick - she used to rub herslf badly because she would get sore.


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## TigerTail (3 January 2012)

NAF Haylage Balancer
Ingredients:
Composition
Calcium carbonate, Wheatfeed, Dicalcium phosphate, Maize, Brewers' yeast, Mint, Ginger, Dandelion leaves, Whey protein powder, White mineral oil, Saccharomyces cerevisiae extract, Oligofructose (dried), Sodium chloride, Glutamine, Whey powder, Elecampane, Licorice, Magnesium oxide.


Full of fillers and binders just like the rest of their products.

Buy brewers yeast and or yea sacc and save yourself some pennies!


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## Zebedee (3 January 2012)

Razzle Dazzle said:



			I totally agree.  I can ill afford to waste money (and time) on elimination theories but happy to try something I'm already witnessing works.

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Proof of the pudding in fact ! I've also found NAF Superflex to be highly effective. We use it on an elderly cob & he finds life far easier when he's on a maintenence dose than when he isn't. Money well spent if it aids their comfort I feel.


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## Magnetic Sparrow (3 January 2012)

I tried NAF haylage balancer when my two got a bit squitty when they changed onto haylage. Didn't touch the squittyness, but the gelding, who is sensitive to haylage and can get virtually unrideable if I get the feeding levels wrong, seemed a great deal more even-tempered even when I upped the haylage ration. Bless him, he loves haylage - it's his all-time favourite food, but I fear for my life if I give him too much normally.


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## Razzle Dazzle (3 January 2012)

The Archangel Zebedee said:



			Proof of the pudding in fact ! I've also found NAF Superflex to be highly effective. We use it on an elderly cob & he finds life far easier when he's on a maintenence dose than when he isn't. Money well spent if it aids their comfort I feel.
		
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...I think so too!  My boy's only seven but it's always good to know these things that are tried and tested.  Thanks


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## lauraandjack (3 January 2012)

Works for my ned, and I'm not a great believer in supplements.  But without the haylage balancer he is prone to cowpatty poo, especially when the bale changes.  But on haylage balancer he is much better (except on hunting days when the excitement takes over!).

To all those who slag off the "fillers and binders" in supplements, the manufacturers do actually need to put some things that taste nice in them to make horses actually eat it!  Most "raw" chemicals that you supplement puritans wax lyrical about e.g. magnesium oxide etc taste absolutely vile, a good majority of horses need the taste of these disguised in order for them to eat it!

Oh, and most animal feeds are composed of cereal by-products anyway, take sugar beet as a prime example.

And "ash" is NOT an ingredient, it is a statutory declaration of the inorganic mineral content of a feedstuff, i.e. what is left after a certain weight of it has been incinerated.  It's very misleading that feed manufacturers are obliged to state this on the label as the misinformed public assume it is an ingredient.


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## Razzle Dazzle (3 January 2012)

Magnetic Sparrow said:



			I tried NAF haylage balancer when my two got a bit squitty when they changed onto haylage. Didn't touch the squittyness, but the gelding, who is sensitive to haylage and can get virtually unrideable if I get the feeding levels wrong, seemed a great deal more even-tempered even when I upped the haylage ration. Bless him, he loves haylage - it's his all-time favourite food, but I fear for my life if I give him too much normally.
		
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...ah, now, it's cured the squits with my lad!  Which I'm ever so pleased about because it's no fun washing those sweet cheeks day in, day out ...and I guess no fun for him either.  I'm only back on haylage because the provider of some fabulous hay I was getting decided to up his quadrant bales (bigger than the others) from £40 to £50 overnight and I just can't afford that.  I just can't find decent hay in my locality to be delivered in the quantities I need.  So I'm stuck with haylage!


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## TigerTail (3 January 2012)

lauraandjack said:



			Works for my ned, and I'm not a great believer in supplements.  But without the haylage balancer he is prone to cowpatty poo, especially when the bale changes.  But on haylage balancer he is much better (except on hunting days when the excitement takes over!).

To all those who slag off the "fillers and binders" in supplements, the manufacturers do actually need to put some things that taste nice in them to make horses actually eat it!  Most "raw" chemicals that you supplement puritans wax lyrical about e.g. magnesium oxide etc taste absolutely vile, a good majority of horses need the taste of these disguised in order for them to eat it!

Oh, and most animal feeds are composed of cereal by-products anyway, take sugar beet as a prime example.

And "ash" is NOT an ingredient, it is a statutory declaration of the inorganic mineral content of a feedstuff, i.e. what is left after a certain weight of it has been incinerated.  It's very misleading that feed manufacturers are obliged to state this on the label as the misinformed public assume it is an ingredient.
		
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Why do you guys feed haylage when it upsets your horses stomachs? Whats wrong with good old hay??

My point about supplements is that with a little research you can do your own, buy the individual ACTIVE ingredients for a fraction of the cost, have your forage analysed so you are feeding what they actually need to that concentration rather than blanket supplementing (about as effective as blanket worming)

Some of us dont feed sugar beet et al precisely because it isnt good for our horses. We dont feed a commercial brand of feed because you are feeding a lot of rubbish to get the small amount of goodness into them.

It just makes more financial and horse health sense to me!


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## Razzle Dazzle (3 January 2012)

lauraandjack said:



			Works for my ned, and I'm not a great believer in supplements.  But without the haylage balancer he is prone to cowpatty poo, especially when the bale changes.  But on haylage balancer he is much better (except on hunting days when the excitement takes over!).

To all those who slag off the "fillers and binders" in supplements, the manufacturers do actually need to put some things that taste nice in them to make horses actually eat it!  Most "raw" chemicals that you supplement puritans wax lyrical about e.g. magnesium oxide etc taste absolutely vile, a good majority of horses need the taste of these disguised in order for them to eat it!

Oh, and most animal feeds are composed of cereal by-products anyway, take sugar beet as a prime example.

And "ash" is NOT an ingredient, it is a statutory declaration of the inorganic mineral content of a feedstuff, i.e. what is left after a certain weight of it has been incinerated.  It's very misleading that feed manufacturers are obliged to state this on the label as the misinformed public assume it is an ingredient.
		
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...ha, ha, ha - at the end of the day, if they've got the squits, they need a binder of sorts!  And yes, I know, brewers yeast works (I've tried it) but not for all.


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## lauraandjack (3 January 2012)

I'm on a livery yard, and haylage is included.  We only have storage space for a small amount of bedding.

TBH, it's so hard to find decent quality hay, most of it is absolute $h!te that is barely fit for feeding to cattle.  I don't have land, so making my own is not an option, and the ned looks good and is happy eating haylage, just gets a little loose from time to time.

Good luck to you those of you who have the time and money to go sourcing gold plated pure ingredients for your dobbins, and growing organic super perfect hay, but I work long hours and have precious little time to spend with my nag as it is.  So if I can buy a supplement in a tub that works for him and me, I will, thanks!


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## Razzle Dazzle (3 January 2012)

TigerTail said:



			Why do you guys feed haylage when it upsets your horses stomachs? Whats wrong with good old hay??

My point about supplements is that with a little research you can do your own, buy the individual ACTIVE ingredients for a fraction of the cost, have your forage analysed so you are feeding what they actually need to that concentration rather than blanket supplementing (about as effective as blanket worming)

Some of us dont feed sugar beet et al precisely because it isnt good for our horses. We dont feed a commercial brand of feed because you are feeding a lot of rubbish to get the small amount of goodness into them.

It just makes more financial and horse health sense to me!
		
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As I said before, I was on good quality hay but it was priced out of my reach and can't get it now in my locality.  Knowing my boy doesn't 'do' haylage, I actually invested in over £500's worth of what looked like fabulous hay ...turned out to be fab on the outside but crappy on the inside and ended up loosing out on it selling it for cattle feed!  So, yes, I do know the value and prefer good quality hay but if you can't get it, you can't get it.


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## Pearlsasinger (3 January 2012)

Magnetic Sparrow said:



			I tried NAF haylage balancer when my two got a bit squitty when they changed onto haylage. Didn't touch the squittyness, but the gelding, who is sensitive to haylage and can get virtually unrideable if I get the feeding levels wrong, seemed a great deal more even-tempered even when I upped the haylage ration. Bless him, he loves haylage - it's his all-time favourite food, but I fear for my life if I give him too much normally.
		
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Interestingly, we gave our 3 mares Haylage Balancer when I couldn't get Pink Powder just before Christmas.  One didn't like the taste but ate it eventually.  She certainly needs something, her stable looks as though a cow has been in there otherwise.  We can't get good quality hay from a reliable source, so they have to have haylage.
All 3 grew anxious, the ridden pair got sillier and sillier when hacking and the retired cob  started banging the door at feed time (unheard of).
I posted on here (where were you all?) and stopped feeding the HB.  The rest of the week, they spent rubbing and chewing at themselves, obviously itchy and generally not quite themselves.   Thinking about it some of the symptoms started when they were on PP.  The trouble is Westphalian's stable looks like the cow-house again!


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## soloequestrian (3 January 2012)

My mare had projectile liquid poo - NAF made not a blind bit of difference to her.  I got some haylage produced by a friend for his own horses, using no additives, and she is now fine.  I had tried two commercial suppliers and both lots gave her the mega-squits, so I'm pretty convinced it was the additives causing problems.
I use haylage because good hay is virtually impossible to find and I can store haylage bales outside.


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## Razzle Dazzle (3 January 2012)

Pearlsacarolsinger said:



			Interestingly, we gave our 3 mares Haylage Balancer when I couldn't get Pink Powder just before Christmas.  One didn't like the taste but ate it eventually.  She certainly needs something, her stable looks as though a cow has been in there otherwise.  We can't get good quality hay from a reliable source, so they have to have haylage.
All 3 grew anxious, the ridden pair got sillier and sillier when hacking and the retired cob  started banging the door at feed time (unheard of).
I posted on here (where were you all?) and stopped feeding the HB.  The rest of the week, they spent rubbing and chewing at themselves, obviously itchy and generally not quite themselves.   Thinking about it some of the symptoms started when they were on PP.  The trouble is Westphalian's stable looks like the cow-house again!
		
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...sorry, I've only just registered and it's only because I'm working late (home office) that I'm catching these.  But I wonder if it's worth you asking your supplier for 'dry' haylage?  I do and it's not the lovely, juicy sweet stuff you'd normally get (not that he'd not love that!) but he just can't have it.  But it definately makes a small degree of difference and worth a try.


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## Zebedee (3 January 2012)

TigerTail said:



			Why do you guys feed haylage when it upsets your horses stomachs? Whats wrong with good old hay??
		
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I have eight horses & limited barn space, so haylage (made as dry as possible with no additives) is our only option.




			My point about supplements is that with a little research you can do your own, buy the individual ACTIVE ingredients for a fraction of the cost, have your forage analysed so you are feeding what they actually need to that concentration rather than blanket supplementing (about as effective as blanket worming)
		
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I don't have the time to try & reproduce the work of the experts. I have found a product that works for my old mare & I'm not about to use her as some kind of guinea pig while I fanny around trying to find a homemade version that works as well.




			Some of us dont feed sugar beet et al precisely because it isnt good for our horses. We dont feed a commercial brand of feed because you are feeding a lot of rubbish to get the small amount of goodness into them.

It just makes more financial and horse health sense to me!
		
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I feed whatever works for each individual horse & what they're fed in terms of hard food depends on the level of work they're in as well as the type of horse.For instance the sharp 3yr old doesn't get what the 11yr old shire cross gets !


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## chestnut cob (3 January 2012)

Isn't it basically Yea Sacc?  Which you can get an awful lot cheaper elsewhere and feed more of it!


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## Pearlsasinger (3 January 2012)

Razzle Dazzle said:



			...sorry, I've only just registered and it's only because I'm working late (home office) that I'm catching these.  But I wonder if it's worth you asking your supplier for 'dry' haylage?  I do and it's not the lovely, juicy sweet stuff you'd normally get (not that he'd not love that!) but he just can't have it.  But it definately makes a small degree of difference and worth a try.
		
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Yes the first question he asked us was 'would you prefer 'dry' haylage?.  Unfortunately the Westphalian would be much better on hay but it just isn't possible.  The other 2 were a bit runny when we first changed to haylage but seem to be ok without the balancer/pp now that they have become accustomed to the haylage.  I think we'll have to try Brewer's yeast for her.


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## Razzle Dazzle (3 January 2012)

Pearlsacarolsinger said:



			Yes the first question he asked us was 'would you prefer 'dry' haylage?.  Unfortunately the Westphalian would be much better on hay but it just isn't possible.  The other 2 were a bit runny when we first changed to haylage but seem to be ok without the balancer/pp now that they have become accustomed to the haylage.  I think we'll have to try Brewer's yeast for her.
		
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...oh geez, I know exactly what you mean!  I'd give my hind teeth to find some decent hay in my area but it's just not doable unless I want to pay £50 a bale and I just can't afford that ...he's a big lad and goes through a lot.  But I had him on Brewers Yeast last year and though, yes, it definately did work and, yes, it's an awful lot cheaper, I couldn't take him off it at all or reduce the volume wheras I can with Haylage Balancer.  The tiny scoop he's getting of that is minimal and it's working so well.  But if it's good for my lad's tummy and it doesn't do harm, then I'll use it and if that means spending a couple of extra pounds then, to me, it's worthwhile.


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## Pearlsasinger (3 January 2012)

It just seems odd to me that all 3 of ours had a bad reaction to the HB.  The Westphalian has 2 bare patches on her neck where she has rubbed, and their anxiety levels were unbelievable.  The retired cob, who is usually quite pleased to see the back of them was calling to the ridden pair as we set off, banging the stable door at feed time and just generally less laid back than normal.  We've had her 20 yrs and never seen her like that before.  The Westphalian is completely unflappable but was threatening to canter up the road last week.  I think her unshod feet were feeling very sensitive as we trotted through puddles.


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## coss (3 January 2012)

Pearlsacarolsinger said:



			It just seems odd to me that all 3 of ours had a bad reaction to the HB.  The Westphalian has 2 bare patches on her neck where she has rubbed, and their anxiety levels were unbelievable.  The retired cob, who is usually quite pleased to see the back of them was calling to the ridden pair as we set off, banging the stable door at feed time and just generally less laid back than normal.  We've had her 20 yrs and never seen her like that before.  The Westphalian is completely unflappable but was threatening to canter up the road last week.  I think her unshod feet were feeling very sensitive as we trotted through puddles.
		
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this is the sort of reaction i had with NAF seaweed - sensitivity really heightened and feeling their feet


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