do you feed a ration balancer?

[Grace67]

And if you do which one are you using for your minis? I have a new gelding who is an extremely easy keeper and doing well on good quality grass hay but I'd like to add a ration balancer to make sure he's getting everything he needs. We have access to Purina, Nutrena and LMF brands here in northern California or I'm thinking of buying a vitamin/mineral supplement to add to some grass pellets once a day along with his hay.

 

[mshasta88]

I do, but my partner buys it and puts it in a bin for me so I couldn't tell you the exact name. I'm sure that is a Purina brand though. Honestly, the only difference I saw in my whole herd was the quality and the strength of my newborn foals. I also saw a weight loss in my very overweight minis, so I'm guessing that it helped balance things out.

 

[Matt73]

I sure do

. Love my Buckeye Gro 'n Win. It's 32% protein (I will sometimes feed the Alfa Gro 'n Win which is 14% if I have a hay with more alfalfa in it). I've been feeding it for 7 years.

 

[susanne]

We are going to switch for the same reason you mentioned. Ours do great on orchard grass, but I want them to get the minerals and balanced nutrients.

I love everything we've tried from LMF, and it is balanced for the NW (in which I include northern California), so that is what we plan on using.

 

[supaspot]

we use Red Mills GrowCare Balancer , its 30% and they only need a very small amount so its more economical than you think , mine are doing well on it

 

[rubyviewminis]

I really liked Enrich 32 for our Q horses and minis. When that became hard to keep a steady supply of, I started them all on Safechoice which they loved and did very well on, but I prefer a balancer and forage. Then Progressive became available for a very reasonable price locally so I put the minis on the concentrated ration balancer Ulitmate in the pink 25 lb bag (hope that is the righ name). They quit supplying it *sigh* so then all were switched over to the new Safechoice Special Care. So far they look wonderful and love it, I have a new feed store franchise I can depend on so we will stick with that. They all get 1 cup 2X daily and the only other thing they get would be Karbo Combo, and the Smart Pak Omegashine mixed with ACV, both of which I swear have stopped the summer sweet itch so far this summer. And their coats are not fading like before in the sun. All very inexpensive since they don't get a large amount and no itchy syndrome so far to worry about.

 

[disneyhorse]

Progressive Nutrition's ProAdvantage is really good, I like that it also supplies protein. It's hard to get down here but worth it.

 

[chandab]

I was feeding the Progressive Nutrition ProAdvantage Grass Formula balancer until last winter when the price shot to $35/bag, and I go through at least 3 bags a month. [And, also had an issue with the consistency of my hay, some bales high in grass, some high in alfalfa.] I switched to an extruded feed that is fed at only slightly higher level than the ration balancer was, and is half the price; I go through 4 bags per month, they love it and are doing great on it. [Currently, also feeding TC Growth to the broodmares and foals.]

 

[disneyhorse]

Chandab, it's $40 a bag here...

 

[Marty]

You do not need any vitamins/minerals with using a ration balancer because that is exactly what it is. You can leave out a salt block however.

I've used Purina Enrich 32 for a long time for my easy keepers. Just a cup two times daily with grass and hay. I quit however because the cost was outrageous.

 

[Leeana]

I fed Buckeye Gro N Win (regular) for years and loved it, It was $32/bag back then and I thought it was reasonable considering how little you fed. I fed it to everything...growin', showin' and breeding horses. As well as some lazy stand in the stall / pasture all day horses too. Only reason I stopped feeding it was as I wanted to be able to feed more grain to my horses vrs just a cup or two. So I toyed with that and ended up switching feeds after about 2 years feeding the gro n win.

Right now I feed a low starch feed by ADM, its called Ultra Fiber and I love it. It is a pellet feed, 13% protein. Everyone looks and feels good on it. I'm going to toy around with what im feeding the weanlings when they are weaned and put up in the barn though...

 

[chandab]

Chandab, it's $40 a bag here...

It might be close to that here now, but I haven't fed it in at least 6 months. I have 12 mini mouths to feed, so it gets pretty expensive, pretty quick.

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

I guess I should quit complaining then. I pay about $23 Canadian for the ration balancer I use. Of course it isn't likely to be available in the US and with the drought affecting crops it might go up... depending on the ingredients and where the manufacturer gets them.

 

[barnbum]

I feed Triple Crown 30. My horses are on dry lots--lots of them. lol There's only one small area of grass left--and only 3/5 get on that for 30-40 min every other day. I feed grass hay, so wanted to make sure their needs were covered. They get 1 tbsp in the morning and 2 in the evening. I added Standlee's alfalfa/timothy pellets with it to give them a bit more to looks forward too. They don't get much of that either. I've never seen my horses shiner than they are now.