Why Feed A Balancer?
1. THE IMPORTANCE OF A BALANCED DIET
While it may appear that your horse or pony is thriving on grass, hay, or haylage alone, these forages often don’t supply all the necessary micronutrients that your horse requires for health, immune function, and performance longevity. This is where a balancer comes in. Balancers are specifically designed to fill in the nutritional gaps, without providing excess energy (calories).
2. WHAT IS A BALANCER?
Balancers, as the name suggests are designed to balance a horse or pony’s ration nutritionally in terms of vitamins, minerals, protein, and sometimes energy. Balancers are more concentrated in micronutrients and protein than a fully fortified mix or cube feed, meaning they can be fed in much smaller quantities, but still meet nutrient requirements.
Fully fortified: When we refer to a feed being ‘fully fortified’, this means that the feed has added vitamins and minerals, so that when fed at the recommended rate, all micronutrient requirements should be met.
When to use a balancer?
- If your horse maintains body fat well on a forage-only diet.
- If your horse is fed less than the recommended amount of a fortified feed, a balancer can be used instead, or alongside the feed to top up their nutrients.
- Your horse becomes unmanageable when fed traditional coarse mixes or cubes; To meet micronutrient requirements and allow for more emphasis from alternative fibre sources for energy
- You are feeding a diet of straights or any feed that is not fully fortified with vitamins and minerals.
- If your horse has a low appetite and won’t finish larger meals.
3. HOW DO I KNOW IF MY HORSE'S DIET IS NOT SUPPLYING ENOUGH NUTRIENTS?
Whilst most horses will tolerate deficiencies or an excess intake of some nutrients well, there are some ‘tell-tale’ signs that your horse is perhaps not receiving a balanced ration. For example:
- Poor hoof and coat condition
- Poor muscle tone / weakness
- Poor performance
- Reduced immune function
Avoiding deficiencies or excess intake of nutrients can be managed through following recommended feeding guidelines for your horse's body weight and condition.
Consulting with an equine nutritionist can help to ensure that you are feeding a suitable ration for your horses' individual requirements, and if required, analysing your forage can help to identify any major gaps in your horse’s nutrient intake.
4. HOW TO USE A BALANCER
Like all feeds, balancers should be introduced gradually into the diet over a period of 7 - 10 days, to allow the digestive tract to adapt and reduce the risk of hindgut disturbance. They can be mixed with a chaff to help increase chew time, slowing down the rate at which they eat and increasing saliva production that acts as a natural buffer to acid in the stomach and hindgut. Feed balancers are designed to be fed in small quantities as they are very nutrient dense. It is important to ensure you are feeding the correct feeding rate of your balancer to provide a fully balanced ration. Some feeding rates for balancers do differ so it is especially important to double check and not just assume.
Why feed a balancer over a vitamin and mineral supplement?
In many cases, the main difference between a powdered vitamin and mineral supplement and a balancer is the supply of quality protein sources and consequently essential amino acids. Essential amino acids must be supplied to the horse through their diet, as they cannot produce or synthesise them by themselves. Quality protein sources in balancers will help to support a variety of functions, including the development of muscle tone and topline, strong healthy hooves and good coat and skin health. In addition, balancers can be offered as a ‘complete,’ feed, meaning that no additional concentrates may be required (apart from chaff for increased chew time). Powdered vitamin and mineral supplements will also require a carrier, such as chaff or a small amount of beet pulp, for example.
5. BALANCER MYTHBUSTING
True or False: A balancer can be used as a ‘conditioning’ feed.
False – A balancer is highly unlikely to add a sufficient intake of calories to encourage weight gain. Most balancers are formulated to be low intake and low in calories (energy). Whilst balancers will support muscle tone alongside a suitable exercise regime, they typically will not support weight gain in terms of body fat.
Balancers and the 10% rule for metabolic conditions
When following laminitic diet guidelines that recommend less than 10% sugar and starch, it's important to understand that this refers to the diet as a whole, not just the percentage listed on the back of the feed bag. Balancers are fed in small quantities, typically 100-500g per day, compared to the larger intake of forage such as hay or grass, which makes up the majority of the horse's diet. Even if a balancer lists a higher percentage of sugar and starch than 10%, the total contribution to the overall diet is minimal due to the small feeding rate. Therefore, the focus should be on testing and managing the sugar and starch levels of the primary forage source while using balancers appropriately to meet nutritional needs without exceeding dietary restrictions.
6. Choosing a balancer according to requirements
Download our free Exercise Tracker, it is the perfect way to monitor your horse's activity levels and helps our nutrition team provide accurate feeding advice.
Body Fat Scoring Made Simple: Maintaining the right body condition is essential for your horse's overall health and wellbeing. Use this guide to regularly assess your horse's body condition. Click the link below to download your own Body Fat Scoring Chart:
Did you know: All Saracen balancers are suitable for horses that require a low starch, low sugar ration due to issues such as being ulcer prone, having metabolic conditions or muscle myopathies.
Essential Balancer: Low calorie, Everyday Balancer
ESSENTIAL BALANCER is low in sugar, starch and calories, so is suitable for horses and ponies that are ‘good doers’, and those that have plenty of natural energy. Dense in vitamins, minerals and quality protein sources, Essential Balancer helps to maintain muscle tone and topline as well as supporting optimum health and immune function.
SHAPE-UP™: SUITABLE FOR THOSE AT RISK OF METABOLIC ISSUES
SHAPE-UP™ is a low starch, low sugar, high fibre mix designed to provide a balanced diet at low intake levels and to help maintain a normal, healthy metabolism. This whole-cereal free ration has been designed to give a minimal glycaemic response post-feeding when fed in small quantities, and the low feeding rate makes it ideal for good doers, as well as horses that may be prone to excitable or anxious behaviours. SHAPE-UP™ can also be used as a calorie-controlled ration for those with an increased risk of metabolic disorders to meet micronutrient requirements whilst maintaining a low starch, sugar and calorie intake.
Competition-Fit Balancer: Balance, performance and suitable for horses with ulcers
COMPETITION-FIT BALANCER is unlike many other balancers on the market as it is in mix form and has a small cereal inclusion to provide some instant energy and ‘sparkle’ when needed during work periods, as well as an elevated oil inclusion to support optimal stamina levels. It provides an excellent source of quality protein to support muscle tone and function as well as encouraging topline development. It also contains a unique marine derived Acid Buf, as well as a yeast culture to help support and maintain healthy fore and hindgut microbial activity, resulting in maximum utilisation of hard feed and forage through optimal fibre digestion.
Veteran Balancer: Low Calorie, Low Glycemic, Palatable Mix
VETERAN BALANCER is a highly appetising muesli ration ideal for senior horses and ponies that are leading active and even competitive lives, whose weight needs to be managed. This fully balanced, nutrient dense ration is formulated to maintain optimum health, wellbeing and continued zest for life. This appetising malted flavoured balancer includes Palatability Plus (P+) taste technology, which is designed to encourage even the fussiest of feeders. Saracen Horse Feeds Palatability Plus (P+) is a unique seasoning formulated to maintain high levels of taste to support appetite and help maintain nutritional intake. Veteran Balancer benefits from a unique plant-based coating that provides a low glycaemic response, to support more consistent blood glucose levels after feeding.
Stamm 30: Elevated Protein, Performance and Stud Balancer
Stamm 30® is a nutrient dense source of quality protein, vitamins and minerals. Stamm 30® contains a higher level of quality protein than traditional pelleted balancers which will help with muscle and topline development. Elevated levels of antioxidants (Vitamin E and Selenium) are included to support immune function, which is beneficial for horses who are travelling frequently. Stamm 30® also contains a yeast culture that ensures optimum microbial activity, enhancing fibre digestion and utilisation of the feed. Studies conducted at Kentucky Equine Research demonstrated that BMC®, which is included in Stamm 30® supports the gastrointestinal health of horses, as it buffers excessive acid in the stomach and hindgut.
7. Two-part feeding system
Finding the correct balance between condition, power and performance can be tricky, especially for good doers or those with excitable temperaments. One option for these types of horses is a two-part feeding system which involves pairing one of our balancers with our performance feeds to create an optimum balance. Providing flexibility in feeding ensures that you can maintain a controllable temperament whilst using readily available energy to give you the extra oomph or sparkle needed, as well as allowing control and flexibility over the calorie level of their ration. There are two main ways a two-part system can be used:
Half and Half
Some horses do not require the full feeding rate of a traditional mix or cube from a calorie perspective; however, they require more calories than a balancer alone would provide.
For horses who have this requirement, we recommend giving half the feeding rate of their mix/cubes and then topping up their nutrient intake with half the feeding rate of a balancer. Overall, this provides a fully balanced ration whilst controlling calories. This also allows flexibility on their calorie intake depending on their weight and condition as you can increase/decrease the feeds depending on if they require more or less calories.
For example, a 600kg horse could be fed (per day):
300g Essential Balancer
1-2 scoops chaff
Targeted increase in energy with strict calorie control
Some horses are good doers who do not require additional calories on a daily basis, however, do require an additional energy boost on competition/ days of harder work. In these cases, we use a targeted increase of energy.
This involves feeding the full recommended amount of a balancer, such as Competition-Fit-Balancer, alongside a small amount, such as 500g, of a higher energy feed, for example, Competition-Fit-Mix, daily. The quantity of the Competition-Fit-Mix is then increased the night before and morning of the day of your competition (or day you require extra energy). The amount the higher energy feed is increased by will depend on each individual horse and how much extra energy is required, it may be by another cup full, or it may be half a scoop. It may take a little trial and error to work out what quantity is best for your horse. As a small amount of the higher energy feed is being fed every day, when the amount is increased, the digestive system is already used to digesting those ingredients so it can digest and utilise the ingredients for extra energy rather than just store them as fat.
For example, a 600kg horse could be fed (per day):
500g Competition-Fit-Mix
1-2 scoops chaff
And then the night before/ morning of competition, he could be fed:
1.3kg Competition-Fit-Mix (approximately 1 round stubbs scoop)
1-2 scoops chaff
Conclusion
Providing your horse with balanced nutrition is essential for their health, performance, and well-being. Feed balancers play a vital role in filling the nutritional gaps left by forage-based diets, offering essential vitamins, minerals, and other beneficial nutrients without the calories typically supplied by a traditional mix or cube. By understanding your horse's specific dietary needs, you can strike the perfect nutritional balance, supporting your horse's overall health whatever their age or work level.