Fibregenix Frequently Asked Questions

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All horses are different and it depends on what condition your horse is in to begin with, however you should start to see a difference before the end of the first bag.

Horses have evolved as grazing animals feeding for up to 16 hours plus a day.  They didn’t evolve to digest infrequent, large cereal-based meals which can bring about problems such as ulcers, colic, stereotypical behaviour, poor digestive health etc.  A high fibre/forage diet will always keep your horse happier from the inside out, and suit his digestive system much better.

A Fibregenix ration balancer supplement alongside forage or reduced levels of hard feed works beautifully, with the balancer providing a valuable top up of missing essential nutrients. Good-doers are more problematic as all too often they need a restricted diet, so they can end up deficient in several key areas of essential nutrients. This is where Lami Low-Cal brings its benefits.  You’ll be able to feed the recommended amount of Lami Low-Cal alongside a forage of lower nutritional value to ensure a balanced diet and healthy horse without encouraging weight gain.

Ultimately, the more fibre in the diet, the happier your horse’s  digestive system will be resulting in a happy, settled horse, which in turn means good performance.

Whatever the bodyweight is, round up to the nearest 50g. So if you have a horse that weighs say 420kg, round it up so that he is being fed 450g per day.  This will ensure that he is getting the right amount of everything.  This is particularly important if the weight has been established using a weigh tape, as these can often underestimate bodyweight by several kg.

Absolutely! The smaller the feeds the better for the horse, so if your balancer can be split that’s great, but as it’s only a small amount anyway it is quite safe to feed it in one meal if absolutely necessary.

If you need to swap from one Fibregenix balancer to another, this can usually be done over 3-4 days, as the appearance of the product is pretty much the same, it’s just the nutritional make-up that is different, and hence 3-4 days is usually adequate.  With a particularly sensitive horse, we’d advise increasing the balancer to balancer swap to 7-10 days.

Fibre will include hay, chaff, beet pulp, products like Maxisoy, fibre cubes etc – there are many fibre feeds available on the market.  The choice is yours, but try and keep it simple with as few products as possible in the diet.  Less is more!  Remember you may be paying extra for a fortified fibre product ie which contains added vitamins and minerals that is unnecessary when on Fibregemix and straight fibre.

It looks such a small amount compared to the couple of kilos of hard feed I’ve been feeding, is it really enough?

Remember Fibregenix is a balancer supplement, not a hard feed.  It is nutrient dense and concentrated. It may not look like much, but it packs a mighty punch! If your fibre levels and quality is good then it should suffice but again consult us to ensure digestible energy levels are being sufficiently met or if you are concerned in any way.

While you’re introducing Fibregenix over the 7-10 days introductory period, we suggest making any changes gradually so you can monitor any weight changes. In a healthy horse at maintenance or light work, there should be no change in weight because of the high levels of probiotic in Fibregenix which enable a horse to get more out of his fibre feeds. However, you may need to increase the level of his fibre intake, again assess on an individual basis.  If your horse is in hard work then you can’t just take everything out of the diet and start feeding just fibre and the balancer, the digestible energy required for work needs to be replaced gradually with other suitable fibre based products and smaller amounts of hard feed and/or oil.  The key is to maintain the correct level of digestible energy in the diet.  You can contact us for dietary advice in this respect. Supplements should also be phased out gradually in the first week of introducing Fibregenix.  Remember, make all changes to your horse’s diet a gradual thing – no sudden surprises!

Although horses are essentially fibre fermenters, they can of course digest starch, just not in huge quantities at one time.  Recent research has found that no more than 1g per 1kg of bodyweight in starch should be fed at any one meal for sensitive horses, albeit other research has suggested 2g per kg of bodyweight.  If you are unable to adopt this practice and are concerned about providing your horse with enough energy for his work – try replacing some of that grain/hard feed with Fibregenix Platinum Pro ration balancer supplement and adding in a calorie dense feed such as oil or feeding a low starch grain such as lupins, or adding in some super fibres such as beet pulp.  Too much starch in one meal can cause a multitude of problems. From gas colic to ulcers to hot and fizzy behavior, toxicity in the hindgut leading to laminitis, etc etc

If you have a horse in hard work/competition and you are currently feeding the daily recommended amount of a processed hard feed, once Fibregenix Platinum Pro is introduced you should be able to gradually reduce hard feed by at least half as the approved probiotic in Pro will enable him improve his nutrient yield from the fibre in his diet. You can then substitute that portion of hard feed with things such as beet pulp, linseed oil or lupins.

Pro has a Digestible Energy of 12.3MJ/kg, so it’s comparable with other medium energy hard feeds but without the whole cereal and molasses component in it. It’s also fed at just 100g per 100kg of bodyweight.  Therefore it’s possible to reduce the amount of hard feed being fed which will cut down on the amount of starch and sugar in the horse’s diet – a ‘win-win’ for your horse’s digestive system.

Alternatively, you can also try feeding a ‘straight’ grain such as oats or micronized barley alongside your fibre and Platinum  Pro to provide fast release energy – often a better option as you can actually see what you are giving your horse and you are feeding one type of cereal only rather than a combination of two or three as seen so often in processed hard feeds. Just be careful with the amount of grain you’re feeding in any one meal.

Platinum Pro is non-heating due to its low starch and sugar content.

Read the labels of that ‘cool’ feed – they may be labelled as ‘oat free’ but they’re all too often still formulated with other cereals.  No feed can be considered ‘cool’ when it contains grains such as barley or maize (corn), even those that are extruded or micronized. Yes, cooking the cereal helps to improve pre-caecal digestion and avoid digestive disturbances, but the energy levels generated could be in excess to requirements leading to either unwanted weight gain or adverse behaviour.  Ultimately, it’s all about helping horses to be fed a more natural diet as nature intended and keeping the digestive system settled.  Horses in light work can utilise energy from volatile fatty acids produced from fibre digestion, so limiting starch in the diet and feeding more fibre is a far healthier option.

Where will my horse get his energy from?

In some instances – yes.  For example if your horse is in light to moderate work then yes, generally he can get his energy/nutritional requirements from his fibre along with a Fibregenix balancer supplement to ensure his diet is balanced. The digestion of fibre produces volatile fatty acids which can be utilized as an energy source and you can also feed additional oil or super fibres such as beet pulp or even legumes such as lupins for additional cool energy/calories if required.

However, all horses and ponies are individuals and some may have greater nutritional requirements than others due to for example a compromised digestive system or having ulcers.  Some may be in intense work  which will require a fast release source of energy from cereals, so your horse should be assessed on an individual basis. Ultimately a wholly fibre diet is preferable and more often than not achievable.  Add in the essential nutrients that Fibregenix will provide and you have the ultimate diet for lower energy requirements.

• When you can’t feed the recommended daily serve because your horse will put too much weight on.
• When you don’t want to feed any hard feed as you prefer your horse to have a more fibre based natural diet.
• When your horse has adverse reactions to any cereal/starch in his diet and again needs a more fibre based diet.
• When your horse struggles with condition no matter how much you feed and he has a compromised digestive system eg ulcers.
• When your feed room is cluttered with gazillions of tubs, pots and packs of different supplements. (Cut the clutter and use a Fibregenix Feed balancer instead!)
• When you are tired of trying to work out whether you are getting it right or wrong and you want feeding and supplementing your horse to be fuss free with peace of mind.
• When you are fed up with spending a fortune on multiple supplements and would prefer to have all your horse’s supplements catered for in one product.
• When you are looking for a great product that is formulated to give the results you want for your horse.

Surely my horse gets all the vitamins and minerals he needs from his current feed and if he is on a vitamin and mineral supplement too?

There are many specific hard feed/complete feed products on the market e.g. veteran mix/performance mix/leisure mix – these will be specially formulated with that type of horse in mind when it comes to essential nutrients i.e. a leisure mix probably won’t contain the same mg per kg of a mineral that a performance mix does. However, if you don’t feed the recommended daily amount as stated on the bag your horse won’t be getting his recommended daily amount of vitamins and minerals and his diet can end up unbalanced when you start second guessing and adding in other sources of vits/mins.  A balancer helps to bridge nutritional gaps by providing nutrients that are going to be easily absorbed and utillised by the horse, rather than providing surpluses which will simply be pee’d or poo’d out or even create potentially toxic levels and unbalanced ratios. Furthermore, a simple vit/min supplement, won’t help when there are condition issues or other digestive problems.

Our balancer supplements contain beneficial levels of specific nutrients geared towards things such as hoof health, coat and skin and digestive health as well as covering the general A to Z bases of vitamins and minerals.  So they’re providing far more than your average vitamin/mineral supplement….

There are other ‘cheaper’ balancers out on the market, what’s so special about Fibregenix?

The form defines the function.  So we include nutrients in forms that are going to be readily available to the horse for maximum benefit. If an ingredient can’t be utilised by the horse, it may as well never have been fed….so make sure whatever balance you use, it ticks all the following boxes…

• 100% whole cereal free and 100% molasses free
• contains a hoof improvement supplement
• contains a correct balance of Omega 3 to Omega 6 from quality sources to support a healthy coat and skin
• contains beneficial levels of antioxidants such as a naturally derived form of vitamin E, a protected form of Vitamin C and bioavailable selenium as selenium yeast
• contains organic chelate minerals as glycinates
• contains beneficial levels of live yeast probiotic, MOS & a FOS Prebiotic. The live yeast probiotic is licensed for use in horses
• contains a Purified Nucleotide supplement?
• There’s a range for different categories of horses eg, laminitic types, performance horses, veterans or everyday horses and ponies
• Has tailored levels of the functional ingredients for different categories of horses
• Is super low in starch and sugar ie below 12%
• contains protein from a highly digestible source rather than a cheap source such as cottonseed meal?

If your current balancer doesn’t tick every box, then your horse is missing out. Not all balancers are created equal.