Feed balancers help to provide a more natural diet
The demand for feed balancers reflects a greater understanding of nutrition and gut health. We’re all aware of the importance of providing a more natural, high-fibre diet. Fibregenix feed balancers do much to support this way of feeding. They do this by promoting good hind-gut function through the inclusion of ingredients such as yeast cultures.
Although we all talk about providing a balanced diet, there’s always an element of guesswork involved in feeding horses. How many of you have grazing or hay analysed? Do you weigh every feed or haynet? How do you know how much your horse has eaten during his day in the field?
Fibregenix feed balancers – a simple solution
Fibregenix feed balancers are ideal for the modern horse owner because they can provide a simple solution to many common problems.
Their combination of concentrated key nutrients means you don’t need to add further supplements. Furthermore, a small amount offers maximum feed utilisation and fibre digestion. This means that these products do several jobs at once and can save time and money.
Which feed balancer should I feed my horse?
Despite their popularity, many of us are still confused about feed balancers. They are easily confused with horse and pony pellets or compound mixes. Of course, they’re neither – although seen as supplementary feedstuffs, they are in a category all of their own.
Fibregenix balancers are low in calories and provide essential nutrients, but not energy. They’re an especially convenient and effective means of feeding horses at maintenance or light work where they balance a high-fibre diet. Additional energy sources eg straights or compound feeds can be added alongside them if your horse is in harder work.
Be mindful of recommended daily feeding levels
Many people rely on estimation when it comes to feeding their horses. So a few grams over or under the recommended daily feeding levels can soon mount up.
Take the horse owner who feeds a compound feed plus a feed balancer. They then throw in a broad spectrum vitamin-mineral supplement or a vitamin E and selenium supplement for good measure. This person certainly doesn’t sit down and calculate the amount of selenium his horse is getting.
It’s easy to give our horses too many nutrients by feeding such a mixture of products. And with supplements, it’s not always the case that more is better. Of course, some surplus nutrients will simply be excreted from the body. But others, eg selenium and vitamins A and D, can cause toxicity problems if fed in excess.
Therefore it’s important to understand what you are feeding when considering a combination of nutritional supplements, compound feeds and feed balancers. This is particularly relevant if the horse is in harder work.
These horses are traditionally more likely to be on a high level of compound feed along with a feed balancer. Sometimes they may also be given an additional feed supplement. At Fibregenix, we’re mindful of the potential problems that such horses face. Therefore we formulate our feed balancers with a margin of safety in key nutritional areas.
Opting for the highest possible specification of feed, then adding other ready-balanced feeds and vitamin and mineral supplements isn’t a good idea. this is because you could push the horse’s nutritional balance over the edge, potentially causing toxicity.
Fibregenix Feed Balancers help to keep things simple
Barrel racer horse fuelled with Fibregenix
It’s all too easy to jump on the latest bandwagon or feed the most attractive product. As horse owners, we obviously want to feel that we’re doing the best for our horses. However, by adding various ingredients to the ration, we’re often fulfilling our own need, but not necessarily that of our horse.
Feeding should be about keeping it simple, which is why Fibregenix feed balancers are such a wonderful concept. They offer a wide range of benefits in a single, concentrated pellet. And, for the horse in light to medium work, can simply be added to the basic forage diet.
For horses in harder work, a Fibregenix feed balancer can also be a key ingredient. Working horses tend to be on higher levels of cereal feed. Coupled with facing the stress of training, travelling and competing, these scenarios can adversely affect the digestive system.
Choosing a Fibregenix feed balancer containing both prebiotics and yeast cultures can help support a healthy digestive tract. This enables your horse to take more out of his diet, so less hard feed can be given without compromising performance.
Fibregenix‘s Platinum Pro performance balancer is specifically formulated for the fit performance horse. It contain nutrients aimed at enhancing fitness and stamina, as well as speeding recovery rates after exertion.
Do horses need a Fibregenix feed balancer?
Our advice to horse owners is to keep their horse’s feeding programmes as simple as possible. Stay with a regime that suits you and your horse.
Many problems arise from over feeding, so you must regard your horse as an individual. Try firstly to fulfil his basic needs for a high-fibre diet, plus high quality vitamins and minerals. Then you can always add an extra source of energy if he requires it for work or weight gain.
Overview of a Fibregenix feed balancer for your horse
- Our balancers aim to ‘balance’ the entire dietary ration by complementing less-nutritious elements.
- They are versatile, and address many common nutrition problems in one step by providing a range of essential nutrients.
- They create optimum conditions for an efficient digestive system.
- Our feed balancers are designed to enable the horse to utilise the various elements of the diet. This means owners can feed fewer concentrates which puts less strain on the horse’s digestive tract.
- Certain vitamin and minerals can, if fed in excess, cause toxicity. Our high-quality feed balancers fed at the recommended inclusion rate negates the need for extra supplementation.
