During their evolution horses grazed for about sixteen hours a day on a pure roughage diet. Left to their own devices they still do so today. Their digestive systems are therefore suited to little and often feeding and the best feeding programmes are based on this principle. Unfortunately the pressures of modern life often make it hard to give horses frequent small feeds and many problems occur when horses are fed large quantities of cereal-based feeds.
TopSpec Feed Balancers contain concentrated amounts of nutrients in a small amount of feed, allowing more forage to be fed throughout the day, creating a more natural way of feeding that is in harmony with the horse’s digestive system.
Whether you need a feed balancer to form the base of a larger feed for e.g. a performance horse, or a balancer to feed alone to e.g. a native pony, then one of TopSpec’s Feed Balancers will provide the perfect solution.
A very flexible feed
TopSpec Feed Balancers are very flexible tools that you can use in lots of different ways to improve the way you feed your horses. Ideally they should be used as a base feed (balancing forage, straights and/or blends) with any additional calories required added in a form to suit the individual horse.
A brief guide to some of the ways of using TopSpec follows, but every case is different so please feel free to call our friendly but experienced nutritionists on our Award-Winning Helpline for advice tailored to the needs of your own horse.
To improve performance
If your horse is carrying sufficient condition then substitute the recommended rate of TopSpec Comprehensive Feed Balancer for twice that weight of cereals or compound feed initially. After approximately four to six weeks you will find that you need to start cutting the rest of the hard feed back.
Eventually, on average, hard feed intake will be reduced by twenty five percent. This figure varies enormously between individuals and depending on the circumstances.
To improve a ‘fizzy’ temperament or help horses cope with stress
Incorporating TopSpec Feed Balancers and Cool Blends into their diets has helped thousands of horses to calm down. Different horses ‘fizz’ for different reasons and our nutritionists are very happy to help you adjust the overall diet and management to reduce or eliminate this problem.
Initial advice will centre on feeding TopSpec Comprehensive Feed Balancer / LeisureTime Feed Balancer / Lite Feed Balancer instead of twice its weight of cereal or compound feed and feeding a diet that is low in sugars and starch but this is a complex subject, which is best dealt with on an individual basis. In some cases the use of TopSpec Calmer will be recommended
To increase condition, muscle development and topline.
Initially TopSpec Comprehensive Feed Balancer / LeisureTime Feed Balancer / Senior
Feed Balancer / Stud Feed Balancer should be added to the existing feed (as approved or amended by our nutritionists) but eventually, as the benefits of improved feed utilisation become apparent, it will probably become necessary to reduce feed intake (as described under ‘to improve performance’). When trying to achieve muscle development we find that certain other products, for example TopSpec CoolCondition Cubes or TopSpec Super Conditioning Flakes or TopChop Alfalfa, complement TopSpec Feed Balancers very well.
To improve hoof quality
Simply feed the recommended rate of TopSpec Comprehensive Feed Balancer / Lite Feed Balancer / Stud Feed Balancer daily. In three months time you will be able to see about one inch of much improved hoof quality below the coronet, and in nine to twelve months time the entire hoof will be transformed. Virtually all the cracks and crumbly horn will have grown out leaving supple, strong horn for your farrier to work with.
To improve the quality of life for the elderly
TopSpec Senior Feed Balancer, if your horse is losing mobility, or Comprehensive Feed Balancer, if he is not, should be added to the existing feed (as approved or amended by our nutritionists) and care taken to maintain fibre intake.
To help broodmares
During the winter TopSpec Stud Feed Balancer with TopChop Alfalfa is a superb basis around which to feed broodmares. If extra condition is required top up with TopSpec Super Conditioning Flakes or TopSpec CoolCondition Cubes.
In the summer, when grass is plentiful, TopSpec Stud Feed Balancer can be fed on its own to provide essential vitamins and minerals, in a very palatable form, without oversupplying calories. Alternative balancers/supplements are suitable in some situations; please call our Award-Winning Helpline for advice.
To give youngstock the best possible start in life
TopSpec Stud Feed Balancer can be used very successfully as a creep feed for foals at any stage from three weeks of age. It is very palatable and the small pellets are easily chewed and digested. Offer it on its own in very small amounts, building up gradually to the recommended rate. To make the feed balancer more attractive initially it sometimes helps to offer a handful of TopSpec Super Conditioning Flakes with it, but as you increase the balancer quantity do not increase the flakes unless more condition is required.
After weaning, a diet based on TopSpec Stud Feed Balancer and TopChop Alfalfa is a very successful way to rear youngstock, with TopSpec CoolCondition Cubes or TopSpec Super Conditioning Flakes added where more condition or faster, but even, growth rates are required. However there are many alternative solutions, please call our Award-Winning Helpline for advice.
To help Good-Doers and to help the overweight slim down safely
TopSpec Comprehensive Feed Balancer or LeisureTime Feed Balancer fed alone with forage help Good-Doers by providing all the vital micronutrients plus protein needed to balance their diet in a small amount of feed. However, sometimes every calorie counts and TopSpec Lite Feed Balancer is the ultimate low calorie balancer which will help the overweight slim down safely and Very Good-Doers to keep their weight under control. Feed Lite alone with restricted grazing and/or soaked hay.
To help recovery rates in convalescents
TopSpec LeisureTime Feed Balancer, fed alone, with hay or high-fibre haylage as a forage source, enables horses and ponies to be kept on a high forage/very low concentrate diet. This is essential when on box rest, because maintaining protein and micronutrient intake is vital for tissue repair and maintenance but intake of calories in the form of sugars and starch must be minimized to avoid problems with metabolism and temperament.
Quantities to be fed
Most TopSpec Feed Balancers should be fed at a rate of 100g balancer/100kg bodyweight daily. The following table will help you to decide how much to feed to your horses or ponies. (As a guide a half-pint mug holds approximately 200g of any TopSpec Feed Balancer). Free measures are available from all stockists. Please refer to the sack or to our Helpline for feeding rates of TopSpec Stud Feed Balancer.
Horse/pony weight(kgs)
|
Typical height |
Type |
Recommended daily rate |
| 250 |
10-12hh
Small pony |
Small pony Shetland, Dartmoor, Welsh Sec A |
250g
|
| 375 |
12.2-14.2hh
Pony
|
Connemara, New
Forest, Fell,
Welsh Sec B and C, Show Hunter Pony |
375g
|
500
|
15-16hh
Horse
|
Thoroughbred,
Thoroughbred X, Arab, Arab X, Welsh Cob, Connemara X, Eventer |
500g |
| 625 |
16.2-17.2hh
Large horse
|
Large horse Thoroughbred X, Warmblood,
Sportshorse |
625g |
Definitions
‘Non-Heating’. We use this term to indicate which of our products will not promote excitable behaviour in a horse.
‘Non-GM’ formula. Only fully-traceable ingredients from non-genetically modified crops are used in all TopSpec products.
• Offer ample forage
Long fibre and chops (e.g. TopChop) provide hours of contentment
• Provide a TopSpec Feed Balancer daily
They can be fed on their own or as a foundation feed
• If necessary, top up with some extra calories
Use a form suitable for your horse’s condition, workload and temperament
e.g. TopChop Alfalfa, TopSpec CoolCondition Cubes or TopSpec Super Conditioning Flakes and/or unmolassed sugar beet.
Over a period of time feeding with TopSpec will dramatically reduce the requirement for hard feed.
• Do not add supplements
In most circumstances the provision of several top-specification supplements within TopSpec Comprehensive Feed Balancer eliminates the need for any further supplementation. For horses requiring simply a
broad-spectrum supplement then TopSpec LeisureTime Feed Balancer or Lite Feed Balancer will be more appropriate.
Enjoying a canter on healthy, contented and calm horses
|
• As with all new feeds TopSpec products should always be introduced gradually over a period of four days, starting with approximately one quarter of the amount you intend to feed by day four. TopSpec feed balancers can be fed with forage alone or with your choice of straights/blends and/or compound feeds.
• TopSpec Comprehensive Feed Balancer contains our top-of-the-range supplement, TopSpec Comprehensive, and therefore there is no need to add any further vitamin or trace-element supplements to the horse’s ration. Should you wish to add any specific supplements or additives please call our Award-Winning Helpline to check that no imbalance or over supplementation will occur.
• We are frequently asked if garlic can be fed with TopSpec, and the answer is yes, any purely herbal supplement is fine.
• The diet of sweating horses must be supplemented with additional salt. Common salt is recommended on a daily basis. However following, but not prior to, heavy sweating e.g. following competition, we recommend electrolyte mixtures instead of pure salt. |
