Nowadays, horses are increasingly fed according to their natural needs: a lot of forage and little or no concentrate (pellets, grain products). This is indeed much better for the physical and mental health of the horses, but ... most concentrate feeds are not adapted for this. The added vitamin and mineral levels are too low to meet the horse’s needs unless large quantities are fed. This frequently results in deficiencies, even in horses that receive more than enough roughage. This also applies to proteins: horses do not always get all amino acids in the correct proportions.

Feral and wild horses eat many different types of plants: all kinds of grasses, herbs and also parts of trees and shrubs. They roam in a large area with different compositions of soil. This gives them a great wealth of vitamins and minerals, and relatively few daily calories.

Our domestic horses have much less variation in their diet: pastures and hayfields are usually relatively small and restricted to one area. The soil is often intensively worked and fertilized. The land contains only a few grass species and little variation in herbs.

Moreover, our horses have a completely different lifestyle than their wild counterparts. Instead of moving around at a slow pace throughout the day, their daily movement is limited and substituted by   intensive exercise for a few hours a week. Exercise leads to increased metabolism and the production of substances such as free oxygen radicals that can damage the tissues. The need for certain vitamins and minerals is therefore higher. However, for many horses the daily calorie intake from forage is often already (too) high. Especially if we try to feed according to their natural diet and want to let them chew at least 16 hours a day.

Many people turn to supplements to solve this. They can indeed supplement deficiencies without delivering extra calories, but most are tailored to a specific “problem” such as stiffness, nervousness, muscle problems, poor sugar metabolism, ... Therefore, they usually contain a high level of certain substances instead of a balanced composition of all necessary nutrients. In addition, they are often used randomly and not on the basis of a measured deficit in the blood. As a result, they sometimes disturb the balance of the ration even more! The endless amount of available supplements, with their differences in composition, also makes you doubt whether your horse is getting everything he needs.

That is why the concept of a “ration balancer” has been developed. This refers to a pellet that provides a balanced supplement to a natural diet, one that mainly consists of forage. 

Balancers are adapted to the natural needs of a horse. They supplement just those substances the horse cannot get out of its forage. By feeding your horse a forage ration in combination with a good balancer, he will get all the nutrients he needs. The necessary energy, fibre and a large part of his vitamins, minerals and proteins are delivered by the forage. The nutrients he is still lacking, are covered by the balancer.

Some examples:

• Horses in training use more vitamin E then they get from a normal, natural diet.

• Grass contains quite a lot of vitamin E, but hay and silage too little

• The mineral composition of forage is based on the soil on which it has grown. Your forage can thus contain certain minerals in surplus and be deficient in others. Due to a surplus of one mineral, the ratio between different minerals changes, and other minerals are less absorbed by the body. This often exacerbates shortages.

• Forage does not always contain enough essential amino acids. These are the building blocks from which the body’s proteins are made. They are therefore indispensable for muscle development and muscle maintenance, and for the growth of young horses. If certain amino acids are deficient, the body cannot produce enough (muscle) protein, even if the total amount of protein in the diet is sufficient.

For most balancers it means that a combination of vitamins, minerals and one or a few amino acids is made. Some balancers, such as the Este Balancer Extra, are additionally a source of omega-3 fatty acids and contain ingredients that support intestinal health.

For most traditional feeds, manufacturers have calculated the levels in the feed in such a way that you need to feed between 2 and 4 kg per day to reach the correct daily dose of vitamins and minerals. If you feed less than that, or if you feed this amount but feed lean roughage (eg coarse or stemmy hay), then supplementation is probably necessary.

Compared to concentrates, balancers contain much higher levels of vitamins, minerals and essential amino acids. They are therefore intended to be given in smaller amounts, while the horse still gets everything he needs. This makes balancers the food of choice for horses that need few extra calories: horses that work lightly or easy keepers. After getting used to the taste, Este Balancer Extra is happily eaten by most horses and therefore does not need to be mixed with another feed. You can completely avoid feeding extras such as grain.

Ration balancers are not only suitable for the recreational horse, but also for sport horses. They make it easy to feed according to the horse’s needs.

• If a horse needs more energy, you can give more or different roughage. Think of leafy grass hay, but alfalfa or beet pulp are also healthy options. Additionally you can supplement the roughage with, for example, vegetable oil, grain, pellets or muesli

• Horses that need extra protein should be fed protein-rich materials such as alfalfa or more protein-rich hay / silage

You can thus adjust the energy and protein content of the ration without creating a shortage or surplus of vitamins or minerals. Actually, much more logical than the classic use of one (concentrate) feed where you can only increase or decrease all nutrients at the same time.

If you want to know more about how to use a balancer to put together a good ration for your horse, feel free to ask for advice.

Since ration balancers are high in vitamins and minerals, you have to avoid carelessly adding other vitamin/mineral based supplements. This could lead to surplus or in extreme cases even toxic levels. However, usually there is no added value in using those supplements, because the levels ​​in a good balancer are often the same or even higher than in specific supplements!

Certain feeds with supplemented vitamins and minerals can be combined with a balancer in a limited amount. Think of sports pellets, mare pellets or the more luxurious mueslis for seniors. When combined with commercial feeds, it therefore depends on the type of pellet / muesli and the amount fed whether supplementation is necessary. The type of roughage also plays a role. Frequently, when limited (healthy) amounts of commercial feeds are fed, partial supplementation with a balancer is warranted. Do not hesitate to contact us to know if and how much you should supplement!

Our product Natural Power does not contain any added vitamins or minerals. Therefor, this product should always be completed by a full ration of balancer. This way it is very easy to adapt the quantity of Natural Power to any changes in energy and protein demands of your horse, without having to change the quantity of balancer.

For horses with EMS, overweight, summer itching or (susceptibility to) laminitis, a ration with <10% combined sugar and starch is recommended. That is why the content in the Este Balancer Extra has been kept as low as possible. However, it is almost impossible to make a tasty pellet with these high mineral contents without using a small amount of molasses (3%). 

Is this bad? An example:

• Este balancer contains 4.2% sugar. These come partly from the molasses but are also naturally contained in the vegetable raw materials.

• From a standard portion of 250 grams per day, a horse will get 10.5 grams of sugar (about 3.5 grams from the molasses and the rest from other vegetable raw materials). 

Nevertheless: on average hay contains around 6-10% sugars. The same horse will get an average of 480-800 grams of sugar per day from 8 kg of hay! In reality, the amount of sugar via the balancer is therefore negligible.

In order to reduce the sugar content in the ration, the greatest gain can therefore be achieved by:

• Avoiding concentrates (grain often contains around 40% sugar and starch!)

• Adjusting the forage (e.g. feeding slightly poorer hay, limiting the amount of grass, soaking hay)

Thanks to its high levels of antioxidants and co-vitamins (including magnesium, vitamin E, vitamin C), Este Balancer Extra supports a healthy metabolism, which is very important in this group of horses!

Balancer Extra is one of the most complete ration balancers on the market. The proportions have been scientifically determined to provide all the necessary vitamins, minerals and essential amino acids, even with a limited portion of coarse hay (e.g. for horses on a diet). And of course the contents are also guaranteed safe with an unlimited portion of rich roughage.

Compared to other balancers, Este Balancer Extra contains more antioxidants (including vitamins E and C) and generous amounts ​​of copper, zinc, magnesium and biotin. Pre- and probiotics have also been added, to support a healthy digestive tract. The starch and sugar content has been deliberately kept very low, so that the balancer is also ideal for horses and ponies with EMS, PPID or laminitis. Since iron is frequently oversupplied in equine diets, Este Balancer Extra contains no added iron.