Using Forageplus means a ‘forage focused’™ approach to horse feeding where you only supplement the minerals and vitamins needed to match to the grass or hay your horse eats.
This means you get a high-quality mineral and vitamin supplement with excellent levels of all the nutrients most needed by your horse.
Cost-effective horse feeding from Forageplus
Forageplus equine horse feed balancers are the highest quality, equine vitamin and mineral supplements. Our horse feed nutritional products are formulated using scientific forage analysis and reference to the National Research Council guidelines.
Our Winter and Summer Equine Balancers are our most cost-effective horse supplements. We also stock balancers for hoof and skin health, horses and ponies prone to laminitis, lactating mares, young horses and performance horses in moderate to heavy work. Breeding mares can also be fed a combination of our horse feed balancers throughout the trimesters of their pregnancy.
Horse Feed Balancers
Our forage focused horse feed balancers are of the highest quality, vitamin and mineral supplements designed to balance the total horse diet to the hay, grass, or haylage your horse eats. Forageplus balancers are formulated using scientific forage analysis with reference to the NRC guidelines.
Forageplus Winter or Summer Horse Feed Balancers
For the cost of using the Forageplus Winter or Summer Horse Balancers see the table below.
Balancer | Weight | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Forageplus Winter Balancer | 200-400 kg Horse | 400-600 kg Horse | 600-700 kg Horse | 700-800 kg Horse |
Cost per day | £0.82 | £1.10 | £1.37 | £1.65 |
Days one 5KG bag will last | 66.6 | 50 | 40 | 33.3 |
Forageplus Summer Balancer | 200-400 kg Horse | 400-600 kg Horse | 600-700 kg Horse | 700-800 kg Horse |
Cost per day | £0.69 | £0.92 | £1.15 | £1.38 |
Days one 5KG bag will last | 66.6 | 50 | 40 | 33.3 |
Forageplus Hoof and Skin Health Horse Feed Balancers
For the cost of using the Forageplus Hoof and Skin, Health Horse Balancers see the table below.
Balancer | Weight | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Forageplus Hoof & Skin Health Winter | 200-400 kg Horse | 400-600 kg Horse | 600-700 kg Horse | 700-800 kg Horse |
Cost per day | £0.96 | £1.29 | £1.61 | £1.93 |
Days one 5KG bag will last | 66.6 | 50 | 40 | 33.3 |
Forageplus Hoof & Skin Health Summer | 200-400 kg Horse | 400-600 kg Horse | 600-700 kg Horse | 700-800 kg Horse |
Cost per day | £0.83 | £1.11 | £1.39 | £1.67 |
Days one 5KG bag will last | 66.6 | 50 | 40 | 33.3 |
Forageplus Laminae Plus | 200-400 kg Horse | 400-600 kg Horse | 600-700 kg Horse | 700-800 kg Horse |
Cost per day | £1.51 | £1.89 | £2.14 | £2.40 |
Days one 5KG bag will last | 41.6 | 33.3 | 29.4 | 26.3 |
Forageplus Performance Horse Feed Balancers
For the cost of using the Forageplus Performance Horse Balancers see the table below.
Balancer | Weight | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Forageplus Performance Winter | 200-400 kg Horse | 400-600 kg Horse | 600-700 kg Horse | 700-800 kg Horse |
Cost per day | £1.89 | £2.16 | £2.43 | £2.56 |
Days one 5KG bag will last | 35.7 | 31.25 | 27.7 | 26.3 |
Forageplus Performance Summer | 200-400 kg Horse | 400-600 kg Horse | 600-700 kg Horse | 700-800 kg Horse |
Cost per day | £1.64 | £1.87 | £2.11 | £2.22 |
Days one 5KG bag will last | 35.7 | 31.25 | 27.7 | 26.3 |
See the table below for an understanding of the cost per day of using Forageplus Young Horse Balancers for a weanling, yearling and 2 – 5 year old young horse, which will make 400kg – 600kg adult horse.
Balancer | Age | ||
---|---|---|---|
Forageplus Young Horse Summer | Weanling | Yearling | 2 - 5 year old horse |
Cost per day (young horse to make 400-600kg) | £0.41 | £0.52 | £1.12 |
Days one 5Kg bag will last | 90.9 | 71.4 | 33.3 |
Forageplus Young Horse Winter | Weanling | Yearling | 2 - 5 year old horse |
Cost per day (young horse to make 400-600kg) | £0.51 | £0.65 | £1.39 |
Days one 5kg bag will last | 90.9 | 71.4 | 33.3 |
How much might I spend on a bespoke horse supplement using separate minerals?
Our bespoke service needs you to have carried out a scientific analysis of your grass, hay or haylage. You can carry that out with Forageplus or you can send us your report. We are experts in interpreting forage reports and determining how to match the nutrients needed to those found in your grass, hay or haylage.
Our interpretations show that on average most forage is always short of lysine, copper, zinc, magnesium and selenium and often phosphorous and iodine. Levels of each mineral depend on each individual forage profile, with one customer perhaps only needing small amounts of certain minerals and another needing far more in order to balance incorrect ratios. However, for one horse a typical order in summer is likely to be:
- 3kg of lysine
- 1kg of bioplex copper
- 1kg of bioplex zinc
- 1kg of magnesium
- 0.5kg of selenium yeast
- 5kg of mono-sodium phosphate (if calcium levels are too high which they often are)
In winter you would only need to add vitamin E to all the above as all other vitamins will be provided by feeding forage in the form of grass, hay or haylage.
To support healthy hoof function we might also recommend buying 0.5kg of biotin and methionine and b vitamins. This may be important for horses in an environment that might make them vulnerable to thrush, hoof cracks, frequent hoof abscesses and/or white-line disease
All minerals are fed in small amounts and so will last quite a few months. In the case of selenium and biotin, you might expect 0.5kg to last more than a year.
For example, a typical order in summer (April – October) might be as follows:
Foxy is a 550 kg Welsh section D type cob in light work. He is a good doer so he only needs 10kg of forage per day plus his minerals in a very small amount of carrier such as beet pulp. He needs lysine, magnesium, phosphorous, copper, zinc, selenium and biotin added to his diet. Below is the amount of time each bag of minerals he needs will last him when they are balanced to his forage.
Mineral | Days | Cost per day |
---|---|---|
3kg Lysine | 150 | £0.13 |
1kg Magnesium | 83 | £0.22 |
1kg Bioplex Copper | 180 | £0.12 |
1kg Bioplex Zinc | 105 | £0.23 |
5kg Monosodium Phosphate | 160 | £0.13 |
0.5kg Selenium Yeast | 555 | £0.03 |
0.5 kg Biotin | 494 | £0.07 |
Total cost to feed a truly bespoke mineral supplement to Foxy in summer per day = £0.93 pence
In reality, you might find that your supplement is cheaper than this, especially if your horse does not need phosphorous or biotin in his/her diet.
In winter you would just need to add vitamin E to the above cost. You would feed a 500kg horse a 10ml scoop of our natural vitamin E oil per day.
Can I combine a horse feed balancer and separate minerals and amino acids?
If you carry out analysis testing of your grass, hay or haylage then you can use our horse feed balancers as a base and add in the extras you need as indicated by the nutritional levels in the forage analysis report. This is a simple and cost-effective way of balancing the daily nutrition your horse needs. The cost will vary according to the horse balancer chosen and the extra separates needed.
More about our horse-feeding philosophy
Analysis Services
Forageplus provides a range of analysis services for horse hay, haylage, grass, soil and water. We can tell you if your forage is suitable for a laminitic, if there is a need for soaking, if there is sufficient protein or if there are any antagonist minerals or mineral deficiencies. Read more below.