Ration or forage balancers are designed to complement your horse’s existing ration and ensure the vitamin, mineral, and protein levels meet his or her daily requirements. 

Say, for instance, your horse has equine metabolic syndrome, so you have to soak his hay to remove excess sugars. Soaking will also leach out other nutrients and increase the water content.  

In this scenario, a forage balancer is a great way to replenish those losses, said Nicola Jarvis, BVetMed, Cert AVP (EM), Cert AVP (ESST), MRCVS, head of veterinary care at Redwings Horse Sanctuary, in Norfolk, U.K. She said you can find many commercial balancers tailored to your horse’s age and workload that are formulated to taste good. 

“If your horse is on a diet, my top tip would be to use your balancer as a treat, because they’re genuinely something the horse enjoys to eat,” Jarvis suggested. “If your horse is very insulin-dysregulated, you might divide up your horse’s balancer into several portions throughout the day.” 

She noted that many senior horse products and fiber replacers are already fully balanced, so read feed labels carefully and consult an equine nutritionist for advice before adding a balancer to the horse’s diet. 

“If a horse is completely on forage replacers, and those are quality forage replacers, they might already meet your horse’s needs,” Jarvis said.

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  • Alexandra Beckstett is a lifelong horse owner and an award-winning writer and editor. She is the editorial director of EquiManagement and MyNewHorse.com, prior to which she spent 13 years with The Horse/TheHorse.com.

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