[everhopeful]

Somebody a while ago had a thread on stupid questions. I said I had an inexhaustible supply, and that's true. So here's one: what's a ration balancer?

[Dawn]

A ration balancer is a supplement that is very concentrated so far as vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and protein goes. They are forage based and designed to be fed at levels of 1-2.5 lbs/day depending upon the situation. They compliment a hay/pasture diet, and there are ones designed for grass diets and legume diets.

Nearly every major feed company has one.

You can also add forage products and/or fat sources to increase calorie consumption.

[everhopeful]

Thank you! When you say they're forage-based: does that rule out rice bran as a ration balancer?

[Dawn]

No, but rice bran is not a ration balancer, if that makes sense. Many ration balancers contain rice bran actually.

It simply means that they do not contain grains.

[JBandRio]

Originally Posted by everhopeful

Thank you! When you say they're forage-based: does that rule out rice bran as a ration balancer?

Forages are hay (alfalfa is a common base as the forage-base), and beet pulp. Rice bran isn't a forage. But, as Dawn said, some ration balancers do contain some rice bran.

The purpose of a ration balancer is to get nutrition into the horse with little additional calories. This makes them great for horses who are eating a lot of forage (hay/grass) and non-fortified grain products as their concentrated calories, or no additional concentrated calories, but aren't getting enough nutrition from those sources. A vitamin/mineral mix can do the same. A ration balancer usually brings in some extra protein as well, for those horses who need a bit more.