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Balanced Equine


About Balanced Equine products

It all started with the Best Guess mineral mix. The Best Guess mix came about when a number of hoof care practitioners requested it on behalf of horse owners who were not able to test their pasture or hay. The Best Guess mineral mix was formulated to supply what most horses are deficient in, based on thousands of pasture and hay tests in Australia and overseas. Equi Horse (formerly known as Hoof Rescue) was designed for horses that need additional magnesium and Equi Horse +Se (formerly known as Hoof Rescue +Se) has magnesium and selenium. All the mixes contain premium mineral sources based on the peer reviewed scientific studies used for the guidelines in the NRC 2007 Nutrient Requirements for Horses and Dr Eleanor Kellon's VMD recommendations. All the mineral mixes contain significant levels of copper and zinc and a small amount of iodine. All are NOT the smorgasbord of nutrients that come in the 'everything but the kitchen sink' type of mineral mix products on the market, yet contain very little of what is really needed. On a high pasture/hay diet, many of these nutrients are unnecessary and simply make expensive manure.

More is not better

There is NO added iron or manganese which are harmful in excess. If it doesn't help (poor coat appearance, compromised immune system, poor hoof quality), then ideally it's would be better to have the pasture/hay tested to see what the copper to zinc ratio is and that will tell us what amounts of copper and zinc are needed to optimise it (and the other nutrients like protein, calcium, phosphorus and magnesium).

Ideal ratio is 1:3 for the whole intake, copper to zinc - not just one product

There are two sizes for each mineral mix.

Best Guess: To reduce postage costs, and to make the feeding rate easy, a quantity of salt has to be added to the mix as a 'filler' so that the standard feeding rate is 1 metric tablespoon (small size Best Guess mix). If there wasn't a filler like salt, the size of the feeding rate would be very small and challenging for some people. For the Equi Horse, Equi Horse +Se and HoofXtra Hoof mix, the magnesium oxide does the same job as the salt and provides magnesium too. So no need to add salt to these mixes, they are ready to go as is. The additional salt recommendation (2 tablespoons for an untested situation, more in hot weather) is there regardless of whether you add salt to a mix (Best Guess) or not. Most horses are sodium or chloride deficient and the amount added *per day* to the Best Guess mix is quite small.

Which mineral mix?

I generally recommend Equi Horse +Se (formerly known as Hoof Rescue +Se). Grass and hay grown on acidic to neutral soils are known to be deficient in selenium. Soil conditions, especially pH influence plant uptake of selenium. Equi Horse +Se has a very conservative amount of selenium, 1 mg per day for the standard feeding rate, 1 metric tablespoon. If you are already supplementing selenium then my Equi Horse (formerly known as Hoof Rescue) mix may be more appropriate. Both mixes contain magnesium. If your horse or horses are not likely to be magnesium deficient or not displaying magnesium deficient symptoms, I would then suggest the Best Guess mineral mix. All the mixes contain significant amounts of copper and zinc and some iodine.

If a horse is insulin resistant (IR)/elevated insulin (gut incretins), then the HoofXtra vitamin and mineral mix (formerly known as Laminitis Rescue) can be helpful. 

Best Guess is ideal if you do need to increase the level of copper and zinc without the other nutrients: magnesium, selenium and so forth.

You will notice that there are not a huge range of nutrients as it's simply unnecessary, more information below.

If you are concerned about overdoing selenium for your horse, this article explains what the upper toxic limit is: 
Selenium Paranoia

"The chemical form of selenium in soil is largely controlled by the redox potential and soil pH. Selenate is the maior form present in well aerated alkaline soils: whereas. selenite predominates in acid and neutral soils. The selenite form however is adsorbed to clays and hydrous Fe oxides and is generally unavailable for plant uptake."
Mayland HF, Gough LP and Stewart KC. Selenium mobility in soils and its absorption, translocation, and metabolism in plants 

If you have a muscle building/topline or hoof quality (shelly) hoof issues, I have Equine Amino with the essential amino acids recommended by Dr Eleanor Kellon VMD. I chose not to make a product that contains minerals AND amino acids as not all horses need additional supplementation and the products that are a combination of both either have poor levels of minerals or too low levels of amino acids. If your horse is on a high quality protein intake (pasture improved grasses, actively growing) it's far less likely you need additional amino acids. Protein/amino acids are the most expensive nutrient to supplement.

Only way to really know what nutrients need to be supplemented is to look at the whole intake and do the job properly, based on data. It's a bit of an effort at first but pays off handsomely in the long run. The easiest and best way to know what your horse's intake is deficient in, or what is excessive and out of balance, is to test what your horses eat. It's not an exact science but the best approach we have in terms of accuracy. Labs like Equi-Analytical can test the bulk of the diet, whether that be pasture or hay. For small amounts of hay I use estimates though I am a data addict. For my own horses, I always test, I like to know. Then, if a feed product or supplement is required, it's chosen on the basis of correcting the deficiencies/imbalances in the bulk of the intake. It's a paradigm shift for many people, rather than looking at the products available for what is the most persuasive for helping horses without knowing what the nutrient levels are in the rest of the diet, choose what to feed and supplement on the basis of what they are already getting.

Plenty of companies will tell you what your horse or horses need but this is misleading advertising. They can't possibly know without data (and know what to do with the data. drkellon.com)

If you are feeding hay or significant amount of supplementary feed, I would also recommend 100 g freshly ground linseeds for omega-3 fatty acids and 1000 IU vitamin E.

When adding the minerals and salt to a feed I find it easier to add the minerals to the soak water and mixing well so that when the beet pulp/soybean hulls/lupin hulls or similar have absorbed the water, with a good final mix, the minerals 'disappear'.

Why are Balanced Equine mineral mixes NOT the 'everything but the kitchen sink' type?

Many companies put a broad range of minerals and vitamins in a product to appeal to those horse owners who are not aware that many of the minerals and vitamins either come from pasture or hay and other feeds (grass and hay can be a rich source) or that microbes in the gut manufacture many nutrients.

Following are *some* examples - this is not a complete list:

It is known that forage contributes on average, 10-50 ppm boron, depending on soil types and conditions (NRC 2007 Nutrient Requirements of Horses). The NRC states that “it is assumed that the natural background levels in forage are sufficient to meet the very small requirements for these trace elements in horses”. They further state that “the supplementation of these elements, including the rare earth elements, is not based on scientifically elaborated, valid data, and has the potential to be dangerous to horses.“

Recently, cobalt has been in the headlines as cobalt (cobalt chloride) is considered a banned performance-enhancing supplement in the racing industry. Dr Kellon VMD says "Grass (and hay) and other plants contain cobalt and is considered adequate for horses. Cobalt has no known function inside the horse except as a component of vitamin B12. B-12 is essential for fatty acid metabolism, DNA synthesis and the conversion of folic acid into an active form. Vitamin B-12 is not present in the equine diet, instead it is produced by intestinal microorganisms and absorption was studied in the 1970s. No vitamin B-12 deficiency has ever been documented and oral or injectable B-12 leads to only transient elevations in the blood levels followed by rapid excretion."

The NRC Nutrient Requirements of Horses, page 88 says "Filmer (1993) reported that horses remained in good health while grazing pastures that were inadequate in cobalt for ruminants." "Considering that the occurance of deficiency symptoms in cattle and sheep were observed at concentrations of less than 0.04 to 0.07 mg/kg dietary DM, and considering that horses are tolerant of lower concentrations than cattle, the recommended minimum amount has been set at 0.05 mg/kg dietary DM. This should be typically met through the consumption of normal feedstuffs."

We do know that too much cobalt is toxic. There are a number of studies looking at this, symptoms have been found to range from colic like symptoms, excessive sweating, anxiety, trembling to collapse. More information:

Chromium has been found to be beneficial in rats and people by decreasing insulin levels and improving glucose disposal in type 2 diabetic and obese humans. There are studies that show chromium supplementation has been beneficial in healthy horses by enhancing glucose regulation. In insulin resistant horses, the results have been mixed. Some show some benefit but other studies have shown no effect on insulin regulation, most likely due to there being no chromium deficiency. The problem with supplementing chromium is that if there is no deficiency, more can lead to chromium toxicity. Chromium is taken up very easily by plants in neutral and acidic soils and is unlikely to be deficient unless the grass or hay is grown in alkaline soils. There are many studies on chromium toxicity in plants where it is considered an environmental pollutant and plant toxin. Any recommendation for chromium supplementation in horses should be considered carefully in the light of whether there is a deficiency to start with.

Dr Eleanor Kellon VMD advises “Chromium shows up in just about every commercial supplement for IR horses. It's true that chromium is important for insulin signalling but unless your horse's hay was grown on very alkaline soils there's little, if any, chance that the diet is chromium deficient. Chromium is taken up very easily by plants in neutral and acidic soils. Soil levels are generous to begin with and magnified by the use of biosolids, manure or industrial by products such as fertilisers. In the US, soil levels of chromium in many areas are high enough to attract the attention of the Environmental Protection Agency. Chromium, like anything else, is toxic in excess.”


I find it interesting how feed/supplement companies have made horse owners think that they need to supplement vitamins. From my equine nutrition studies and the NRC Nutrient Requirements of Horses, it's unnecessary to supplement vitamins for horses on high forage diets. Of course, there may be exceptions but they are literally exceptions to the rule. Many of the vitamins are manufactured by the horse (via gut microbes) or are in pasture and hay. The only exception is vitamin E for horses that are fed significant quantities of processed feed/hay or are on a workload. See below about vitamin E.

Vitamin A
Vitamin A (trans-retinol, present in the diet in the form of carotenoids) is an interesting inclusion in many vitamin and mineral products as supplementation is only required if the intake is based on bleached (not green) hay or hay that is more than 12 months old. Grass and green hays like lucerne and grains are rich sources of vitamin A. Carrots contain roughly 8500 IU vitamin A (as beta-carotene) in a 17.5 to 20cm carrot. Too much can be toxic. When toxic, vitamin A can cause bone fragility, developmental bone disease in young horses, abnormal bone deposits and sloughing of the skin. 

Biotin B7
Biotin, (a water soluble B vitamin) assists chemical reactions in the body including synthesis of protein for keratin formation. Biotin and the rest of the B vitamins are manufactured by gut microorganisms and can come from the diet in the form of fresh grass. There are a number of studies that show that biotin can improve hoof quality but other studies found no change at all with biotin supplementation. Biotin only helps if there is a deficiency to start with. For horses that are mainly on pasture, it’s less likely for a deficiency to exist and even more so if the horse is also fed biotin sources like grains, brans and seed meals. However if the diet contains a lot of grain, biotin is more likely to be deficient as high grain diets in cattle have been shown to increase the acidity in the rumen, decreasing the activity of bacteria that synthesise biotin. This may well occur in horses.

Some examples of studies:

Geyer H, Schulze J. (1994) The long-term influence of biotin supplementation on hoof horn quality in horses  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8202678

Josseck H, Zenker W, Geyer H (1995) Hoof horn abnormalities in Lipizzaner horses and the effect of dietary biotin on macroscopic aspects of hoof horn quality http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7556044

Reilly JD, Cottrell DF, Martin RJ, Cuddeford DJ. (1998)  Effect of supplementary dietary biotin on hoof growth and hoof growth rate in ponies: a controlled trial http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9932094

Biotin can be added to any of the mineral mixes, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for information.
Balanced Equine also sells 2% Biotin in the shop.

Vitamin D
Vitamin D is produced in the skin, no dietary intake is required if the horse has some exposure to the sun. Vitamin D is also abundant in hay, especially if less than 1 year old. Too much vitamin D can cause calcification of the aorta and other soft tissues, sometimes hypercalcemia and death. Upper safe limit of intake is 44 IU/kg of bodyweight. Dr Eleanor Kellon VMD NRCPlus

Vitamin K
Vitamin "K is present in the diet in the form of phylloquinone (in plants) and is also synthesised by the bacteria colonising the gut in the form of menaquinone. K is needed for activation of blood proteins involved in clotting, bone metabolism (the hormone calcitonin and calcium binding to bone scaffolding) and may inhibit calcification of blood vessel walls. Critical functions to be sure but no diet related deficiency of vitamin K has ever been documented or suspected in horses. While the current NRC mentions the possibility that intestinal absorption of bacterial source menaquinone might not be adequate to meet needs, work in other species that they didn't cite clearly shows large bowel absorption. Despite this, menadione (synthetic) is commonly added to feeds and supplements for high performance horses with lung bleeding (EIPH – exercise induced pulmonary haemorrhage). While relatively non-toxic, it's also useless." Dr Eleanor Kellon VMD NRCPlus

What about Vitamin E?

Vitamin E is an important antioxidant, especially in the nervous and immune systems but it should NEVER be stored with other minerals as it quickly oxidises. For this reason vitamin E is NOT in any of the mineral mixes. Vitamin E is abundant in grass so doesn’t need to be supplemented for horses in no work on high fresh forage intakes but many studies have shown horses benefit from vitamin E supplementation when on higher workloads.

For example:
Williams CA, Kronfeld DS, Hess TM, Saker KE, Waldron JN, Crandell KM, Hoffman RM and Harris PA. (2003) Antioxidant supplementation and subsequent oxidative stress of horses during an 80-km endurance race.

Vitamin E added to feeds or multi ingredient supplements is oxidised very quickly so should be added separately.

The best value source is human liquid vitamin E capsules. Technically you could use either synthetic or natural as 400 natural IU should be equivalent to 400 synthetic IU, though there is some evidence that natural vitamin E could be twice as bioavailable as synthetic vitamin E. IU = International units, the number of IU is a measure of potency.

Form and source of tocopherol affects vitamin E status in horses

Throw the capsules straight into a feed bucket, many horses happily eat the capsules but if a horse is a bit picky, the next best option is to cut the capsules up first with scissors, or soak the capsules in a little hot water to soften the capsules and then add to the feed.

Vitamin E capsules can be purchased on Ebay or the many online pharmacy websites or pharmacies or supermarkets. Look for a brand of natural vitamin E capsules that has some oil mixed with the vitamin E rather than just glycerin/gelatin on their own. Can be any oil, safflower oil and soybean oil are commonly used. Vitamin E should be used up within six months or less. Moisture and air (oxygen) are damaging over time as potency decreases with oxidation. Keep out of direct sunlight, heat and keep the container tightly closed.

Note: If you decide to use a commercial horse vitamin E supplement be aware that vitamin E in the form of a powder or solid must be fed mixed with a little oil as one study showed that vitamin E without the oil is far less likely to pass through the intestinal wall and is excreted instead.

Unfortunately vitamin E degrades very easily and is heat sensitive so even if a commercial feed or supplement lists it as an ingredient it can’t be entirely counted. Vitamin E can react with inorganic minerals, especially iron. If there is any organic carrier in the mix, it will also act as a natural antioxidant as fats oxidise and/or bacterial or fungal growth occurs. Vitamin E should always be stored and added separately.

The best way to determine which minerals are deficient or in excess in a horse’s intake is to formulate a custom mineral mix based on the whole intake using a pasture test or hay test, and taking into account any other feeds. Without a pasture and/or hay nutrient test, whichever is the bulk of the diet, we won't know which nutrients are in excess or deficient or whether mineral ratios are optimised or not to ensure absorption. Learn more about a feeding plan for your horse or horses, read here...

Postage/Shipping via Australia Post

You can look up the Australia Post 'Calculate postage and delivery times' for what would be a reasonable expectation for how long a delivery will take. Balanced Equine postcode is 2422.

Items will be posted in Australia Post standard satchels, either the 500 g, 3 kg or 5 kg, or combination or a box. 

Best Guess

Equi Horse

EH 500x500

Equi Horse +Se

EHSe 500x500


HX 500x500