Does he need a ration balancer?

i would have him on a feed that helps him grow purina makes it its called junior horse i had a  1yr old mare that i had her on that till she stopped growing....ya you can give supp sense u dont feed to make sure he is geting what he needs to grow

[quote=samsara]

Reidar is a 2 yr old Fjord gelding.  He's 13.2H and approx 900lbs.  He's a bit fat but I think some of that is from just standing around in the pasture all summer.  Currently he is on a grass pasture with no hay or grain.  Winter is just around the corner and I am wondering if I should be supplementing his diet with something.  He'll be getting a pretty high quality grass hay with some alfalfa mixed in over the winter. 
I'm thinking he probably doesn't need many extra calories but what about vitamins/minerals?  He is still a growing boy after all.


Look for a GOOD
 vitamin/mineral supplement that has a bit of added amino acids ... like a ration balancer
 
the two off the top of my head that I KNOW You can get
would be the one from Assurance feeds and PUrina Enrich32
 
http://www.assurancefeed.com/prod_grass.shtml
  
 

Thanks.  I've heard of Enrich 32, but not the assurance one.  I will look into it.  I also found this http://equilix.com/equipride.html brand.  It's only got 14% protien in it though. 
 
What constitues a "GOOD" supplement?  What should I be looking for and what should I be staying away from as far as ingredients and nutrition info?
 
Thanks again!

Wow that is a loaded question...
 
You want to look for actual ingredients list on the tag like this
Notice there are no grains like oats, corn or barley listed.....
Wheat Middlings, Soybean Hulls, Shredded Beet Pulp, Distillers Dried Grains, Soybean Oil, Rice Bran, Ground Limestone, Calcium Lignin Sulfonate, Salt, Sodium Bicarbonate, Sodium Sesquicarbonate, Flaxseed, Dried Yeast Fermentation Solubles, Brewers Dried Yeast, Zinc Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Kelp Meal, Yeast Culture, Hydrated Sodium Calcium Aluminosilicate, Anethole, Fenugreek Seed, Lecithin, Iron Proteinate, Magnesium Oxide, Magnesium Proteinate, Dried Trichoderma Longibrachiatum Fermentation Extract, Calcium Carbonate, Selenium Yeast, Dried Lactobacillus Acidophilus Fermentation Product, Dried Enterococcus Faecium Fermentation Product, Dried Bacillus Subtilis Fermentation Extract, Monocalcium Phosphate, Dicalcium Phosphate, L-Lysine, Vitamin E Supplement, Ascorbic Acid (Source of Vitamin C), Niacin Supplement, Biotin, Vitamin A Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Beta Carotene, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Choline Chloride, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (Source of Vitamin K Activity), Folic Acid, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Cobalt Sulfate, Ethylenediamine Dihydriodide, DL-methionine.
 
You also want a COMPLETE analysis like this:
Crude Protein (min.)   13.00% Lysine (min.)   0.70% Methionine & Cystine (min.)   0.40% Threonine (min.)   0.35% Crude Fat (min.)   6.00% Crude Fiber (max.)   18.00% Calcium (min.)   0.75% Calcium (max.)   1.25% Phosphorus (min.)   0.60% Magnesium (min.)   0.50% Iron (min.)   170 ppm Potassium (min.)   0.75% Selenium (min.)   0.60 ppm Zinc (min.)   170 ppm Manganese (min.)   100 ppm Copper (min.)   50 ppm Vitamin A (min.)   6,000 IU/lb. Vitamin D (min.)   500 IU/lb. Vitamin E (min.)   200 IU/lb. Vitamin C (min.)   45 mg/lb. Biotin (min.)   0.30 mg/lb. Lactobacillus Acidophilus Bacteria (min.)   2.0 million CFU/gm Saccharomyces Cerevisiae (min.)   4.0 million CFU/gm Cellulase (min.)   110 CMC–ase units/lb. Protease (min.)   0.40 Northrup Units/lb.
 
You want to stay away from products that have large minimum feeding requirements... like 5lbs or more
 
 
Now I am off to find tags like you DON'T want ...

Here are some links to help explain it
 
http://www.horses-and-horse-information.com/articles/0199feed.shtml
 
http://pods.dasnr.okstate.edu/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-2069/ANSI-3919web.pdf