I'll continue to use Purina because the horse feed is manufactured in a horse-feed only plant. Some other feeds are manufactured in the same plant as cattle, chicken etc. and the risk of medicated feed stuffs accidently getting in a bag a feed is of concern to me. As well as "moldy" corn. I trust purina to test corn products along with other ingedients that go into a bag of feed along with the stated protein contents on the bag. You'll also need to look at the amount of feed that is needed to match the same nutrition pound per pound.

A dollar a bag is not enough of a price point for me to continually change feeds as it takes time to switch feeds. I'm paying $15.49 for Strategy and $16.89 for Senior. I go through a bag each a week. I also supplement with TNT alfalfa chops.

What I want to know why is the price increasing so dramtically? Strategy went up $3 in just a few weeks. There is an abundance of corn and fuel prices is just now increasing. Everything we do revolves around the price of oil though. Too bad my income isn't increasing with the cost of goods and services.

I feed Safe Choice to my 6 yr. old mare and she does well with it. I feed her very little feed and plenty of hay and she is nice and trim. I think it does have some molasses in it but nowhere near the sugar that sweetfeed has. I have been feeding Safe Choice for about a year now and have had no problems. She has a beautiful coat and hooves, also.

Jean

Cant speak to the price difference but I've been feediing Safe Choice for 3 or 4 years years now. Love it.

http://www.horsetrailerworld.com/forum/photos/show-album.asp?albumid=78&currentpos=4

I just realized that I hijacked this thread and I am very sorry.......

The more I learn about feed, the better I am! So no hijack in my book..

I am more concerned about my hard keeper elderly horse than I am my 3 mares (they're fat and happy if they just smell grain). For the mares, I am more after recovery and important vitamins come spring time and summer when the mares will be worked/ridden.  

Thanks for all the input!

I have always fed Purina to all of my pets, and they each have lived very long lives (including a pure St. Bernard who lived till over 12, maxed out at 207 lbs.). My horse is now 34, will be 35 in May, yet because he doesn't have many teeth left, I prepare him a Gourmet Mash, from Purina Senior and Puriona Middlin Wheat Bran every morning and evening. Most including my Vet, are amazed that he is as old as he is, for he still muscle tone, a semi-big belly and lots of energy.  

If interested in the recipe, please contact me privately!

Randi/The Muffin Lady

Hi Love Duffy,

Ahh, I see you too have a Palomino, who is also quite handsome! Purina, I believe is the best and will always purchase it over any other. Yet for the life of me, I don't understand why they changed the feed bags to a nylon type bag. It's not as if the feed last any longer, and paper can be easily recycled, nylon not so easily.

If you ever need that recipe, contact me off the site. I almost lost him about 8 years, colic. Got him to the hospital, but he refused to eat still after 12 days. So as Mom, (sorry cowboys) and a culinary person, I had to come up with something to help him eat and pass the waste. Molasses was a favorite, he would lick if off my fingers, and the rest of the mash recipe developed easily. Since then, he gobbles it up without a second thought. sure he gums grass, sucks out all the nutrients, but the mash is what keeps him going.

Randi

Thanks cutter! FYI, though I have lived high in the Rockies for a long time, I grew up off of route 30, if I remember it correctly. Enjoy those rolling hills!

Randi

I have tried every kind of formula for 4 months trial and have not found anything that I feel has made my 20 yr old QH look fit. I was told by a purina rep to try their brand new feed Strategy Senior coming out Nov 2011 but it will be quite expensive and I need to feed 3 lbs twice dailyand I have no problem with that if it works. My gelding has lost muscle tone and looks terrible on Triple crown. I have tried all the senior feeds. He has been to MSU for bloodwork and X rays and has arthritis in his hocks but nothing other than that except some age related navicular changes.  I was told a 16 % protein with 8 % fat might work but have yet to find it in a pelleted feed in Michigan. He does get free choice hay and will eat any kind of feed or supplement. Any suggestions?

Sorry, I quoted the Purina name that was recommended to me wrong. It was Purina Strategy Health Edge that was recommended for my 20 yr old.

Wow, That's a lot of hay per horse.  2% of 1000lbs = 20lbs of hay.  So unless you have really large horses, it sound like you are feeding 3 - 3.5% of their body weight. I'd have to paint strips on my horses if I fed that much so I could tell them apart from the propane tanks.

I agree with the feeding good quality hay. I rarely ever give my horses anything other than good hay.  I bring sweet mix up into the mountains, Because they are working hard and not always able to graze as much while working. I just can't pack enough hay cubes into hunting camps to feed enough. So they get a little grain in camp to add calories.  Also  a little grain on the mountain makes the horses easier to catch. But at home it's straight hay.

In the winter I will soak some beet pulp in hot water and feed on cold days.  More for the fact of getting more water into the horse when its cold than for any nutritional input.

I feed Purina Healthy Edge to my 5-9 year olds and they are doing well on it. I feed Triple Crown Senior to my 16 year old and she has gained a good amount of weight, was feeding her Triple Crown Low Starch prior but her weight was starting to lack. Some feeds work for different horses and situations. I wish there was an easy fix to your situation. Have you thought of adding a high fat top dress?

I should clarify about how much hay I feed my horses. They currently get so much due to the fact I have 0% pasture. We bought a new farm last year and were unable to plant pasture until this past May due to the fact it was being crop farmed in the fall and a horribly wet spring. My three horses are currently on a 1/3 acres dry lot that doesn't even have a single blade of grass in it. I feed three 35 lb. bales of hay per day to three foundation bred quarter horses as well as 1 lb. per head per day of ration balancer. I would recommed feeding about 2% of body weight on average but with a horse with weight issues would go higher with no qualms as long as they were cleaning it up.

This provides my horses with an adequate amount of roughage as well as keeps them from killing each other and tearing my fences down and barn apart. Right now, they are a body condition 5+/ 6- which is just right with the temperatures just starting to drop. They all have a tendancy to gain easily and one has had laminitis twice from bad management on grass with his previous owner. He has done so well totally dry lotted this year he may remain dry lotted permanently!

For those that feed the Triple Crown feeds, how much do you have to pay for it? I checked with a dealer they had listed on their website and they don't carry Triple Crown feeds because they cost to much and didn't feel like they could move it fast enough to keep it fresh.  He was telling me the Complete feed would run between $23 and $25 a bag.  That is awfully pricey.  I sure liked the looks of the feed on the website and I am going to keep looking around this area to see if anyone carries it and maybe a little cheaper.  This part of east Texas is not the most prosperous part of the country and not many people are going to feed something that cost that much.

Both Purina and Cargill least cost their feeds. You can call it what you want, but that is what they do. That would be why they both use collective terms such as "grain by-products" on their tags. Look at tags on feeds by  either company mentioned above and tell me you don't see that term. You can spin least cost formulations a million different ways but they are not something I choose to feed my horses! 

The reputable companies that used fixed formulation test the loads of ingredients they receive and reject those that do not meet their specifications. Again, another rumor that least cost companies tell you about companies using fixed formulations- I know because I have worked for both least cost formulation companies as well!

That last sentence was supposed to convey that I have worked for both least cost and fixed formulations companies.

Thank you allfoir your input and knowledge sharing aboutfeedr content.  I am going to try Purina Senior Active healthy Edge for four months and see if that has any significant impact on my gelding. I agree with the comments about cost as my dealer is charging 28$ per 50lbs. for this feed and my rep suggests 6-8 lbs per day. I will have only one horse on it though as my others will remain on Dynasty Show which has given me good results.  I have top dressed with Euckele Arthrigen as well as corn oil for his weight. I welcome any otgher suggestions regarding this gelding and his lack of muscle tone!

this is very interesting have you tryed corn oil in his feed, it helps I do it

I had used Cosequin Joint Supplement for my arthritic mare. My vet suggested ground, stabilized flax seed. I have been using it for about 3 months. She is a picky eater, and 1 cup is the recommended amount. I am only able to get her to eat 1/2 cup, mixed with sweet feed. Hard to say if I see a difference. It is much less expensive.

Lots of good joint supplements out there, but I would be more concerned about the corn oil if your horse is arthritic.

Corn oil has pro inflammatory properties. Instead of corn oil, you may have more success by using deodorized fish oil or rice bran oil. These oils are better mixes of Omega-3s and Omega-6s and are not going to encourage inflammation like corn oil can. Most feed store and tack shops carry either of these other oils and you show see a better response from your joint supplement when not using corn oil. They are more expensive than corn oil but should be better for your horse.

bars Ranc....we have 2 almost 18 yr old  reiners, that we go the purina health edge  cut with Purina Senior. They hold their weigh really good like this on pasture or grass hay. I dont feed supplements at all to them. We give Polyglycan ( which is like Adequan & Legend combined) IM every other month. They are sound, can still perform all of the required manuevers.  These 2 horses were hard to keep looking good and working hard in the heat on  any other feed. This has worked well for us the last 2 years with them.  I have before & after pictures if you message me your email addy, I can send them to you. It took about 6 weeks before mine were to the point I had to start cutting them back because they were getting TOO big.

We feed all the others Nutrena Safe Choice. My reiner I currently am hauling hard is on the Safe Choice and Polyglycan routine. 

Also, we rehab starved horses. They come in hide stretched over bones and look at the feed and act like they are scare to eat it. I drench them with 30 cc  of Lixatonic twice a day for a week,  then once a day for a week to get their appetite and bloodwork back in normal range. I havn't lost one yet and they seem to come back very well. They get the Nuterna Safechoice  since it is easy on their gut without the volume of the complete feed like the Purina Sr.

Hi.

I have never been on this particular section before; am a fairly regular reader of the truck and trailer stuff, though an infrequent poster. Today the 'Hickstead' post caught my eye, then I saw this thread about feed,clicked on it and because it goes to the 'last' page first, lo and behold, Marla's post about feeding rabbit pellets was the first up on that page! Ironic, because I have a 29 YO mare that eats mainlyTriple Crown Sr. and rabbit pellets...and is happy, healthy, and in very good flesh...and I 'thought' I was the 'only one' who fed rabbit pellets to horses! 

I have been quite satisfied w/ the TC Senior; here, it has recently been costing @ $21 at one feed store, shot up to @ $26 at another...only about 6 miles apart, out here in the boonies east of Albuq.!! You might guess who I am now buying from....

I heard about on a 'horse' forum, investigated, ended up being able to try, a forage-based feed made in TX called 'THRIVE', earlier this year. It's first ingredient is alfalfa,2nd listed, timothy...and goes on to include ingredients like grain sorghum, kelp, soy meal, rice bran(I*think*), plus a number of necessary minerals/vitamis, in a steam-extruded process that produces a light 'kibble-like' nugget, which smells and tastes VERY good(I tasted it myself; always do!).It can be fed free-choice if need be; is touted to be especially good for rehabbing rescue horses, takes up water readily, so can be quickly/easily prepared for horses that need soaked feed.  Recommended feeding level is 4-6 lbs./day for a 1,000 lb. horse, advertised as NOT needing to feed additional supplements or mix w/ other concentrates, just plenty of decent grazing or forage hay(I read that as 'grass'.) Comes in 40 lb. bags(the volume of the 'puffy' nuggets means you couldn't 'fit' the std. 50 lbs. into standard sized feed bags). Long story short...my daughter was visiting in TX when I learned about this feed; was able to pick me up a couple of bags before driving home, so I could try it (cost at a location near Ft. Worth was $18.50/bag).I REALLY like this feed(and believe me, I have a lot of 'horse feeding' experience....61 continuous years' worth..and I do my homework, and work to keep up with latest knowledge on the subject.)I REALLY like the 'forage-based' aspect, having lost a horse after years of battle w/ his serious ulcer issues, and trying to adapt ALL the management strategies that are increasingly advocated to help keep horses healthy under modern 'horsekeeping' conditions. Later this summer, that same daughter planned a trip to see an old HS friend in Abilene, the closest place this feed is available, and also, got me 12 more bags of 'Thrive'! Because I am feeding only miniature horses. I am only now down to a couple more bags...and just can't see adding the cost of a 8-900 mi. round trip to get more of it to the already-admitted relatively expensive feed, so will regretfully have to figure out something else, I suppose. For those of you in central/east Texas,where it is fairly available,  I'd definitely  recommend it! (I am in NO way connected w/ this feed or its creator in any way, FYI. For those who'd like to take a closer look, there is a website...just google 'Thrive horse feed".

Miniatures, BTW, are horses in every sense of the word...only requiring more careful feeding management, because there is 'less room for error', in my experience(and I took care of 'full sized' for many, MANY years before getting minis for the first time in '84.)  I can report that after about nearly 6 mos. on the Thrive, my little horses have the best feet, best quality of hair coats--rich color, soft and silky, and  SHINEY...that I can remember them ever having!They get generous qualtities of a good grass hay, and once a day, a small portion of straight alfalfa...and are in excellent flesh and largely w/o any 'hay belly'. I also feed a ground stabilized flax, and soaked beet pulp pellets(molasses-free, if possible to get)once daily...but have done this for a number of years prior to feeding the 'Thrive'...and while my horses all looked 'good' before 'Thrive', they unquestionably look even BETTER since beginning it. 

Margo aka olehossgal, in NM