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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 685
  
Location: Arkansas | rodeomom13 - 2014-03-03 9:27 PM My old gelding has been on Purina Senior for over 10 years. He's 27 now and looks like he did 10 years ago. That's enough for me. My vet recommends it as well.
People make this all way too complicated. I was always told... K.I.S.S. Keep It Simple Stupid.
Haha, Ill have to remember that!! KISS.... When it comes to feed, I do feel stupid! I get on here and read all of these threads about feed and Im just sitting here scratching my head!    | |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 685
Location: Arkansas | CYA Ranch - 2014-03-03 9:03 PM Brrlracengirl - 2014-03-03 4:27 PM Thanks for the replies! That is one of my concerns with pelleted feed; choking. I will shop around and see what's available in my area. We aren't exactly in "horse country"  
That is a good point! I've still seen some nibblers choke, especially in the winter when they don't want to drink as much. I quess Im more afraid of it since Ive never used it before... but it seems like most people are feeding pelleted feed now; so something must be working!! | |
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  A Lady with Fight
Posts: 2701
Location: NC | Why don't I like Purina? I believe they are the lowest feed company on the totem pole as far as quality. They use whatever ingredients are cheapest and include ingredients like "plant protein by-product" instead of an actual ingredient, meaning you could end up with soybean meal, alfalfa mean, cottonseed meal or even corn as a source of protein in that feed. And every bag could literally be different.
I like ingredients I can read, understand, and I know are not harmful to my horse. I HATE corn and will never feed it to any of my horses. Oats are fine in moderation, but when they're the first or second ingredient, no thanks.
My feed's main ingredients are beet pulp, alfalfa meal, and rice bran. I use a locally milled feed that is A LOT like Triple Crown Senior. It's 14% protein, 10% fat, and 17% fiber. I feed 6lbs a day and they stay fat, slick, and sane. Great feet. Great skin. And no hot heads.
I feed our SUPER easy keeper the TC 30% supplement (ration balancer). She gets 2lbs a day. And that's it. And she stays fat and pretty on it. It's ridiculous. It's $30 a bag but lasts a month.
I pay $14 a bag for the senior feed. The TC Senior was about $22 a bag and we were feeding the same amount, about 6lbs a day. That's the minimum recommended amount. And it will keep even some hard keepers fat at 8lbs a day.
I think Purina puts a hefty price tag on feed that isn't as good as they make it out to be. Nutrena is a better choice. Triple Crown, ADM, Tribute, Blue Bonnet, Buckeye are all awesome feed companies. I know not everyone has access to them, but they're just leaps and bounds over Purina.
Some friends fed the Purina Enrich stuff to one of their geldings. He went bat crap crazy on it. I picked up a bag of TC 30% (same type of feed) and he's fine now. Easy going and really filled out nicely on it. So if that shows a difference between the feeds.
Just my opinion on them. Just not my personal favorite. :) | |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 685
Location: Arkansas | hlynn - 2014-03-03 10:19 PM Why don't I like Purina? I believe they are the lowest feed company on the totem pole as far as quality. They use whatever ingredients are cheapest and include ingredients like "plant protein by-product" instead of an actual ingredient, meaning you could end up with soybean meal, alfalfa mean, cottonseed meal or even corn as a source of protein in that feed. And every bag could literally be different. I like ingredients I can read, understand, and I know are not harmful to my horse. I HATE corn and will never feed it to any of my horses. Oats are fine in moderation, but when they're the first or second ingredient, no thanks. My feed's main ingredients are beet pulp, alfalfa meal, and rice bran. I use a locally milled feed that is A LOT like Triple Crown Senior. It's 14% protein, 10% fat, and 17% fiber. I feed 6lbs a day and they stay fat, slick, and sane. Great feet. Great skin. And no hot heads. I feed our SUPER easy keeper the TC 30% supplement (ration balancer). She gets 2lbs a day. And that's it. And she stays fat and pretty on it. It's ridiculous. It's $30 a bag but lasts a month. I pay $14 a bag for the senior feed. The TC Senior was about $22 a bag and we were feeding the same amount, about 6lbs a day. That's the minimum recommended amount. And it will keep even some hard keepers fat at 8lbs a day. I think Purina puts a hefty price tag on feed that isn't as good as they make it out to be. Nutrena is a better choice. Triple Crown, ADM, Tribute, Blue Bonnet, Buckeye are all awesome feed companies. I know not everyone has access to them, but they're just leaps and bounds over Purina. Some friends fed the Purina Enrich stuff to one of their geldings. He went bat crap crazy on it. I picked up a bag of TC 30% (same type of feed) and he's fine now. Easy going and really filled out nicely on it. So if that shows a difference between the feeds. Just my opinion on them. Just not my personal favorite. :)
Thank you for your input, thats what I wanted to know!! Someone said in an earlier thread that the Ultium was a set formula and doesn't waiver from its set ingredients. I just know that my horses look and perform 10X better on the Omolene 200 than they did on my feed stores plain ol' 12% or 14% sweet feed. The closest TC dealer is like 3 hours away, which is completely out of the question! The same is for Bluebonnet feeds. | |
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 Ms. Poutability
Posts: 2362
Location: In my own world | Brrlracengirl - 2014-03-03 10:24 PM hlynn - 2014-03-03 10:19 PM Why don't I like Purina? I believe they are the lowest feed company on the totem pole as far as quality. They use whatever ingredients are cheapest and include ingredients like "plant protein by-product" instead of an actual ingredient, meaning you could end up with soybean meal, alfalfa mean, cottonseed meal or even corn as a source of protein in that feed. And every bag could literally be different. I like ingredients I can read, understand, and I know are not harmful to my horse. I HATE corn and will never feed it to any of my horses. Oats are fine in moderation, but when they're the first or second ingredient, no thanks. My feed's main ingredients are beet pulp, alfalfa meal, and rice bran. I use a locally milled feed that is A LOT like Triple Crown Senior. It's 14% protein, 10% fat, and 17% fiber. I feed 6lbs a day and they stay fat, slick, and sane. Great feet. Great skin. And no hot heads. I feed our SUPER easy keeper the TC 30% supplement (ration balancer). She gets 2lbs a day. And that's it. And she stays fat and pretty on it. It's ridiculous. It's $30 a bag but lasts a month. I pay $14 a bag for the senior feed. The TC Senior was about $22 a bag and we were feeding the same amount, about 6lbs a day. That's the minimum recommended amount. And it will keep even some hard keepers fat at 8lbs a day. I think Purina puts a hefty price tag on feed that isn't as good as they make it out to be. Nutrena is a better choice. Triple Crown, ADM, Tribute, Blue Bonnet, Buckeye are all awesome feed companies. I know not everyone has access to them, but they're just leaps and bounds over Purina. Some friends fed the Purina Enrich stuff to one of their geldings. He went bat crap crazy on it. I picked up a bag of TC 30% (same type of feed) and he's fine now. Easy going and really filled out nicely on it. So if that shows a difference between the feeds. Just my opinion on them. Just not my personal favorite. :) Thank you for your input, thats what I wanted to know!! Someone said in an earlier thread that the Ultium was a set formula and doesn't waiver from its set ingredients. I just know that my horses look and perform 10X better on the Omolene 200 than they did on my feed stores plain ol' 12% or 14% sweet feed. The closest TC dealer is like 3 hours away, which is completely out of the question! The same is for Bluebonnet feeds.
Yes both of their ultium feeds are a fixed formula. I feed both of those and Healthy Edge. I have looked at many tags on my HE and have never seen "plant by-product" listed as an ingredient. It says wheat mids, alfalfa meal, ground soy hulls, beet pulp as ingredients. Don't know about the other feeds but not on mine. I would like to see a current tag that says that | |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 1163
Location: Sapulpa, OK | I think you should research "starch content and the effects on horses guts". You will be shocked at what molasses and other sugars do to horses, not to mention, inho add colics. Horses were meant to be low starch eaters, not sugar eaters. No where in nature did the horse injest sugar in it's refined form until us "sugar addicted" humans came along and thought they needed it. I quit feeding molases based feeds several years ago and have noticed a definate increase in the weight and condition of my horses. I feed alot of beet pulp also, which is the main ingredient in most of the expense feeds, that along with soybean meal is in most of your feeds. Just do some research and I think you will find a good fit for your horse's health and your checkbook. Not to mention, decrease in flies! They love that sugary feed. | |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 685
Location: Arkansas | I want to get away from the sweet feed and have something with more sustainable energy... you will have energy from eating candy, but it wont last as long or be as efficient as a scoop of peanut butter... that's how I see it... | |
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 Scorpions R Us
Posts: 9586
Location: So. Cali. | I bought a bag of Strategy once. Smelt horrid. I know, not a huge reason to not go back, but it was enough for me.
Have had great results with Nutrena Safechoice and enjoy them making the different ones depending on the horse itself. Also have had great results with Nutrena Senior for a extreme rescue situation.
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Expert
Posts: 1642
Location: Kansas | I agree with the other posters about low starch feeds being better, especially after having a mare with ulcers. I stay away from corn and molasses now and have went to feeding better hay and alfalfa pellets soaked to feed any supplements needed and feeding a lot less grain in general and they seem to be better so far. As far as purina, I quit feeding their feeds back in 2008. I did my own feed trial with TC low starch, strategy, and Kent Dynasty Pro. The DP won hands down between those 3. In 30 days, my mares on DP shedded their winter hair faster, were shinier, and had more over all muscle tone than the other 2 feeds and I fed less of it. I weighed the feed every day on a scale just to be consistant. I have never fed what the bag suggest because I do not believe a horse should have to have 8 to 10 lbs of grain a day if on good hay/pasture. At the time of my trial, I was feeding 4 lbs once a day. The DP mares were decreased to 2.5lbs and maintained their appearance better than the 4 lbs of the other 2. The TC showed a difference at about 50 days. (all other factors, hay, loose vitamin-mineral, water were the same). The strategy horses were the same since at that time that is what I had been feeding for a few years. I was tired of the way they looked on it so that was my motivation to change.
Now I went to safechoice special care due to no corn or molasses in it for my ulcer prone mare.
Edited by wierqh 2014-03-04 9:56 PM
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 685
Location: Arkansas | wierqh - 2014-03-04 9:54 PM I agree with the other posters about low starch feeds being better, especially after having a mare with ulcers. I stay away from corn and molasses now and have went to feeding better hay and alfalfa pellets soaked to feed any supplements needed and feeding a lot less grain in general and they seem to be better so far. As far as purina, I quit feeding their feeds back in 2008. I did my own feed trial with TC low starch, strategy, and Kent Dynasty Pro. The DP won hands down between those 3. In 30 days, my mares on DP shedded their winter hair faster, were shinier, and had more over all muscle tone than the other 2 feeds and I fed less of it. I weighed the feed every day on a scale just to be consistant. I have never fed what the bag suggest because I do not believe a horse should have to have 8 to 10 lbs of grain a day if on good hay/pasture. At the time of my trial, I was feeding 4 lbs once a day. The DP mares were decreased to 2.5lbs and maintained their appearance better than the 4 lbs of the other 2. The TC showed a difference at about 50 days. (all other factors, hay, loose vitamin-mineral, water were the same). The strategy horses were the same since at that time that is what I had been feeding for a few years. I was tired of the way they looked on it so that was my motivation to change.
Now I went to safechoice special care due to no corn or molasses in it for my ulcer prone mare.
Hmmm interesting!!! Good for you for doing your own research! Im pretty convinced that I need to make a change... My guy just doesnt have the shiney coat and muscle tone that I want, and he gets way too hot at the gate, with an added alley issue in the past as well, then he doesn't fire during performance. I will be researching a bit more before I decide on what to try, but I am between Safe Choice Perform and Ultium Perform (I would try other feeds mentioned before, but they are not sold within my area) | |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 559
| Ultium is pretty good :) you may give that a try .. I like the looks of safe choice perform but have never tried it! Ultium does much better than strategy though ! Wish you had access to triple crown senior .. You'd be amazed with the results .. It really muscled my mare up & filled her out when ultium didn't .. But that's what worked for her. | |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 685
Location: Arkansas | Fancy Lass - 2014-03-05 8:40 PM Ultium is pretty good :) you may give that a try .. I like the looks of safe choice perform but have never tried it! Ultium does much better than strategy though ! Wish you had access to triple crown senior .. You'd be amazed with the results .. It really muscled my mare up & filled her out when ultium didn't .. But that's what worked for her.
I know, it stinks :( That's what I get for moving from Texas I guess! I will definitely try and see!! Hopefully soon we will be moving closer to where I go to school, so I am going to wait to switch until we figure out that ordeal!! But thats a different story  | |
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Expert
Posts: 1815
| I have fed both the Ultium and Healthy Edge...........both were ok, but my horse's body did not look as good this summer as he hs in the past, and for some odd reason it seemed like he had to urinate more frequently. Anyways, I decided to try the Enrich and added the Standlee Alfalfa pellets and a sm amt of oats.........he now looks fantastic! I know high fat is the craze and I have sure done that for the past several years, but when I think about what God made them to eat, I decided to try something different. We will see how the summer goes, as I didn't chg until I had quit riding him for the winter........I am very very happy with the PUrina Enrich, but am only feeding a pound 2x a day, per directions | |
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Expert
Posts: 1642
Location: Kansas | Brrlracengirl - 2014-03-05 6:33 PM wierqh - 2014-03-04 9:54 PM I agree with the other posters about low starch feeds being better, especially after having a mare with ulcers. I stay away from corn and molasses now and have went to feeding better hay and alfalfa pellets soaked to feed any supplements needed and feeding a lot less grain in general and they seem to be better so far. As far as purina, I quit feeding their feeds back in 2008. I did my own feed trial with TC low starch, strategy, and Kent Dynasty Pro. The DP won hands down between those 3. In 30 days, my mares on DP shedded their winter hair faster, were shinier, and had more over all muscle tone than the other 2 feeds and I fed less of it. I weighed the feed every day on a scale just to be consistant. I have never fed what the bag suggest because I do not believe a horse should have to have 8 to 10 lbs of grain a day if on good hay/pasture. At the time of my trial, I was feeding 4 lbs once a day. The DP mares were decreased to 2.5lbs and maintained their appearance better than the 4 lbs of the other 2. The TC showed a difference at about 50 days. (all other factors, hay, loose vitamin-mineral, water were the same). The strategy horses were the same since at that time that is what I had been feeding for a few years. I was tired of the way they looked on it so that was my motivation to change.
Now I went to safechoice special care due to no corn or molasses in it for my ulcer prone mare.
Hmmm interesting!!! Good for you for doing your own research! Im pretty convinced that I need to make a change... My guy just doesnt have the shiney coat and muscle tone that I want, and he gets way too hot at the gate, with an added alley issue in the past as well, then he doesn't fire during performance. I will be researching a bit more before I decide on what to try, but I am between Safe Choice Perform and Ultium Perform (I would try other feeds mentioned before, but they are not sold within my area)
Oh also forgot to post before, the 1 Purina product that I do like is the Amplify supplement. It did make a big difference on my ulcer mare when she was in bad shape after I finally figured out what was wrong with her. I just am not a fan of their feed of what I have used in the past. Have never tried Ultium do to the cost of it.
Edited by wierqh 2014-03-06 11:39 AM
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 Special Somebody
Posts: 3951
Location: Finally horseback again.... | When my husband and I got together years ago, he fed Strategy. his horses were hot, hot, hot. I fed an all grain. And they didnt look really well. We changed to Total Equine for over a year and they still didnt look great like what we wanted.
Dr Williams at Lone Star Park recommended Safe Choice. Within 2 weeks, everyhorse started to dapple and had noticeable weight gain in the top line and hips. We have been on it ever since.
The great thing about it is once you get to the condition you were trying to get, you can cut back and maintain very well.
On another note, I used to feed Purina Puppy chow.... It nearly killed an entire litter of pups from arsenic poisoning. I vowed never to feed another Purina product after that.
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Expert
Posts: 1642
Location: Kansas | Canchasr1 - 2014-03-06 1:19 PM When my husband and I got together years ago, he fed Strategy. his horses were hot, hot, hot. I fed an all grain. And they didnt look really well. We changed to Total Equine for over a year and they still didnt look great like what we wanted.
Dr Williams at Lone Star Park recommended Safe Choice. Within 2 weeks, everyhorse started to dapple and had noticeable weight gain in the top line and hips. We have been on it ever since.
The great thing about it is once you get to the condition you were trying to get, you can cut back and maintain very well.
On another note, I used to feed Purina Puppy chow.... It nearly killed an entire litter of pups from arsenic poisoning. I vowed never to feed another Purina product after that.
We also lost a puppy from the puupy chow poisoning as well as my brother. Last summer my kids got into showing goats for 4-H. Sis-in-law swore the purina goat feed was the best. Got a bag and the goats wouldn't even touch it. Switched to another goat feed and they ate it like candy. EDIT: sorry had to look up the brand, as I had forgot. It was Moorman's Showtec goat feed that they loved.
Edited by wierqh 2014-03-06 1:59 PM
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Member
Posts: 30
| wierqh - 2014-03-06 12:55 PM
Canchasr1 - 2014-03-06 1:19 PM When my husband and I got together years ago, he fed Strategy. his horses were hot, hot, hot. I fed an all grain. And they didnt look really well. We changed to Total Equine for over a year and they still didnt look great like what we wanted.
Dr Williams at Lone Star Park recommended Safe Choice. Within 2 weeks, everyhorse started to dapple and had noticeable weight gain in the top line and hips. We have been on it ever since.
The great thing about it is once you get to the condition you were trying to get, you can cut back and maintain very well.
On another note, I used to feed Purina Puppy chow.... It nearly killed an entire litter of pups from arsenic poisoning. I vowed never to feed another Purina product after that.
 We also lost a puppy from the puupy chow poisoning as well as my brother. Last summer my kids got into showing goats for 4-H. Sis-in-law swore the purina goat feed was the best. Got a bag and the goats wouldn't even touch it. Switched to another goat feed and they ate it like candy.  EDIT: sorry had to look up the brand, as I had forgot. It was Moorman's Showtec goat feed that they loved.
what people don't realize and what is kind of confusing is that there are 2 different brands of Purina feed! There is Land O' Lakes Purina, which is all your animal feeds minus dog & cat. Then there is Nestle Purina which bought out the dog/cat food line and the rights to use the checker board back in the early 80's - these are the dog/cat feeds that you will find in the grocery stores, Wal-Mart, etc.
Land O' Lakes Purina realized that they made a mistake getting rid of their dog/cat line but since they sold the rights to the checker board & name they now have to use the name PMI (Purina Mills Inc.) for their dog & cat foods.
So the Purina Puppy Chow that you bought was actually Nestle brand and not the Land O' Lakes Purina (which is the higher quality and the ones that actually do the research) | |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 685
Location: Arkansas | Now I am leaning towards safe choice... A friend of mine is feeding it and is getting good results from it. But she is also feeding alfalfa and beet pellets.... I agree, the puppy/ dog chow is terrible!! I refuse to feed it... But the only feed my collie will eat is the purina one and its a really good dog food. She wont touch diamond or any other brand my feed store carries... | |
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 Neat Freak
Posts: 11216
Location: Wonderful Wyoming | Brrlracengirl - 2014-03-06 6:28 PM Now I am leaning towards safe choice... A friend of mine is feeding it and is getting good results from it. But she is also feeding alfalfa and beet pellets.... I agree, the puppy/ dog chow is terrible!! I refuse to feed it... But the only feed my collie will eat is the purina one and its a really good dog food. She wont touch diamond or any other brand my feed store carries... I love the Nutrena Safechoice Perform so far. I have had several on it, I weaned my babies last year on it and now as yearlings, they look really good. I would take pics, but they are so muddy it's embarresing. Filthy little mongrels they are.
As mentioned above, I have my show horse on Ultium and have no reason to change him. We are feeding up older home raised grass hay so I am sure it has lost some of it's edge, but the horses still look really good. Here he is right before I shipped him off to be started under saddle. I think he was getting 5-6 lbs of Ultium total, split into am and pm feedings. When he is mature I may put him on Safechoice Perform as well, I bought him on Purina and have kept him on it. He looks great so I see no reason to change his diet just yet.
Edited because I found one with all of them, but he is so tall he makes the others look like "mini me's". That pic was from Nov last year.
Edited by wyoming barrel racer 2014-03-07 12:36 PM
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1028
| I feed everything on my place (broodies, barrel horses, weanlings, yearlings) Safechoice Perform. The results have been fantastic. The mares don't get drug down as bad when nursing colts, my open horse is firing better than ever, and my colts seem to be growing at a nice pace and maintaining their weight well on it. I am a fan of it. | |
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