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Any new reviews on Tribute feeds? Update post #21

Horse Care
#1

Specifically if you’re feeding it to a TB who can get a little nutty? :smiley:

I’m barn shopping, and one of the possible facilities feeds Tribute. I’m very, very much into feeding bags, but as someone pointed out on my other thread that’s not a hill I should choose to die on. However, I don’t want to sacrifice my horse’s health or sanity. I’ve been on their website and it seems like most of their feed is fairly high NSC. The Kalm 'N EZ textured has me intrigued, but it’s NSC is around 16% and fat is only at 6%. However, fiber is at 20%. Horse is currently eating 20% NSC and is sane, but I’m not crazy about going higher than that.

Update post #21!!

#2

They might not be aware of this pending litigation:
http://www.ratemyhorsepro.com/horse-owners-sue-kalmbach-contaminated-equine-feed/

#3

I have been feeding the Essential K since the Triple Crown manufacture switch as it is very hard to source TC30 here now. I am well aware of the lawsuit but can’t find a better option who hasn’t either had similar mistakes or lied about their facilities in our area.

Even TC assured us they had monesin free facilities and at he time they were using a mill that didn’t for our area.

It is hard to trust ANY feed company these days.

However, the products have been fine so far. Much better than Purina or Nutrena I tried in the past. I still prefer TC and will go back when I can get it without a three week preorder (!!!)

#4

I feed 2 of my horses the Essential K ration balancer and my third (24 YO) gets their Senior Pelleted feed. Both are working well for me. I have 2 arabs and a TN walker.

#5

I’ve used the Essential K. I personally liked it, pony looked good on it. Only reason not using it is current barn doesn’t feed it, they feed Legends feed. He was shiny with dapples on it.

#6

I switched from TC to Tribute around 6-7 years ago and my horses have never looked better and I’m feeding less and it’s easier on my wallet! My dealer looked into the lawsuit and reassured me it was without merit and I trust him and the product. I’m actually going to an open house at the feed dealer tomorrow night where they will have their Director speaking (Dr. Dan Burke) and I’m excited to hear what he has to say. Tribute has completely taken over in my area, part in due to the fantastic dealer we have, but also because people love the way their horses look. I’m sure no feed is perfect, but I’ve been very happy with Tribute with a variety of horses over the past several years (OTTB’s, QH’s, ponies, draftx, and senior horses).

#7

Please ask about the lawsuit issues! And report back. I want to know exactly what they have done to the production lines to respond to the FDA letter. Did they build another horse-only one? Are any parts shared?

#8

In my opinion (which might not even be worth 2 cents-lol) the lawsuit is sketchy. Lots of things that do not add up that were mentioned in another thread on here. I’m confident that the horse feed is made in an ionphore free facility. I will bring it up, but am not going to dwell on it because there are lots of issues with it (like I said, in MY opinion)

#9

Of course, by all means. Specifically, I would like to know more about their facility and how they structure the feed runs (such as is there ANY shared machinery ever). The website is incredibly vague and just says they use “state of the art technology to assure safety” and have “processes in place to prevent contamination” etc. If the feeds really are in totally separate facilities and never share the same machinery at all during processing, and procedures in place so that employees decontaminate between buildings, etc – I sure wish they would say so specifically so I could feel more comfortable with the product again.

The problem for me is that FDA document shows clearly that at that time medicated feeds were run on the same lines as horse feeds, which is unsettling to me because horse feeds are not medicated so they don’t, or didn’t, have the horse-only facility they specifically told me they did at that point. Maybe they’ve changed it and I’d like to know if they did. I don’t have strong opinions about the lawsuit itself because who knows what the truth is there, but the FDA document is different and I feel they need to explain it to their customers (of which I am one).

And I understand that medicated does not necessarily equal ionophore, I just don’t want any residual medication in my horse feed.

#10

Agreed, will report back :slight_smile:

#11

We adopted a 9yr old OTTB last spring he came to us on a generic sweet feed… I didn’t want to rush the transition, but did transition him in about a week to the Kalm N EZ pellets. He has done great on it… he can be a bit of a hot head if he doesn’t get turn out. But overall he just likes to hang out in his stall or outside and eat his second cutting hay… he is super spoiled now. lol
I feed him about 1.5 lbs of Kalm N EZ, 2 cups K-Finish ( Tribute Fat Supplement) and about 1 cup beet pulp. And he gets all the free choice second cutting he can eat. I also have him on G.U.T.
He is 16.3 and came to us in decent weight, but his coat was a bit rough. He shed out beautiful and would shine even thru a layer of mud. He doesn’t seem any hotter than we got him and I would say if anything has mellowed some. He still has his days when he can be a spitfire and a bit of a cheeky monkey. But I honestly feel its just his personality and that he was allowed tone a bit of a brat at times at the track (he raced till he was 8).
I have all my horses on the Kalm N EZ and find it is a great feed for a wide range we have 5 horses (9, 11, 15, 22, 23) and other than adjusting amounts and some get the K-Finish its worked out great.
I haven’t been worried bout the lawsuits. I think its a bit of a witch hunt, and i feel that they have addressed the issues. I have found their feed to be much more consistent bag to bag than others I have tried. I use to use Nutrena and was happy with it but it seemed to change in color and smell from batch to batch, and was not always in stock. Haven’t had that issue with Tribute and I feel like I feed less and get better results.
i just want to add, be sure that the boarding facility you are looking at realizes that TB will need more hay than the easy keepers. And possibly be willing to pay more to be sure your horse gets enough. I think good quality and quantity of hay is almost more important than the feed… as longs its a quality feed.

#12

[QUOTE=Köttbulle;8864427]
We adopted a 9yr old OTTB last spring he came to us on a generic sweet feed… I didn’t want to rush the transition, but did transition him in about a week to the Kalm N EZ pellets. He has done great on it… he can be a bit of a hot head if he doesn’t get turn out. But overall he just likes to hang out in his stall or outside and eat his second cutting hay… he is super spoiled now. lol
I feed him about 1.5 lbs of Kalm N EZ, 2 cups K-Finish ( Tribute Fat Supplement) and about 1 cup beet pulp. And he gets all the free choice second cutting he can eat. I also have him on G.U.T.
He is 16.3 and came to us in decent weight, but his coat was a bit rough. He shed out beautiful and would shine even thru a layer of mud. He doesn’t seem any hotter than we got him and I would say if anything has mellowed some. He still has his days when he can be a spitfire and a bit of a cheeky monkey. But I honestly feel its just his personality and that he was allowed tone a bit of a brat at times at the track (he raced till he was 8).
I have all my horses on the Kalm N EZ and find it is a great feed for a wide range we have 5 horses (9, 11, 15, 22, 23) and other than adjusting amounts and some get the K-Finish its worked out great.
I haven’t been worried bout the lawsuits. I think its a bit of a witch hunt, and i feel that they have addressed the issues. I have found their feed to be much more consistent bag to bag than others I have tried. I use to use Nutrena and was happy with it but it seemed to change in color and smell from batch to batch, and was not always in stock. Haven’t had that issue with Tribute and I feel like I feed less and get better results.
i just want to add, be sure that the boarding facility you are looking at realizes that TB will need more hay than the easy keepers. And possibly be willing to pay more to be sure your horse gets enough. I think good quality and quantity of hay is almost more important than the feed… as longs its a quality feed.[/QUOTE]
Thanks, this was super helpful! Yeah, the hay issue is also a factor, which is why I’m casually barn shopping. At my current place if lack of hay was the only issue I would have no problem paying more, but unfortunately there are a couple others. One of the other issues could be fixed by paying more, but at the end of the day if I’m paying over $150 more than regular board for basic supplies then I feel I could board at a more expensive facility that provides what I’m paying extra for and has better footing.

#13

My hard to keep but not hot OTTB is on Kalm Ultra, Kalm Performer (we don’t want him solely on pellets as he has choked once previously so the KP we use is the textured version) and Essential K.

He is in medium to heavy work and looks amazing on this combo

#14

[QUOTE=lovemytbs;8864363]
Agreed, will report back :)[/QUOTE]

Hey did you get anything from them? Our farm is looking at becoming a dealer, and there are very few good options in the area where I live (I currently drive 2 hours for my grain). I am extremely careful about grain though, as my older mare died from suspected grain contamination, as did one other horse at our farm. It was horrific and I will never take the chance again of that happening, which is why I feed someone from a manufacturer that only does horses.

#15

I’m a Tribute fan and have been for several years. My horses look amazing on the product

Yes - I am aware of the litigation

Yes - I have made my own enquiries on it, have spoken to Kalmbach staff and others that are not employed by Kalmbach and am comfortable with what I have been told

Yes - I have my own opinion on the lawsuit and its validity

Yes - I am continuing to CONFIDENTLY feed Tribute to my horses

Remember - anyone can sue anybody for anything whether it has merit or not and it becomes Public Record and the defendant then has to pay to defend the allegations. I find it “odd” that out of the thousands of bags of the same alleged “contaminated” feed of the same lot number that ran down the same line at the same time, no other horses or facilities were affected or have come forward - ONLY the ones at this particular barn owned by this owner. I believe the lawsuit also mentions 2 separate feeds and not 1 (someone correct me if I am wrong on this point) so now we are talking many thousands of bags of 2 different types of feed, all landing at the same barn to kill their horses but not affecting one single other horse at any other facility

Tell me - what ARE the chances of that happening in real life?! :confused:

I think in fairness to Kalmbach you need to have an open mind on this and look at the facts and make your own minds up. I did - and that’s why I am continuing to buy and feed the Tribute feeds. LOVE the product! :slight_smile:

#16

I just bought a bag of essential k yesterday for the first time in almost a year. Unfortunately, the grain looks very different than it did. It looks dryer and almost looks like there is corn in the pellets?

Honestly, after this bag runs out I will be trying the triple crown 30% which has a 4% lower NSC. Triple crown said that I can special order it through one of their local distributors.

#17

[QUOTE=TrueColours;8875211]
I’m a Tribute fan and have been for several years. My horses look amazing on the product

Yes - I am aware of the litigation

Yes - I have made my own enquiries on it, have spoken to Kalmbach staff and others that are not employed by Kalmbach and am comfortable with what I have been told

Yes - I have my own opinion on the lawsuit and its validity

Yes - I am continuing to CONFIDENTLY feed Tribute to my horses

Remember - anyone can sue anybody for anything whether it has merit or not and it becomes Public Record and the defendant then has to pay to defend the allegations. I find it “odd” that out of the thousands of bags of the same alleged “contaminated” feed of the same lot number that ran down the same line at the same time, no other horses or facilities were affected or have come forward - ONLY the ones at this particular barn owned by this owner. I believe the lawsuit also mentions 2 separate feeds and not 1 (someone correct me if I am wrong on this point) so now we are talking many thousands of bags of 2 different types of feed, all landing at the same barn to kill their horses but not affecting one single other horse at any other facility

Tell me - what ARE the chances of that happening in real life?! :confused:

I think in fairness to Kalmbach you need to have an open mind on this and look at the facts and make your own minds up. I did - and that’s why I am continuing to buy and feed the Tribute feeds. LOVE the product! :)[/QUOTE]

Well I can tell you that 2 out of 12 horses at our farm died from contaminated feed. 2 others got sick. Not a single one of the remaining 8 showed any signs. We did not hear of any other issues in the area.

Our vet told us with an extruded feed, only a half of pellets in the feed may be an issue but it would have been enough to do damage.

Personally, I don’t think I will take the chance. It was one of the worst things I have ever seen

#18

Dr. Burke was ill and sent someone named Larry in his place who was very knowledgeable. He’s been in the feed business for 30+ years. Anyway, he sis state that their new state of the art feed mill only makes horse feed.

#19

Has anyone tried their “basic” Right Choice 14% pellet? I was looking at the ingredients list and comparing fat and fiber percentages to the Kalm n’ EZ and it’s not that much different. The NSC is right around 19% (I emailed the company) so it’s under what my horse is getting now. I picked up a bag to mix in with his current feed to see what happens. That’s one of the feed options at the barn. I’m hoping he does well on it as that would be one less expense!

#20

[QUOTE=lovemytbs;8875940]
Dr. Burke was ill and sent someone named Larry in his place who was very knowledgeable. He’s been in the feed business for 30+ years. Anyway, he sis state that their new state of the art feed mill only makes horse feed.[/QUOTE]

So, they were running different feeds on the same line during the period in question, and have built a horse-feed only mill recently (aka after the issue with possibly contaminated feed)…?

I’m asking to understand the timeline. TIA

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