We’re being a new feed to market, an organic whole-food based horse feed. We are interested in collecting market research. If you have a chance to fill out the survey below there’s a chance to win a free bag of treats from choc full’a chia!
https://umn.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0H78k6l7DCL2tg1
(this is also for my MBA class therefore the University of Minnesota insignia)
Done:)
Done 
Pureform? I am currently feeding their Support One vitamin mineral supplement in a mash of beet pulp, flax, and whole oats.
I’ve been happy with Support One, but am willing to reconsider the cost per serving relative to the nutrient levels.
I would not pay a big premium for organic ingredients for my horse given that I don’t consistently buy organic for myself. And I would be unlikely to buy a bagged feed.
If I switched off Support One, I would be more likely to try blending my own mineral supplement. In other words I would be going more basic and DIY, not towards an expensive bagged feed.
The cost of the beet pulp oats and flax is negligible. The big cost is the vitamin mineral supplement.
I took it but felt the questions were written by someone who doesn’t understand horse nutrition and why horse owners make the feed choices that they do.
Yes, my impression also.
But then many horse owners don’t understand nutrition either
Agreed. There are lots of reasons why I choose the feed I do - NSC, calories, ingredients, quality, consistency, texture, availability. It’s not just “sweet feed” or “pelleted feed”. “Pelleted feed” is sort of like saying “ground meat” but not specifying what type of meat…could be chicken…could be buffalo…
Yep. They’re probably not going to like my answers very much…
Done
As a scientist, that is a HORRIBLE survey! It is deliberately geared to only one conclusion.
Technically, hay/grass is a horses’ preferred feed. I’ve never seen horses eat prickly pear naturally. Nor have I seen a horse choose sweet potato over hay.
I agree it’s a biased poll/survey. I answered Yes to “do you feed any whole foods” because I feed alfalfa pellets, and I consider that whole, NOT because I feed vegetables to them. “Whole foods” doesn’t need to imply “fancy ingredients that people project onto horses’ needs”
Now sure, my horses would leave their hay to come get a carrot or apple or piece of watermelon, and any other “whole food” I tossed at them because at that point it’s a cool treat.
The pelleted/balancer/sweet feed question was so skewed, and even though I said I have 4 horses, apparently choosing that I feed both a balancer (to 3 of them), and only forage (to 1 of them), is an inappropriate combination, so I had to leave it at just the balancer.
Very badly done survey, especially for someone with the level of education of working on an MBA, so I’m not sure what value you’re actually going to get out of it, other than to find out what % of survey-takers might actually buy a certified organic feed.
@RAyers Agreed on the way the survey was couched toward the intended purchase of their product.
$49 per horse??? As if.
But, that said, all of my 3 will eat a raw sweet potato over hay in a NY Minute 
(fed as an occasional - cheap - treat)
All the other non-traditional ideas have been a fail with my group (watermelon, etc).
I will have to try sweet potato.
Thank you for the idea.
I find it fairly shocking that someone at this level hasn’t had any education in survey design. I had that as an undergrad.
Also completed, but like others, probably not going to like my answers! :lol:
@trubandloki Yeah, on the strength of reading, I tried bananas & not one horse did more than make the Ptoooey! face of disgust.:rolleyes:
Another El Cheapo treat is dry pasta - shape does not seem to matter.
And my guys are all Hos for Dollar Tree gingersnaps - beats heck out of those pricy German horse treats :yes:
I’ve never heard of feeding prickly pear to horses. What’s the benefits? How do you process it to make it edible?
I’m also not overly bothered by organic ingredients.
Add me to the group that found the survey not very well done.
I was amused by the option that said pick all that apply, but when I did that (one horse gets senior, the other two only get forage) it told me my answer was conflicting. Um, no…different animals get different things.
Dry pasta…interesting.
Mine do like gingersnaps. I just never thought of the dollar store to get them. That would save a ton of money.
Yup, same brand I see in stores for almost double the price - even cheaper than the Aunt Millie’s outlet that has them.
If your Dollar store doesn’t have gingersnaps they probably have an alternative like oatmeal cookies or fig newtons.
The pasta I don’t get, but they LOFF it - I even keep some spaghetti in the barn for when kids visit.
Small hands can extend a handful of spag w/o a chance of fingers getting nibbled.
Same deal at Dollar Tree - sometimes even 2fer!
Someone (who ever decided they wanted to try to create a horse feed) does not appear to have done any market research on:
The survey questions:
Do you currently feed any whole foods-based feeds to your horse(s)? (Examples of whole foods would be papaya, prickly pear, sweet potato)
Yes
No
Why would I want to feed waste money on “whole foods” for my horses when their primary “whole food” is forage, as it should be? Feed whole pieces of papaya, prickly pear, sweet potato to a 1200 lb horse would be expensive, even just as unnecessary treats.
Would this “whole foods” horse feed just be a bag of whole pieces of papaya, prickly pear, sweet potato and chia, or would it be processed into pellets like 90% of all horse feeds?
Do you currently feed any whole foods-based supplements to your horse(s)? (Examples of whole foods would be papaya, prickly pear, sweet potato)
Yes
No
Do you currently feed your horse(s) any supplements? (Whole foods-based or otherwise)
Yes
No
What are you currently supplementing your horse(s) for? (Please select all that apply)
Joint/Bone Health
Digestive Health
Hoof Health
Skin/Hair Health
Anti-inflammatory
Immune Support
Others (please specify)
How much, on average, are you currently spending monthly (per horse) on supplements?
Less than $30
$31 - $40
$41 - 50
$51 - $60
$61 - $70
$71 - $80
$81 - $90
$91 - $100
More than $100
I don’t know
Are you interested in providing organic-certified, whole food supplements to your horse(s)?
Definitely yes
Probably yes
Might or might not
Probably not
Definitely not
I don’t feed organic certified hay. The bulk of most horse’s diets is hay. If someone wanted to go organic with their horse, this would be the most logical part of a horse’s diet to be organic, in my mind anyway. There is no such thing as a “whole food supplement”. Commercial horse supplements are a mix of ingredients that have been processed. Their ingredients are no longer whole.
What type(s) of grains/feed do you currently feed your horse(s)? (Please select all that apply)
Whole grains and/or cereals
Pelleted Feed
Sweet Feed
Senior Feed
Ration Balancer
My horse(s) only eat(s) forage
I don’t know
Do you have any of the following concerns about your current feed? (Please select all that apply)
Digestibility
Nutrient Content
Calorie/Energy Content (Too High)
Calorie/Energy Content (Too Low)
Manufacturing Process
Additives
Amount of feed needed to meet nutritional requirements
Other
On average, how much do you currently spend for one month’s supply of feed per horse? (Not including forage or supplements)
Less than $20
$21 - $30
$31 - $40
$41 - $50
$51 - $60
$61 - $70
$71 - $80
$81 - $90
More than $90
I don’t know
How likely are you to buy organic-certified, whole food horse feed at a monthly price of $49 per horse?
Extremely likely
Somewhat likely
Neither likely nor unlikely
Somewhat unlikely
Extremely unlikely
$49 per month per horse? Is this per bag? My horses are all different sizes and eat different amounts. How do you arrive at $49 per horse?
Which of the following products are you familiar with in regards to horse nutrition? (Please select all that apply)
Spirulina
Manuka Honey
Chia Seeds
Sweet Potatoes
Prickly Pear
I am not familiar with any of these products
Would you like to be contacted about any of the following? (please select all that apply)
Our current products, sales, and specials
The development of our future organic-certified, whole food supplements and feed
The results of this survey
Yeah, well, I didn’t provide my contact details because I didn’t want spam.
I agree, major confusion over the idea of whole foods. Grass is a whole food. Whole oats and flax are a whole food (at least in human parlance). Beet pulp is pelleted but not a pelleted feed, and not really whole. On the other hand, are alfalfa cubes a whole food? BTW, are crushed oats still a whole food? Is ground flax whole food if you buy it ground?
Anyhow, I like feeding the components rather than a bagged feed, so my interest in feeding whole foods would not be met by an expensive bagged processed feed containing whole foods like the CryptoAero product (which is what this sounds like).
Also anyone who has followed COTH can learn that flax has a better nutrient profile especially in Omega 3 than Chia Seeds, and is much less expensive (as its a traditional horse feed).
Manuka honey is a remedy for persistent sores or injuries, on the line of sugar paste, but why would I want to feed my horse empty calories of pure sugar in the form of honey?
Totally agreed that if you aren’t fussed about your hay being organic, then the tiny amount of grain you feed doesn’t matter as long as it isn’t actively contaminated with something.
Survey is missing the fact that the main reason to supplement is to provide the minerals and vitamins missing in your basic forage. This isn’t to help coat, feet, or digestion (unless you have bought into the SmartPak marketing juggernaut) but rather to just provide a balanced diet.
Is this survey really connected to Pureform or are they just using the name as a course project? Pureform is a Canadian supplement manufacturer, small scale, and I like and use their Support One vitamin/mineral supplement. However they seem like a smarter company than this survey, and it’s hard to imagine a Canadian company using either sweet potatoes or prickly pears, which aren’t grown alot up in this climate belt.
OP, are you doing this survey with the knowledge and permission of Pureform?
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