Im looking to fat supplement a couple of harder-keeping older equines. All already receive soaked senior, beet pulp, and a slice of alfalfa on top of their regular free choice good grass hay. Cool Calories and Rice bran are the most readily available and similarly priced, although Im not sure if they are comparative price-wise once you look at a serving size? Is there a reason I should choose one over the other?
Cool Calories is 100% fat; rice bran is ~20% fat.
Some people find that their horses don’t digest cool calories and it passes right through.
I far prefer oil 
^^This, I’d just pour a cup of oil on top of their alfalfa hay, or add more alfalfa if they can/will eat it.
I’ve read several reviews here recommending Legends Omega Plus and I’ve been using this on my 30 yr old. He’s just getting a pound of it daily and it has really filled him out (plus the great grass we’ve had recently). It’s flax based and looks like a kibble; I add it to his soaked feed and he loves it.
I use cool calories with my mare. She had a tough winter and needed some help - went with beet pulp and cool calories. Definitely plumped her up. Now that she’s out on grass, I cut out the beet pulp. I didn’t try rice bran though.
I did both rice bran & Empower with my young horse that I could NOT get weight on. Helped a little. Ditched both of those for a single scoop of Cool Calories and the difference was amazing. Finally got some cover on those ribs!
A 2 oz serving of Cool Calories, will have the same fat content (and a few less calories) of a 10 oz serving of rice bran, basically.
What’s the fat content in the senior product you’re feeding?
I believe 8%, but I’d have to verify. It’s Nutrena Safe Choice Senior. I don’t have access to Triple Crown, only Blue Seal, Nutrena, Purina, and Patriot seniors.
How much senior feed are you feeding? You might just need to bump that up a bit. For price comparison, if you are paying $20 for a 50 lb bag, it’s $.40 a pound. If you are feeding the minimum, it’s worth considering increasing the concentrate.
You’ll have to find out the serving size of the Cool Calories and rice bran to figure out what they cost per day. Vegetable oil is very very cheap if they will eat it.
I use Cool Calories for my little mini mare who needs help with weight. It works very well for her and I’m now cutting back to a mere sprinkle on her grain.
I tried rice bran years ago for my Thoroughbred but he wouldn’t eat it, so I’ve never tried it again for my other horses.
They need more forage. If they won’t eat more forage or it just doesn’t stick, go with the cheapest stuff, which IME is the oil, 2,000 calories for an 8 oz cup of canola oil and it costs about 0.43 a cup for the store brand canola.
An extra pound of most concentrates is 1100 to 1600 calories, I feed Triple Crown Sr and it’s forage based, the question is, will they eat it?
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They need more forage. If they won’t eat more forage or it just doesn’t stick, go with the cheapest stuff, which IME is the oil, 2,000 calories for an 8 oz cup of canola oil and it costs about 0.43 a cup for the store brand canola.
An extra pound of most concentrates is 1100 to 1600 calories, I feed Triple Crown Sr and it’s forage based, the question is, will they eat it?[/QUOTE]
That’s exactly what I’m running into. They are reaching saturation point with the volume of grain/hay offered. Was just looking for the best bet on adding some fat without upping the volume.
Cool Calories is awfully expensive compared to oil. Most horses will accept up to a cup of oil with each feeding, particularly if you are already wetting their ration down to make it a mash. It’s hard to beat the amount of calories per cup. I buy mine at the discount food store for $5.99 per gallon of canola.
Canola oil, start at 1/4 cup and work up.
Mega calories for minimum cost.
Aldi’s has the best price I have found, better than Sam’s or Costco. Walmart’s is pretty cheap. I no longer have a Costco or Sam’s card-as the oil wasbpretty much the only thing I “needed”.
