We equine nutritionists are a pretty small world. I don’t know a single one of us who agrees with the majority of the ECIR group fads.
Dr. Pratt-Phillips is an excellent nutritionist and researcher. I would take her recommendations over those from a Facebook group any day.
It’s funny …I’m finding out more and more that quite a lot of people don’t see eye to eye on the ECIR group …thank you! …I’m feeling reassured about consulting with Dr Shannon Pratt Phillips…as you can imagine it’s a bit overwhelming with all the different feed choices out there and with so many varying opinions….it’s also a bit scary to completely change your feed program …at least it is for me.
I’m also interested to see if anyone else has tried the Hygain Meta Safe yet…
It looks like a good balancer, definitely EMS-friendly, if you can stomach the cost lol
@JB that’s what I’m fretting over is the cost …do you think it’s worth it ?? …same with the Zero …fed at bare minimum of 3lbs/day is $2.59/horse/day and also Munga
For that sort of cost, you can use a foraga balancer (Vermont Blend Pro is maybe one of the more $$ ones at $1.10/day) and a bit of hay pellets + Vit E if necessary. Something like Omneity Premix also works well in a lot of cases. I can’t see anything about that ration balancer that brings the value worth the cost, unless it’s a pure convenience thing (like a boarding barn where soaking is not happening) AND you need soy-free AND that low NSC.
I use and am a huge fan of Hygain. Yes it’s more expensive per bag but I do find I am feeding a minimum of feed across the board. They look fantastic, feel fantastic and my pocketbook is ok. I feed everything Metasafe as a balancer base: I used to use Balanced or tribute essential K but I have a mare with what I found is a soy allergy and the meta works well for her. I then top dress with either Munga or Showtorque as needed with oil and beet pulp.
The theory is micronized feed is much more readily digested. I don’t know if that’s true but my horses sure show a difference and I’m feeding about half what I used to on other brands and they look better.
I’m in love with the Hygain feeds.
I started out experimenting with Showtorque, and now I’ve got horses on Showtorque, Zero & Tru Care. I may pick up some Tru-Gain and Munga as well so that I can mix and match at will.
The 26 year old hard keeping OTTB who I recently switched over to Tru-Care with a top dress of Showtorque just about bolted out of his stall going out this morning. He is feeling good!
He was eating 9 lbs of Triple Crown Senior plus soaked alfalfa pellets and though his weight was ok, it was precarious, and he would frequently just stop eating altogether.
I’m still adjusting feed amounts but I think overall it will be cheaper than Triple Crown.
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