I bought a nice OTTB about 3 months ago. Owner said she was on free choice alfalfa and about 9 pounds a day of grain, some Nutrena product I had not seen. Made by Nutrena but not in their reg lineup. Anywho, I get her home and I change her over to Ultium. 9 pounds to start but she is now down to 5 as she has gained weight. She is a fire breathing dragon! Prancing sideways out to pasture and hot under saddle. I am taking her off all grain and we are going to Renew Gold so I can have a carrier for her electrolytes. Lesson learned!
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My TB gelding was a basket case on Ultium, specifically, in ways he wasn’t on XTN, DynaSport or any of the other high-fat performance feeds he ever got. Of course it was like 10 years ago that he was last on Ultium but I have sworn off Purina ever since.
Going from 5 lbs of Ultium to a “carrier” quantity of Renew Gold is a big change though — and Renew Gold isn’t vit/min fortified so I wouldn’t be surprised if she ends up needing something else.
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What would you suggest? I am seeing Tribute has a lot of low NSC feeds.
Just ordered some Calm and EZ by Tribute from Chewy as I am too lazy to go looking for it locally!
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If the horse did well on the feed the previous owner was feeding, why not reach out and try to get that?
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First, we are all idiots, as horse people & eventers 
Don’t beat yourself up.
Is your horse now in good weight? My barn owner and I switched to no-grain diets for our eventers a couple years ago. They get grass &/or hay, alfalfa cubes (3 lbs per day, which is just a little snack between meals), and for “grain”, a ration balancer plus fat (I use rice bran) and some alfalfa pellets to make it more grain-like and less powdery. I also feed a powdered supplement for ulcer prevention - not sure if it works, but it’s palatable and gives me some peace of mind.
This has worked well for us. They have plenty of energy, are not hot, and are in good weight. If they are working harder, we increase the amount of alfalfa.
There were two horses at our barn this didn’t work for:
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a newly bought TB who arrived very skinny. She is now in good weight and could likely switch.
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a WB/TB/QH cross that’s always been a bit of a harder keeper, and picky eater. He gets the same as above plus some high-fat pelleted grain. He does less work overall than our eventers, as he’s mostly a trail horse, so it’s really about his type and not the work he’s doing.
Good luck!
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I feed Renew Gold, and have just switched my old guy to the Senior version. I originally reached out and contacted Win Wolcott (the animal nutritionist who designed this feed, as well as others for additional major feed companies), and he did an analysis of my program (for another horse) - total grams, sugars, starch, digestible energy, etc. - versus the alternative program a veterinarian was recommending. Very helpful, and there was no charge.
I suggest contacting Renew Gold directly:
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Her weight is fabulous and she looks great! She has gained maybe 75 pounds since I have had her but she defenantly looks “beefy” now although I get compliments on her looking more warmbloodish. I think I have overshot it a bit!
So I have a fairly easy keeper of a DHH/Morgan gelding. He’s on Tribute Kalm n EZ, Essential K (for added protein during light SI rehab), Outlast (switched because it was less expensive than Constant Comfort) and Max E Glo for the added fat.
Tribute has a new Low NSC Seniority (10%) that might be just the ticket!
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I saw that but also saw in the reviews some horses won’t eat it.
Replace the Renew Gold with a ration balancer. RG is a very (!) lightly fortified fat supplement, not a well-fortified replacement for regular feed
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Despite all the claims on the bag you never know how a horse will react to the feed until they start eating it. In my experience my horses don’t read the label and they react how they will.
It doesn’t sound like she needs any feed at this point if she has gained weight and a good RB may be enough.
During the drought I added an appropriate controlled low starch/ sugar feed for my gelding along with his RB to make up for the grass lacking ( just 3 cups a day) . He was fine on it until we got rain and the grass was back in full force. He was a mouthy , nippy, can’t stand still mess for the farrier while I attempted to hold him-- not his normal.
I took him off the feed that day and in a couple days he was back to normal. I think for every horse the hay, grass, feed , supplements just don’t mesh for the desired results sometimes.
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I’m so glad I’m not the only one that’s had this experience. I had my TB on Ultium for one month about 8 years ago and he was an absolute nutcase. Bucked me off twice in a week (VERY unusual for this horse) for no discernible reason and was just otherwise high as a kite.
Got rid of the Ultium and had my horse back in about a week. It was so bizarre. I’ve since switched to a forage-based feeding program using hay pellets, a VMS, and some TC Senior (less than 1/2 lb) for flavor for my picky guys.
My easy keepers are on Pro-Elite Grass advantage, which is a ration balancer.
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Funny how horses react to feeds. My ASB is on Ultium Gastric and much more relaxed on it than when I had him on ration balancer w/ alfalfa cubes.
So you never know how a horse will react.
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Enrich 32? Purina Supersport ? (maybe not considered a ration balancer). ?
Enrich is a full-fledged ration balancer
Purina SuperSport is more a protein/amino acid supplement, so not the same
Almost every brand of feed has their own ration balancer, so you’d pick the one you can easily/reliably get, as a starting point.
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I have my Holsteiner on forage based as I got him off grain last year. This girl is new and a TB that her previous owner has stated is not an easy keeper. So since she has previously been on alfalfa I continued that. It would be nice to get her off grain except for a ration balancer, stabilized rice bran and alfalfa.
