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KIS Trace Pellets, anyone?

I have both my horses on Arizona Copper Complete and am very pleased with the results. With that said, it is a challenge to get one of my geldings to eat it! I mix it well with soaked timothy grass pellets and a handful of TC Senior to help disguise the taste, but amazingly he can still eat around it! I end up having to having to place the rest in the corner of his mouth and hope he doesn’t spit it out. He is an easy keeper, so I don’t want to add any more calories/sugars to “hide it”. I believe KIS Trace pellets is a comparable product and in pellet form, which I like. Has anyone here fed it? What are your thoughts? I live in a high iron, low selenium area. I’ve tried CA Trace and + already, both of my horses thought I was trying to poison them haha! Thanks!

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I feed the regular KIS Trace (non-pelleted variety) and my horse gobbles it up and looks/feels wonderful. I was having trouble keeping his topline filled out after our move to the facility where I now board (feed change, etc), and the barefoot trimmer recommended KIS Trace for his feet and overall health. I couldn’t be more pleased.

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The 2 products are different enough you need to decide what you really need

KIS has more copper and zinc, ACC has way more Mg and Vit E, and some other things are closer but with enough difference to potentially sway a decision.

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As @JB said, the products are different and you may have to “supplement the supplement” with copper/zinc or Mg/Vit E depending on your needs and which one you choose. In my experience feeding supps, their willingness to eat them is completely dependent upon how slowly I introduce it. I start with just a sprinkle and very slowly, over weeks, work up to a full dose. Sometimes I have to back off if they stop eating them. I go down to a level where they will, stay there for a week or so and the every so slowly start ramping it back up.

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Thanks for the replies! @Snowdenfarm, I will try backing off and reintroducing it slowly to see if it helps. I am a bit embarrassed to admit that I’m not sure whether my horses would benefit more from more cu/zn or mg/vit e. My older gelding has PPID and his hooves and overall condition/comfort level has improved greatly on the AZCC. He can now walk across gravel barefoot easily. He is also shedding out better this year than he did last (was not on the AZCC at that time). My coming 2 year-old (the one who is snubbing it) is an easy keeper, but I want to provide him with nutrition to support his growing needs. My farrier complimented his hooves last trim cycle. His coat is beginning to sport dapples, and his overall demeanor has improved on AZCC (he’s more steady, hardly spooks anymore - I wonder if I could attribute that to the increased Mg?). I still have quite a bit of it left, so I will continue to try to get him to eat it. Again, thank you for the replies.

Without a forage analysis you can’t really know for the cu/zn.

Vitamin E is pretty easy to determine. If there’s not enough fresh grass, you should supplement 1-2IU/lb of natural E, and given his PPID status, I’d go at least 2IU, and even maybe 3IU/lb which isn’t going to hurt at all.

For Mg - if what you’re supplying is at least 5gm, the chances of needing more isn’t huge, but Mg supplementation tends to work fairly fast IF it’s going to work, so you could always try adding another 10gm and see if anything you think could change, does, within 2 months or so. If it does, see if backing down to 5gm keeps the changes. If you don’t see changes at all, then whatever he’s got going on either isn’t from too little Mg, or you need to try a different form, and you can repeat the above with something else.

IME, the younger the horse (so speaking about your 2yo), the faster things change in terms of how they look and behave from one year to the next. The spooky thing COULD be from the Mg, or it could just be from him growing up a little. Dapples could be just a difference in the forage, OR the benefits of the ACC

Compare ACC to Vermont Blend, another option, or VB Pro, and see what you see in comparison. You can get samples of VB and VBP for $10

I actually just ordered VB Pro, instead of using High Point Grass this year. With HPG I was having to add Nutramino and still more cu/zn. For about $.12/serving less, I can use VBP and not add the other 2, and keep the AAs and cu/zn high, in a single product.

I appreciate your advice, JB. My barn owners did a forage analysis last year. I don’t remember the exact numbers, but it tested very low in both copper and zinc and high in iron. The little stinker actually ate all of his “grain” tonight. I soaked the handful of senior first, then added the ACC to it, and then added the soaked timothy pellets. Hopefully, I’ve got this figured out, but now I have a couple different leads if I can’t get him to eat it.

that is sooooo common in the US! Fingers crossed!

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