My boys are moving to a new barn and as such will have new grain options. Going from Triple Crown Senior, would you choose Ultium or Pro Force Fuel? They will be on pasture board that doesn’t have great grass, but is supplemented with grass round bales. I love the TCS for their weight, energy levels (won’t matter as much being out 24/7), less concern for ulcers (again, now they’ll be out 24/7) and their hoof health (I can get a hoof supplement if needed).
They are fairly comparable in their GA, I think the Ultium is a bit lower starch and sugar. I believe the Ultium is fixed formula but the Nutrena is not (someone please correct me if I’m wrong on that!), which some people prefer. The Ultium is also a pellet, the Nutrena is textured, which may be a factor if either horse is a finicky about that sort of thing. I have had horses do really well on both, they’re both perfectly good feeds, IMO. If both are available at the new place, pick one to try, see how they do- if you need to switch you always can.
I think Ultium is the one feed in the Purina line that does have the fixed formula (but I could be wrong).
My guy has been on Ultium since last July and I’ve been very happy with how great he looks. He is keeping his weight on great even through the winter (although in all fairness this has been a milder winter this past year).
I would give the Ultium a thumbs up from my experience.
I like Ultium.
My horse lost his mind on Ultium. I think there is an ingredient in him that just did not agree with him. He was rearing, he went over the breast bar in the horse trailer, he was cranky. Switched feed and 2 weeks later I had my horse back. Many of the horses at the barn are on it and do well.
Nutrena in general is not a fixed formula line, though some specific products might be.
I too seem to recall that Ultium is one of Purina’s few fixed formula products, but without ingredients online I can’t be sure.
Both of those are pretty different from TC Sr in terms of NSC - 11.7% vs 18% for Ultium and 20% for the ProForce Fuel.
If those are your only 2 options, then I’d go with the Ultium.
Ultium’s ingredients are online: http://www.purinamills.com/purinamills/media/PDF/Horses/Products/Ultium-Competition-Sell-Sheet-2015.pdf?ext=.pdf
I broke down and tried Ultium for the first time with one of my own horses. My experiences were “meh” and I eventually stopped using it.
Nutrena’s Pro Force line is supposed to be nothing like the rest of the Nutrena products, with high quality ingredients. People rave about it. With that said, I have zero firsthand experience with it since it is not available in my area. The company is super secretive when it comes to any information about it besides the guaranteed analysis.
Awesome, thanks.
Re-reading what I said (after looking at the ingredients) - I was thinking Ultium Growth when I mentioned 18%.
I don’t know the NSC Of Ultium, but suspect it’s higher than 18% with wheat mids as the first ingredient.
I fed the Nutrena to my girl and she did great on it. It’s higher in fat and I found I did not need to feed as much.
I have not fed TCS or Ultium so can’t say if it was better than either. But it worked for my horse.
I did this same switch about a year ago.
I called Nutrena and the rep was really helpful.
I did not want corn in my horse’s diet, so I went with Pro Force Fiber. I add fat with their “Boost” product.
My horse (16.2 h TB) has been on all three, as well as TC Complete. Nutrena Fuel has had him in the best condition weight wise coming out of hunting season of the different feeds I’ve tried. For most of Sept- all of March he was hunting 1-2 times a week, averaging 6-10 hours of riding a week, around 25-30 miles a week. He was getting 8 lbs of fuel and gained weight until Late Nov. when the grass finally went dormant. He maintained his weight from Dec-March on the 8 lbs of Fuel and unlimited hay.
A friend has her event horse on it (getting ready to go prelim), she had been looking a bit skinny for a Irish bred sport horse. She plumped up and was looking awesome in a short time on 2 lbs a day.
