Just had an ad for Unbeetable Feeds pop up on my FB and thought it was interesting. It’s a complete feed made from Alfalfa, beet pulp, and flaxseed. As far as I know, it won’t be available until December at which point it will be at TSC. Supposedly will be priced at $25 per 50lb bag. When I have a minute, I want to compare it to some ration balancer/ other complete feeds but was curious if anyone else saw this and what the thoughts are. I think it could be a good option for a forage based diet for those who don’t want to or can’t do the vit/ min supplement(s) + hay pellets or want to simplify the routine. I didn’t see the feeding directions or what the nutritional analysis is based off of.
It’s not a fortified complete feed you have to add vitamins/minerals to it
From the site you linked:
- By adding a ration balancer/multi-vitamin, “Unbeetable” becomes a complete feed – additional hay/forage needs are reduced if not eliminated.
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The websites say you have to add a ration balancer or multivitamin to be a complete diet. So you are buying 50 lbs of alfalfa pellets and beet pulp with some flax oil for $25. Probably not any more expensive than Standlee alfalfa pellets and beet pulp. I don’t think I would want to feed this dry without soaking because of the beet pulp even though they say you don’t need to soak. Maybe they do some special process for the beet pulp? I sure wouldn’t want to feed 20 lbs of this a day to fulfill long stem forage requirements unless I had a horse that couldn’t chew or process regular hay. You could mix together alfalfa pellets, timothy pellets, orchard grass pellets and beet pulp to come up with the same diet at about the same price.
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That looks interesting. I wonder how palatable it is.
The price point is similar to what I am paying for alfalfa pellets so if my horse likes it more it might be a good answer.
I am not worried about the beet pulp because beet pulp is a pretty common ingredient in feeds that are not fed soaked.
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So I feed a mash of beet pulp, alfalfa cubes, salt, a good VMS, and usually flax as well.
I don’t know what the prices are in the US but here in Canada both beet pulp and alfalfa cubes are much cheaper than $25 a bag.
I just looked at the ad and they are advertising it as a forage replacement and they don’t recommend soaking it. So presumably it’s been processed to be edible without soaking.
Maybe the target market is people who can’t find hay? Otherwise it’s just a rather expensive version of a basic carrier for VMS that everyone mixes up themselves.
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It’s a small pellet, and while I don’t know the size of ProElite Foal’s First Starter and Creep, I suspect it’s very similar, small enough for more “delicate” mouth situations, it says it’s on the softer side.
Because it’s a pellet, it’s not loose beet pulp. If you wouldn’t bother soaking a regular pelleted food, no need to soak this one.
I don’t like when any feed says “no soaking required” because it’s NEVER about the feed, it’s ALWAYS about the horse. If a horse doesn’t have molars, soak it. If he bolts his food, soak it. If he takes giant mouthfuls and tries to swallow, soak it.,
The cost is similar to many hay cubes, and some hay pellets. The 1500 cal/lb range is pretty nice, more than any hay-only product, more than beet pulp alone.
I’m definitely going to try this if it becomes available here, as my 33yo with 2 missing molars might like it better than soaked hay cubes.
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This is very exciting to me! I feed forage based but if I can simplify it down to 1 bag plus my supplement with no soaking necessary that will be incredible. I just wish it was Timothy hay instead of alfalfa so I could feed it to my PSSM horse.
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Is alfalfa a no-no for PSSM horses? I always hear contradicting things about that. My horse isn’t officially PSSM, but I sort of feed him like one because he has some of the PSSM tendencies and seems to do better when I’m careful with his diet. I wasn’t aware that alfalfa could be an issue.
Every horse eats a forage-based diet 
PSSM1 horses often do very well on alfalfa. Alfalfa pellets + oil was the gold standard for a long time, before more options and research became available. Alfalfa tends to be lower NSC than grasses, and that’s what PSSM1 horses need
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That’s what I’m thinking - simplify meal prep a bit!
I think I may try this too when/if it comes to my local TSC. They already have the Unbeetable beet pulp pellets, so hopefully they’ll have this when it comes out.
It’s already in FeedXL I noticed.
In my area (Ontario), alfalfa cubes (or pellets) are just over $25.
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This is super interesting to me, esp as a time saver because I’m doling all those things out daily to 6 horses so if I could save a few steps that would be awesome
Tribute Kalm and EZ makes a low NSC molasses free feed that is complete. It is 20% fiber 14% protein and can be fed alone. $25 a bag from Chewy and they can deliver.
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The second ingredient in the Tribute Kalm and EZ is soybean hulls, so if you have one that is sensitive to soybeans this will not work, bummer.
It is really a different kind of product, with Wheat and such in it.
Edit to add ingredient list or the Tribute Kalm and EZ.
Edit to add 2 - Clarify that this label is in response to the post I quoted which is for Tribute Kalm and EZ.
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My understanding is that complete feeds are much more dry than hay, and also easier to digest, and hence can be fed at lower rates, e.g. 12 pounds to replace 20 pounds of hay.
I would be interested in this.
I wonder the percentages of the three “ingredients”.
Also how clean the beet pulp is before making into the pellets.
I’ve seen some dirty looking beet pulp.
When I’ve fed BP it was R/S/R per ECIR guidelines.
Has the ESC and starch content been mentioned?
Also wish they - or someone - would make a Timothy and BP pellet.
(I feed the Timothy Balance Cubes - but would like to try this combo in pellet form).
With the Texas drought who knows about this year’s hay.
Already looking for alternatives.
Complete feeds aren’t as dry as hay. They have enough fiber, even though it’s short-stem, to meet the basic needs of a horse who can’t eat hay/grass. And they’re also fortified to the point they’re providing pretty much everything a horse needs, and generally in the right ratios as appropriate
12lb is low for a complete feed fed as the only food (for an average 1000-1200lb horse). Most are at least 15lb
I’ve fed MidWestAgri plain beet pulp for quite a few years, soaked, and the worst I’ve seen is a random beet pulp pellet. I’ve never seen the random weird things in it that others have found in other brands
Sugar is listed as 3.4%. That’s MOST likely WSC, and ESC is a sub-set of WSC. Alfalfa and beep tend to be quite low in starch. Feedtables lists the average starch of beep as .9%, Equi-Analytical lists is as an average of 1%
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I have been keeping track of this to some degree because of my 25 YO mare’s teeth. She has molars on one side that are pretty worn down. At this point she eats first cut grass hay with no problem, but a senior complete feed may be in our future (and may be an issue for BO to feed if more than 3 times per day.) Some of them have a lower feed rate than 15 pounds.
With the current obsession around “forageBased diet”, this feed would not compute in my book. Both soy and wheat are clearly grain. And high up on the list.
And by the way, unless you’re feeding your horse 30 pounds of sweet for you today, they are all on forage-based diet with Hay as the “base”.
And in case I sound snarky, I am personally myself feeding a diet minus grains to my horses. I am just a stickler for language, I suppose. This feed seems very gimmicky to me, and I am suspicious that you would have to probably feed a ration balancer with it but I’m not sure how much because I’m not seeing comprehensible numbers attached to these words.
Myself, I’d rather just soak the beat pulp and alfalfa pellets, and feed a ration balancer and Call it good, Or feed a high-quality low NSC complete feed/senior feed
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