Has anyone fed this for a lengthy amount of time and have any reviews ? Considering for Arab mare who is on very little pasture and needs to develop topline, but is an easy keeper with a bit of a hay belly.
100% a great product. We know that horse’s natural diets were designed to have more Omega-3 than Omega-6. Omega Match is designed to mimic pasture grazing for amino profile. It’s Timothy grass based which is a huge deal soy sensitive horses as well. I fed it for about a year until availability got spotty. I will probably be putting my mare back on it as we come back into work from a joint injury.
Here’s the promotional flyer for it: CLICK HERE
it’s designed to match the Omega 3 content of 4 hours of grass intake. It’s biggest selling point is higher Omega 3.
And, it’s
“Inspired by the protein content and quality of fresh pasture.”
which is lower in protein and lysine, methionine and threonine, than the Enrich balancer (and almost every other ration balancer designed for grass forages)
Editing to add:
I briefly forgot that Omega Match has about double the feed rate of almost every other ration balancer out there, so that mitigates the lower levels of nutrients
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My horse has been on it for a year. He gets 2 pounds a day, in addition to his grain (Purina Senior Active, 12 pounds a day, for a very active hard keeper 23 year old TB.) I started it because my horse stopped eating his previous Omega supplement and decided this was tolerable. After reading the ingredients in it I took him off a hoof supplement. So far so good, I use Omegas for his coat quality and general itchiness and he seems good. I’ve had no problems finding it at my local feed store.
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Meh. I tried it because the Purina dealer had a big special on it and I didn’t realize you had to feed twice as much as Gro n Win. It was fine but I already fed really nice timothy hay at the time and I have fed ground flax for years so no need to buy that in a bag. The horses ate it fine, they looked about the same as Gro N Win. I wasn’t getting any health benefits that I already wasn’t getting for the other feed, I did not want to make a trip to that feed store and I wasn’t getting any financial benefits so I stopped feeding it. My horses are air ferns that get grass pasture about 9 months out of the year and even the 20+ year old one that managed to self destruct at an early age and has never worked a day in her life has a lovely top line. So I am sticking with Gro N win.
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I’m really, really curious why you’re feeding a full serving of a ration balancer, on top of a full serving of a Sr feed? You’re supplying 4mg of selenium between those 2 - do you check Se levels at all?
Good point on Selenium @JB - our hay is tested and is low in Selenium, my horse is not on pasture to get it from grass, and I check Selenium levels on him yearly. My vet recommends Omega supplemenation for my horse as he has skin allergies that seem to improve with Omegas and doesn’t have access to pasture where I board. She recommended the Omega Match at 2 pounds in addition to his current grain ration based on his workload. I cut the Omega Match to 1 pound in winter when he’s in lighter work.
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did she say why she wanted this level of fortification on top of 12lb of Sr, and not just add a cup of flax?
Yes. That is what I do. A bag of flax and a Walmart coffee grinder do the job just fine and is sure cheaper than buying a niche feed that probably doesn’t have as much flax in it anyway. Yes flax has gone up but still more cost effective for what you get.
it has enough Omega 3 in it to match the amount from 4 hours of grazing reasonably lush grass. 2lb has 31gm of Omega 3. According to nutritiondata.self.com, 1c whole flax has 38gm, so it’s pretty close
I tried ground flax but this horse won’t eat it - he picks out all non-pelleted supplements, so we went with the Omega Match because it’s pelleted. Not to hijack the thread but if there are any recommendations for pelleted Omega sources without the additional ingredients I’d love to try one! He also won’t eat oil or else I’d supplement that way.
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The info about Omega Match is a bit conflicting, as a sell sheet says:
“Each pound of Omega Match® Ration Balancer provides a similar amount of omega-3 fatty acids as grazing fresh pasture for two hours.”
So, 2lb = 4hours
The Purina research says
A horse consuming 2 pounds of Purina® Omega Match™ Ration Balancer per day will receive the same amount of omega-3 fatty acids as a horse on pasture for a 4-hour period.
But then, after discussing the study criteria, it says
Taken together these data indicate that feeding 2 lb per 1000 lb BW of Purina® Omega Match™ Ration Balancer per day to horses produces a plasma fatty acid profile similar to that of horses consuming pasture 24 hr per day
So, I’m not sure what to make of that. Either way, the amount of O3 in 2lb is similar to the amount in 1c of flax
I think there are some, but I’ll have to look/ask, as I don’t recall what they are offhand.
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I would also be interested in pelleted O3 supps.
I asked some of my peeps. 2 came up - Flix by Horseguard, and Smart & Simple Flax from Smart Pack. The Flix is flaxseed meal, and no indication of how much Omega 3 in their 4-8oz serving. SSF is only 5.6gm O3 in a serving. Neither sound worth the cost
Heck, if the numbers are working for the mix you’re feeding, his Se is normal, and he’s happy, then I say keep on 
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Thank you for the research! It’s taken me literal years to find a combo that he eats and can maintain weight on, but I have an ongoing paranoia that I’m going to poison him with Selenium. I’ll keep those recs in mind if he Se levels ever get too high.
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Anyone know the NSC of this product? The label lists “sugar” and “starch” but not ESC, WSC or NSC?
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NSC can be calculated by adding the sugar and starch values. 7.5% starch, 5.0% sugar = 12.5% NSC.
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Yes, add the 2 together. It’s a reasonable assumption that “sugar” is really WSC, and NSC = WSC + starch.
ESC is a subset of WSC.
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Thanks for all the input, everyone. Purina has done a TON of research on this product. I love the full dose of biotin, also, if fed at the recommended 2 pounds per day. I called and talked to a very nice, knowledgeable Purina rep. She said they developed this product specifically for people who were asking for all the things it offers. This video is very informative. I can also cut her Outlast in half when feeding this product.
I like the natural Vit e and Biotin especially
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