My very picky gelding loves McCauleys M10. My other 2 eagerly ate the 10 other ration balances that were rejected by the picky guy.
I have tried TC 30 with two horses. Each of them ate it for a couple days, and then would have no part of it unless it was hidden by something sweet and fattening. Too bad, because my impression is that itās a very healthy, well-made feed.
Thank you all for your comments. They have been helpful.
Our barn used to feed Progressiveās balancer, and then switched to what Progressive recommended when they were bought out (I canāt remember). All horses but one liked it, and the BO (who didnāt want to feed separate feeds) tried Purina Enrich Plus and the finicky mare likes it.
I suggest weighing the feed (what does āyour cupā weigh?) and feeding based on what your horse weighs and what the company recommends and what your horse needs. I also suggest really looking at the ingredients and determining if they offset your horseās actual diet enough to provide a complete diet.
Iāve used Purina Enrich (everyone loved it but it was pricey and Purina is so vague on their ingredient list), ADM Staystrong (everyone hated it, even the mini donks who will eat anything put in a bucket) and a local millās rb which everyone liked while it was a fixed formulaāthen the mill started making changes every batch for the sake of $; last batch I bought, everyone got rain rot, so something was out of whack. Went back to single ingredients and added a grass hay based vit/min supplement. Great results, no more rain rot, feed stays a fixed formula, and I know exactly what they are eating.
Iād be curious if youāve tried it in the last few months. They added a digestive aid package - Butipearl - which has peppermint oil in it, and it definitely smells (and likely tastes) a lot better. It no longer smells (and likely tastes LOL) like cardboard :lol:
PN wasnāt bought out. They have (always? long time anyway) been a Cargill brand. Cargill bought Southern States feed division a few years ago (which is what prompted the move of Triple Crown to be made in Purinaās mills).
Earlier this Summer, the PN feeds were merged with the Southern Statesā brand ProElite feeds. So PN Grass and Alfalfa Advantage were no more, and the PE Grass balancer changed a bit, and the PE brand added the Alfalfa balancer
The fat supplement moved to PE as well.
The rest of PN still exists, the veterinary-type things like the Rejuvenaide, and more.
I buy 1-2 bags per month, and my Triple Crown 30% is still the same cardboard-like stuff that itās always been. Iāve bought two bags this month already.
I wonder if the Butipearl-enhanced product is being rolled out regionally?
Or, itās entirely possible my feed store doesnāt get new shipments all that frequently. Although I also utilize a different, higher traffic feed store from time to time, and their Triple Crown 30% hasnāt changed, eitherā¦
They donāt mention the digestive aid package specifically on the productās website, which also makes me think it may have limited availability at this time:
https://www.triplecrownfeed.com/prodā¦tion-balancer/
Although they do mention it on the front page of their website:
https://www.triplecrownfeed.com/butipearl/?utm_source=homepagetile&utm_medium=butipearllink&utm_campaign=homepagetile
Itās new enough that itās very possible some stores donāt have it yet, whether due to their large and/or slow-moving inventory, or the old stuff is still being used up from their regional mill.
I find the Enrich cheaper than other ration balancers here.
Everyone here seems so obsessed with a " fixed formula" and really what good does that do when it can be changed( and is) or the animals eat it for a while and then donāt ???
One reliable thing about Purina and the reason I feed it exclusively if I purchase bagged feeds( 28 years now) , is that no matter what horse I am feeding or what feed I choose they eat it with gusto and do well on it .
I will choose that consistency over a fixed formula any day.
If a fixed formula (or fixed ingredient) feed is changed, you will see that change from the old bag the new.
With a āleast costā formula (ie grain products, forage products) it can change every batch if they wanted, and youād never know.
Iād been feeding TC30 for years with good results but it sure did seem like cardboard! My young horse did not love it at first and would throw her feed pan across the pasture. She seemed to become resigned to it being about all she got! Recently, my feed store stopped carrying it, thoughā¦citing quality issues (which I did not have). Rather than have to drive all over heck, I went ahead and switched to the Pro-Elite Topline Builder. It actually smells delicious! And both horses eating it just fine.
Not trying to be argumentative, but arenāt pellets extruded? The ingredients are mixed up, pushed through a die and then cut into the requisite length. Iām probably missing a nuance somewhere. 
Interesting that @JB mentioned the change in TC 30ā¦ I switched away from it about a year ago because my gelding was refusing to eat it. Right now heās on Purina Enrich Plus and his topline has filled out, his mane/tail, coat and hooves look great. I donāt know if Iāll switch back, but Iāll keep that reformulation in mind!
Extruded feeds āpopā into a kibble-like form
https://horses.extension.org/2019/07/extruded-feed/
https://bluebonnetfeeds.com/blog/feed-forms-explained/
