Switching vitamin mineral supplements?

[Scribbler]

I’m in a part of Canada with no access to a really comprehensive ration balancer. For the past decade I’ve been feeding easy keepers a small mash of beet pulp and alfalfa cubes, with flax and a vitamin mineral supplement.

My VMS has been Support One by Pureform (a local Canadian company) as the best bang for the buck on the local market. But it’s been going up in price, and I’ve found about a newer company, Mad Barn (also Canadian but on the other side of the country) that isn’t stocked locally but will ship for free.

Support One is now up to $2.17 a serving at the best value local feed store (the prices on the link are the much lower American prices). Mad Barn Omneity is coming out at 89 cents a feed on the Canadian website.

I see no reason not to switch. Omneity is running significantly higher in copper, zinc, biotin, calcium and similar in other things. They are also a bit higher in selenium and iron, but we are in a low selenium and low iron environment. Am I missing anything?

Support One also has a small dose of Glucosamine and MSM. My main horse has been getting this for a decade and is now turning 17 this year, with no joint problems at all, but then she has not had a hard riding life either. Is it possible that she’s been protected all these years? I didn’t choose the Support One for the joint stuff.

Anyhow the horses are two mature easy keeper happy eating mares with no health problems. Both have improved condition and hoof quality when they went on full doses of Support One, but that’s compared to no supplement at all. They are otherwise getting good second cut Timothy hay (not tested) and beet pulp mash with flax. Still, it’s possible the extra copper zinc and biotin might improve hoof quality?

Mad Barn also does an Amino Trace supplement specifically for Cushings and laminitis with the much higher copper zinc and biotin levels considered current best practice for those issues but it is $2.20 a feeding and neither horse has these issues.

So for price and nutrition levels this is a no-brainer, right? Unless anyone is seeing a red flag I’m missing?

https://www.pureformequinehealth.com/productdetails.aspx?PRODUCT_ID=14

https://madbarn.ca/product/omneity/

I also posted the nutrient information below in replies, cut and pasted it in.

[Scribbler]

Support One by Pureform
Vitamin Mineral Supplement Powder
Cost in Canada $2.17 a day.

Contents per daily serving: 58g
2 Level Scoops

Glucosamine HCl 5,000 mg
Methyl Sulfonyl Methane (MSM) 5,000 mg
L-Lycine (L-Lycine HCl) 2,000 mg
DL-Methionine 1,500 mg
Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid) 3,000 mg
Vitamin A 25,000
7.5 IU
mg
Vitamin D3 7,200
180 IU
mcg
Vitamin E (dl-alpha tocopheryl acetate) 1,500
1,350 IU
mg
Vitamin K (Hetrazeen) 45 mg
Vitamin B1 (Thiamine HCl) 90 mg
Riboflavin (Riboflavin) 45 mg
Vitamin B3 (Niacin) 140 mg
Vitamin B5 (Calcium Pantothenate) 180 mg
Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine) 45 mg
Vitamin B12 (Cyanocobalamin) 200 mcg
Folic Acid (Folate) 9.0 mg
Biotin (D-Biotin) 3.6 mg
Choline (Choline Chloride) 200 mg
Calcium (Mono Calcium Phosphate &Calcium Carbonate) 6,500 mg
Phosphorus (Mono Calcium Phosphate) 4,500 mg
Magnesium (Magnesium Oxide) 2,000 mg
Chromium (Chromium Yeast) 1,800 mg
Manganese (Manganese Proteinate) 140 mg
Zinc (Zinc Proteinate) 180 mg
Iron (Iron Proteinate) 27 mg
Copper (Copper Proteinate) 54 mg
Selenium (Sodium Selenite) 1.4 mg
Cobalt Cobalamin 54 mcg
Iodine (Calcium Iodate) 1.2 mg

In-Active Ingredients
Molasses Powder 1,800 mg

[Scribbler]

Mad Barn Omneity

General Vitamin/Mineral Supplement

120 grams a day = 89 cents a day

Nutrients		Value	Units	Per 120g	Units
Crude Protein	(min)	10	%	12	g
Lysine	(min)	9	% CP	1.1	g
Methionine	(min)	3	% CP	0.4	g
Threonine	(min)	7	% CP	1	g
Calcium	(act)	9	%	10.8	g
Phosphorus	(act)	5	%	6	g
Salt	(act)	13	%	15.6	g
Sodium	(act)	5	%	6	g
Magnesium	(act)	4.5	%	5.4	g
Potassium	(act)	1	%	1.2	g
Iron	(max)	900	mg/kg	108	mg
Selenium	(act)	20	mg/kg	2.4	mg
Zinc	(act)	4,150	mg/kg	498	mg
Copper	(act)	1,000	mg/kg	120	mg
Manganese	(act)	2,000	mg/kg	240	mg
Cobalt	(act)	32	mg/kg	3.8	mg
Iodine	(act)	40	mg/kg	4.8	mg
Vitamin A	(min)	250	KIU/kg	30	KIU
Vitamin D	(min)	60	KIU/kg	7.2	KIU
Vitamin E	(min)	8,500	IU/kg	1020	IU
Menadione (K3)	(min)	10	mg/kg	1.2	mg
Thiamine	(min)	450	mg/kg	54	mg
Riboflavin	(min)	400	mg/kg	48	mg
Biotin	(min)	160	mg/kg	19.2	mg
Folic Acid	(min)	100	mg/kg	12	mg
Niacin	(min)	2200	mg/kg	264	mg
Pantothenic Acid	(min)	650	mg/kg	78	mg
Pyridoxine	(min)	250	mg/kg	30	mg
Vitamin B12	(min)	1,500	ug/kg	180	ug
Choline	(min)	2,500	mg/kg	300	mg
Ascorbic Acid	(min)	3,000	mg/kg	360	mg
Fluorine	(max)	500	mg/kg	60	mg
Total Bacteria and Yeast	(min)	0.2	1×10^9 cfu/g	24	1×10^9 cfu
Total Enzyme Activity	(min)	500	U/kg	60	U

[greywithchrome]

Love MadBarn products! Highly recommend. I have used both the Omenity and the Amino Trace.

[SolarFlare]

Mad Barn is great, and also good to deal with for customer service.

My caution is you may want to either purchase a small amount locally, or request a sample from Mad Barn (or buy the smaller bucket from them). Because they don’t use any fillers, the Omneity does not taste good. Not thinking it would be an issue, I bought the giant bag of Omneity Premix for my horse, and started him on a small amount. He seemed to eat it okay to start, but after about a week refused to eat more than maybe 1/4 of his feed if it had any Omneity in it. I tried splitting it into smaller doses (1/2 am, 1/2 pm) - he started refusing all of his feed. FWIW, he gets soaked feed with other supplements, and it’s not just a tiny amount of RB - it’s several pounds, so the Omneity would be mixed throughout.

I talked to a Mad Barn rep, and asked if they could send me just a little sample of the Omneity pellets to see if that helped. They sent me (for free!) about a dozen packets. Unfortunately my horse refused those too. I ended up selling my big bag to another boarder.

I have heard several other people say they’ve had the same issue with the horse refusing to eat it.

I do use some of their single-ingredient products with no issue (I mix my own TriAmino, and also MSM).

[greywithchrome]

My TB mare will eat anything from Mad Barn no issue. I dont even have to introduce it slowly I can just dump it in. She’s currently on the Visceral and Amino Trace.

My pony, however, has been more picky. But I have found that as long as I introduce it almost pellet by pellet she will eventually eat the full dose with no problems.

That is unfortunate that your gelding just changed his mind about it! I didn’t know they were open to sending out sample packets, that’s awesome.

[SolarFlare]

It’s too bad, because I’d like to feed it, but we tried for weeks and he was dropping weight due to not eating. We didn’t realize it was the Omneity because he seemed to have accepted it at the start, but I pulled out everything then added back one at a time and he quit eating again when the Omneity was put back. We even tried adding a different feed that we know he’s eaten before to mask the taste but no go.

I just wanted to save others the hassle of buying the giant bag and then realizing their horse won’t eat it!

[Scribbler]

Thank you! I know someone at my barn that uses Omniety. Perhaps I can buy a quart off her to try.

I did use a month of Amino Trace and it is very palatable

I didn’t see Omniety pellets on the website. What are they like?

My current VMS has some molasses powder added and tastes a bit like a children’s chewable vitamin, slightly sweet with that vitamin pill kick in the background. My big mare has been known to lick it out of my hand. The new horse is a bit more reluctant and needed working up to a full dose

[GoodTimes]

You’re lucky. Two of my three horses wouldn’t touch the Amino Trace or the Omniety.

[SolarFlare]

@Scribbler

I didn’t see Omniety pellets on the website. What are they like?

They’re called “Omneity P” on the website. The “Omneity Premix” is the granular/powder regular blend.
https://madbarn.ca/product/omneity-p/

I don’t think there’s much difference in terms of ingredients, just whatever they do to make it stick into a pellet shape. Looking through the reviews, people are saying it’s palatable and horses eat it, but mine would not. I think I still have most of the packets left that MB sent me - maybe it’s worth trying the pellets now that he’s not in the frame of mind to be suspicious of his food any more (it’s been quite a while since we removed the Omneity Premix).

[SolarFlare]

@GoodTimes

You’re lucky. Two of my three horses wouldn’t touch the Amino Trace or the Omniety.

Another person at the barn uses the Amino Trace and let me see if he’d eat that. I just offered him a tiny handful and he wouldn’t touch it, but that’s also when he was pretty much not eating his meals, and I also just offered it by hand. I’m a bit backed off trying again as I don’t want to put him off his feed, and I’ve got other supplements that he’s fine with. I also had some bloodwork done late last year and everything that was on there, including vit E, selenium, magnesium, etc was normal so I guess no need to really mess around with his diet again.

[Prairie_Girl]

Hi Scribbler!

We also use MadBarn products and love them no complaints the company is great to deal with! Some stores are starting to carry their products so you don’t have to wait for shipping (typically 3-4 days). Depending on your location Ark Nutrition makes a vitamin/mineral supplement called Synergy. I started using Synergy when Nutrequin Elite was getting to hard to get (have to get it from a vet clinic).