My horse is a super easy keeper but I fell for the ‘ration balancer’ thing. Everyone seems to like Purina Enrich 32 and TC 30 seemed similar so I went for it. He gets one cup. He’s no longer a kick ride, likes to half bolt at stupid things, and seems to have a sassy side while he used to look forward to his work. He’s very sound, not sore…
Too much protein? Too much of everything? Not enough training? :winkgrin:
Ok, so remembered putting my TB on something with high protein for weight gain, he was NUTS. I looked it up and it’s called “Fat Cat”. It looks sort of similar to the TC supplement. I think I should take him off of this!
What I REALLY don’t get is why “Fat Cat” is a weight builder (and it does work), Purina Enrich 32 is a ration balancer, and TC 30% is for performance horses??? But they all seem similar?
What was he eating before the TC30? I switched a pony to TC Lite, and for the first time he was getting enough vitamins, minerals and amino acids. Result? He felt better and it showed. His energy level went up, he had more spunk, etc. I realized that was his true self and before that, he was lazier because he hadn’t been getting proper nutrition.
He was getting the Purina Enrich 32 with his previous owner, and for a while with me until I figured he didn’t need it… but then I felt bad not giving him anything while everyone else ate. He wasn’t this spunky on the Purina, so I don’t think it’s a lack of nutrition, his hair and feet look great, nice muscle too.
Any idea why similar products would be in the weight gain category? I just looked up Calf Manna, also looks similar… unless I’m missing something I think I’m over energizing him. I think he was happier with less nutrition, when he could relax and things weren’t out to get him.
1c of TC30 is 1/3 of a pound - hardly a great deal of protein 
And, you might as well give a vit/min supplement instead of this amount.
Just drop the TC for a few days and see if he goes back to his normal self. If he does, then you know it’s probably a reaction to an ingredient in the TC. You can then put him on the E32 and see if the same reaction occurs. If so, my guess would be the soy. If not, then you know it’s something pretty specific to the TC30
Fat Cat is a high fat supplement, hence “weight builder”. It’s not at all a protein supplement or a truly nutritional supplement. It may be “high protein” on the label - 24% - but you feed 1-2 30gm scoops. 1lb of 454gm, so even 2 scoops is only about 1/8th of a pound. Ration balancers at 30-32% protein are fed at minimally 1lb, with highest amounts in the 3-3.5lb range.
Different companies market their “ration balancer”, or “diet balancers” differently. TC happens to call theirs a “performance supplement” because of the increased nutritional value. But lay them ALL side by side and they are all just about identical, little tweaks here and there (ie Enrich 32 is 32% protein instead of the typical 30, and contains about 12gm of lysine per pound instead of the typical 10)
Progressive calls theirs “diet balancers”.
Different labeling/marketing, same basic products
The marketing/sales thing makes sense, although it’s a crappy way to go about it since I don’t need a weight builder for my FAT horse!
Fat Cat: I thought the same weight builder = high fat. But this one confused me since it’s high protein, but only 3% fat?!
I hadn’t thought of the soy, does it commonly cause hyper sensitivity, anxiety, excess energy?
… and of course Purina doesn’t list ingredients so who knows about the soy in that one?
All RBs will have soy as one of the ingredients. It’s a primary source of protein. In fact, it’s hard to find horse feed without it.
I doubt you’re feeding enough of the TC 30 to make much of a difference in anything, but who knows? How long have you been feeding it? Has the weather changed (as in, gotten colder or windy, which might make him more spooky)? I would give it at least a couple of weeks to see how he does before you take him off it.
If you’re only going to feed a cup a day though, you might be better off just throwing a vit/min supplement in a handful of beet pulp or other feed.
When you say “one cup” do you mean one cup as in the measurement or one scoop? I’m sure you mean one cup, but I just wanted to clarify. It’s just that I can’t imagine a horse getting nutty off of one cup of any ration balancer. Has your hay changed? Weather changes? Change in pasture mates? Have you added any supplements, like msm or anything?
Yes, I’m only giving one cup. He also gets 1/3 cup Omega Horseshine, but that hasn’t changed recently… been about a month. Maybe that’s it? We have several cuts of hay, but all grass.
The thing I’ve been wondering… he’s really young and green and recently had a trainer get a bit more demanding than he’s used to… the goal was to make him more reactive, less thinking, more moving. It’s not my style, although he didn’t seem traumatized at the time. Could one instance change his whole attitude?
I have easy keepers and give a vit. sup with a cup of Tim/alf pellets with a 1/2 c ground flax on the side. I tried the Cavalor low starch for one week, only a cup a day and my horse was jumping out of her skin. Took her off and in 2 days back to her old self. Looked at the TC at one point but decided against it.
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