Triple Crown Gold

[Hope_And_A_Prayer]

@ryansgirl

You need to read the date codes on the Triple Crown bags. They are on the bottom typically and give the year and date it was manufactured (i.e. if the bag was manufactured on day 45 of 2020 you’ll see “45” on it) - I always check them when I buy.

I learned to read their tags from one of their reps when I was rehabbing a starvation case about 10 years ago and was having trouble with the feed store I was using at the time . . . and I refused so many old bags (9mos or more) that they tried ripping the tags off on one of my visits. They’d put new stuff on the display and fill orders from the back to move old product. Which I never understood because the rep told me that not only were they not required to make a minimum order but also that TC would swap out any bags that were not selling well and send them to a store with faster movement.

Even with regular expiration dates, my local TSC has stuff on the shelves that is 6 mos to a year out of date. And when attention is called to it they’re not too concerned :(. They’ve taken stuff off the shelf in front of me only to have it back on the shelf at my next visit. And had fans blowing on the bags of feed that you could hear crackling coming from and see they were crawling with bugs. It’s just not worth the risk.

[tabula_rashah]

I’m surprised about the TSC- around here, you better get there on their delivery day or close too it because the premium feeds sell out super fast

[Libby2563]

Bumping this up to see if anyone has tried the Gold products. I’m thinking of switching my hard keeper from TC Senior to Senior Gold because of the higher fat content (and, secondarily, the gastric buffering). My feed store can order it for me for only $2.30 more per bag than regular TC Senior. I did the math and 10 lb of Gold would provide almost exactly the same calories as 10 lb of regular Senior plus 2 lb of rice bran. He would be happier eating less volume, and I would save $26 a month.

Has anyone tried Senior Gold yet?

[JB]

@Libby2563

Has anyone tried Senior Gold yet?

Not personally, but many friends have and they’re really happy, including those who switched from the regular Sr. Nothing to lose!

[IPEsq]

I’ve been using the Gold Balancer for a little while. So far so good, and I’m not getting the weird coat or fat pad issues I had with TC 30 with this horse.

I picked it because it’s soy free, although I haven’t had issues with the soybean hulls in the other feeds (which you’d find in the Senior Gold), I think it was the soybean meal that was not right for this horse.

If I have to add energy and fat, I usually supplement with Complete, but I couldn’t get through a bag of it this summer without it molding on me and thus having to throw out some. For the most part, the Gold Balancer + flax has been working for me. I wouldn’t hesitate to try one of the others, though I haven’t seen the senior in stock around here, just Balancer or Perform.

[WesternSkies]

I’ve been bugging my local feed store to carry the SR Gold. My 32 year-old is doing well on the regular senior, but I love that the Gold has added electrolytes, gastric buffering, and a slightly better amino acid profile.

[stb]

I have been using the Senior Gold for my 30 ish year old pony and it has been great. The pony’s teeth are pretty much gone, so she lives on senior feed, beet pulp, and Timothy pellets/cubes. She was doing well on TC Sr feed but looks even better on Senior Gold. She is a bit of a hard keeper so the higher fat content helps keep weight on her.

I also have my two geldings on Gold Balancer and they look really good. The Gold balancer seems to be more palatable than the TC 30%, and the lower protein level of the Balancer Gold doesn’t seem to be an issue.

[ABookworm]

I’ve been feeding the Gold Balancer and Gold Senior to my horses and love it. My large pony has an easier time keeping weight off, looks better, and sweats better on the Gold Balancer, I think the protein level was too high in the 30% for her.

My small pony seems to manage the Gold Senior better with his little nubby teeth than he did the regular Senior. He looks the same and his weight has stayed consistent but I find fewer leftovers with the Gold.

My ASB lost a bit of weight with the Gold Balancer compared to the 30% but her allergies seem to have been soy related as several things we’ve struggled with for a while have vanished. She LOVES the Gold Senior and a little that seems to have put her back in good weight. The Gold line has really brought out a nice shine and feel to her coat that only Seminole Dynasport was previously able to provide.

[JB]

@ABookworm

My large pony has an easier time keeping weight off, looks better, and sweats better on the Gold Balancer, I think the protein level was too high in the 30% for her.

Far more likely to be the removal of soy. The protein difference between the 2 is only 74gm.

[ABookworm]

Good point! I am most likely mistaken, as I looked at the numbers again and protein isn’t as big of a difference as I thought off the top of my head.

[KCSLK]

For a mature horse on grass hay, is the lower protein content compared to TC30 a concern in making sure the horse gets enough protein and/or enough of the right amino acids?

[JB]

@KCSLK

For a mature horse on grass hay, is the lower protein content compared to TC30 a concern in making sure the horse gets enough protein and/or enough of the right amino acids?

It alllll depends on the quality of that grass hay, and that requires an analysis. Most grasses do provide enough crude protein for a mature horse, unless in fairly hard work. Lysine might be low, but the Balancer Gold should be fine for that.

[Libby2563]

For anyone who’s interested, I picked up a few bags of Senior Gold today. My feed store had to special order them from a bigger branch and it doesn’t seem to be very popular because the bags were dusty and dated early September, rather than late October like the bag of regular Senior I picked up to transition with. My store told me only one customer has bought one bag of Balancer Gold and I was the first to buy Senior Gold.

The texture is drier / less sticky than the regular Senior and it doesn’t smell as delicious to me, which makes sense because molasses is 10th on the list of ingredients instead of 5th. My horse ate his first serving enthusiastically though! Probably for the same reason, the bag was less bricklike than the bag of regular Senior (which is way better than a couple years ago). I’m curious to see how this horse does on it.

[JB]

Less molasses, more oil (higher fat), so it might feel/look oilier, but be “drier” and less clumpy due to less molasses

[candyappy]

I looked up the feed online and it is quite pricey. Probably why it isn’t flying off the shelves. Good news that your horse likes it.

[JB]

@candyappy

I looked up the feed online and it is quite pricey.

Where online?

In general, the Gold line is only a couple dollars more than the regular line, IF you are buying it from the physical stores

If you’re trying to buy online to have shipped to you, you’re paying freight on a 50lb bag.

[Libby2563]

FWIW Senior Gold was $3 more than regular Senior at my feed store.

It’s not oily at all! Completely dry, like TC30.

[stb]

I noticed today that my chestnut has dapples for the first time ever. He is looking really, really good on the Gold Balancer with a little bit of Senior Gold. I am really happy with this food.

[MorganSercu]

I switched my very senior horse to TC Senior Gold (from TC Senior) and finally there is some filling out with the same amount of feed. So it’s worth it to me. Not oily at all.

ETA (for myself and others):

TC Senior 1,546 cal/pound
TC Senior Gold 1,800 cal/pound
ProElite Senior 1,450 cal/pound

[JB]

At around 300 more calories per pound, it’s not surprising.