I’ve narrowed it down to Vermont Blend, California Trace + Uckele U Balance Foundation, and Mad Barn Trace Amino + for my over weight Performance IR warmblood mares (one of which is recuperating from acute laminitis that was triggered by steroids). What are people’s favorites of the ones I’ve mentioned ?? These mares were on Buckeye Gro N Win (2lbs/day) but i stopped giving that as the ECIR group says it’s not on the safe/approved list …going by ingredients …I like what some have and some amounts but they all vary …I like that the u balance contains various vitamins along with minerals and aminos but hardly any biotin …and Vermont Blend & California Trace + contains high key amounts of minerals , aminos and biotin but no vitamins ?? Mad Barns Trace Amino + seems to check all those boxes but contains iron which I believe is frowned upon for IR horses …but yet it’s on the approved list??
I’m trying to simplify things and ideally would like an all in one product or close to it that will provide all the nutrition and support for an IR performance Horse …again sorry if this is redundant and a spin-off from last weeks post.
Thanks again in advance
I don’t have any experience with IR/PPID horses - but I will say that I have never been let down by a Mad Barn product. Amino Trace + is specifically designed to be safe for IR horses - but if you have a Q or concern about any of the ingredients I’d highly recommend giving them a shout. Super knowledgeable and friendly folks!
Ok thank you ! That’s not a bad idea…,I will reach out regarding my concerns on the iron in the ingrieidents.
They are all great products, and all are best, or “worst”, for any given hay.
The key is - you really need a forage analysis to know which one is best for you.
Mad Barn is more comprehensive than CT or VB, but if you don’t NEED those additional nutrients, then maybe you’re paying for stuff you don’t need.
VB has magnesium, CT doesn’t, but Mg is easy to add. CT has Vit A and E, VB doesn’t, but many horses don’t need A, and E is cheap and easy to add (and you’d still potentially need to add some to the CT).
You just have to do the dirty work of a chart comparing which nutrients and how much of each, each provides in a serving, and go from there.
As to the last part, I have a chart somewhere…let me see if I can find it. I didn’t make it, someone else on the Hoof Rehab group on FB did :lol: but it’s pretty handy.
And I was also going to ask about hay… Hard to say which is better or worse for a given situation without that!
OP, it may also be a choice of palatability. You might see about getting a sample of each of your serious contenders to see what your crew will actually eat. I use VT Blend myself and have been exceptionally happy with the results.
To JB’s point above - doing the analysis is really the absolute best bet. MB makes custom blends and can help you with creating something that works well for your forage and feed. I feed a custom blend by them that is tailored to the general mineral profile of forage in my region, which I was able to get by talking with my provincial agriculture lab. I can’t control my hay supply enough to be able to make a blend that is totally balanced to my forage profile - but this is a really good second best for me, and is a really cost effective way of getting what I need.
Ok …here’s an old analysis of the low sugar Timothy that they are eating …i am currently waiting on results of a new current analysis …but this will give general idea…wouldn’t let me attach picture:
Moisture 7.9
dry matter 92.1
crude protein 9.2
available protein 8.5
ADICP .8
Adjusted crude protein 9.2
soluble protein & cp 65
NDICP 3.0
ADF 39.2
NDF 61.7
lignin 5.4
NFC 14.1
starch 1.1
WSC 8.8
ESC 4.8
crude fat 2.5
ash 7.94
TDN 54
NEL mcal/lb .44
NEMmcal/lb .48
NEG mcal/lb .25
relative feed value 77
calcium .43
phosphorus .21
magnesium .19
potassium 1.71
sulfur .13
chloride .52
IVDT 30hr % of DM 66
NDFD 30hr % of NDF 50
% lysine .32
%methionine .80
Energy -
DE, 1x 1.11
ME, 1x 0.92
NEL ,3x 0.51
NEM,3x 0.53
NEG,3x 0.27
TD NIX % 56
Make sure your new analysis includes the trace mineral profile as well. You really want to know fe/cu/zn and potentially mn
Yes I added on a Trace mineral profile ! in the meantime I’ve been just giving them a small amount of Timothy balance cubes along with their meds/supplements until I get results
