Safe Choice

[Linda Y]

I have been feeding Nutrena Safe Choice for quite a while now. This year, right before the start of cold weather, I noticed that the 4 horses that are on it were losing weight. I attributed it to the grass not growing any more and increased their feed. Plus, 2 of them had been sick, so I factored that in too. Well, 2 look ok now, one I had to start adding a high fat sweet feed, and the last one still looks like crap.
Browsing through the FLhorse list, I saw a thread about Safe Choice, and almost everyone on there said that their horses have recently lost weight on it! Seems they changed the formula. So, now I guess I am going to have to be on the lookout for a low starch feed that they actually carry in this area. How discouraging! Pretty much all we have to choose from locally is Nutrena and Purina.

[SandyMM]

Keep a look-out for Seminole Feed. They have begun to expand their marketing areas. I feed Seminole's Safe'n'Lite to one horse here. He has maintained excellent weight. In fact, I have cut him back a bit recently.

[Terri]

OOOOH NOOOO!!! I will NEVER use Safe Choice again. I used it all summer for my guys and while they didn't loose weight that was probably due to the fact that they had grass. I started noticing a decided lack of Brio, they tired easier. Even my boarder, a 14 year old kid, said to me "Prince is acting lazier in the show ring". I cast a suspicious eye on the feed and switched back to Purina's Strategy. I've used Strategy for years and like it. I only switched to Safe Choice because it looked like the same feed (protein and fat and starch levels) and was $2.00 a bag cheaper. WRONG. Yes they both have moderate starch/carb levels and 14% protein and 6% fat, (and who monitors that anyway?) but Stategy is simply a better quality feed . Within a few weeks of the change I started noticing an "up tick" in energy levels. The only thing Safe Choice has is a prettier bag. Every time I switch off of Purina foods for either the horses or the dog, I end up regretting it.

[DSDECKERT]

Linda - I use the Purina Low Starch - and Bianca does great on it. If you want to try it, I have some $15.00 off coupons from my vet - I could send you a couple. They expire Jan 31st and I'll never use them all. I think it runs around 27.00 a bag at my feed store, so the coupon definitely helps!

[motorgypsy]

Purina Ultium is low starch high fat and protein. It does a good job and our guys eat it but prefer triple crown senior or Seminole Wellness senior over it. We feed Ultium if we can't get the TC or Seminole with no problems other than preference. It's about $21 a bag but has some serious calories so you don't need to feed much. We feed 1/3 scoop once a day plus unlimited grass hay and our guys are fat.

Nutrena makes Empower which is very high fat and you could add this to their low starch feed. It just may be too low in calories. If you leave out carbs you have to add fat and protein or at least fat to get the same amount of calories in the same volume of feed.

[Linda Y]

I will have to check on the Empower. I am afraid that the Purina Low Starch is too pricy for me to feed to 4 horses. Fixed income...low income...broke.
And I definitely DON'T want more energy! :<) I WANT lazy!

[Carol Nelson]

I have fed Nutrena Safe Choice for years. I switched momentarily to ADM Patriot and realized I was having to feed so much more to get the bloom I wanted on my horses. When I went back to Safe Choice, I saw the bloom return and couldn't believe how much healthier they looked, and how their coats shown.
From day one, I was told that if my horses were worked heavily or for horses in training they might need a heavier "octane" feed. I never thought any different. But for foundered horses, or horses just on maintenance, or as a supplement to good pasture, Safe Choice wins hands down. I am so taken with it, I've even considered becoming a dealer.

[lanierbabe]

Linda,
I have 16 horses on Safe Choice and have not had any problems with weight lost. Ages ranging from weanlings to 13 years. I like it because it's a beet pulp based and low carb. We have about 1/2 of our horses on 24 hour turnout the other half are stalled during the night. Since about Oct we have supplemented our pastures with free-choice hay so perhaps they are getting sufficient forage to maintain their weight. I'd like to learn more about the formula change if you have any specifics. Thanks.

[Siggy]

empower is rice bran - for the most part and far more expensive than the other rice bran supplement available.

corn base feed create heat, are not good for low carb diet, but low carb is not for every horse, some need carbs to do well and have different metabolism.

a basic good feed can usually be found at a co-op if you do not need low carb. Ask specific corn amount in these feeds (for lower carb needs) but
these are base on oat and beet pulp also have Lysine, biotin, probiotic (yeast culture). For hard keeper try next generation mare and foal in addition to the lower carb beet pulp called endurance.

These feed are 12 or 15 dollars each, the next generation as suppliment will last very long when added to the endurance.
We have many of our on just the 14% advantage from co-op to and is approx $9 per bag.
I like a feed that is oat base and find mine do better.

[motorgypsy]

You do feed a tiny amount of Empower. The high calorie supplement I like the best though is Buckeye Ultimate Finish. It's really yummy and a vet I know eats it for breakfast.

You can add beet pulp to a higher carb feed and make it proportionally lower carb as beet pulp has almost zero carbs but you will throw off the proportion of the added nutrients. We only feed beet pulp straight when we need to hydrate a lot like before an endurance ride.

You really aren't going to get much cheaper than feeding 1/3 scoop of grain per day. We're also on fixed income and really watch our expenditures to get the best "bang for our buck".

One bag of Ultium has about 20 scoops in it if I remember correctly - maybe more. So 1 and 1/3 bags feeds three horses for a month. Not too bad. TC senior is cheaper. Seminole Wellness is a bit cheaper also I think but Ultium is the highest calorie of all and does not make the horses hot at all. Carbs are linked to both founder and hotter behavior, not protein or fats. Our vet told us initally to go with the high protein high fat feeds and to adjust quantity as we needed so they don't get too fast so we tried it with great results.

One story - we generally feed Triple Crown senior. While we were out of town our two boys managed to break into the barn three times in one week before our horse sitter found a way to stop them from getting in. They would actually lift the huge door away from the lock and then slide it open. While in there they gorged on Triple Crown senior grain eating as much as they could. Three times in one week they did this. Neither foundered or had any digestive problems at all. I find that pretty amazing and they did eat quite a bit. They were also quite adept at opening the feed bags which not at all easy to open as they are very tough paper and plastic lined. Too darned smart aren't they. But the beet pulp based feeds are a lot less likely to cause founder and no colic from either one from the incident thank goodness.

Good luck finding a solution.

[DSDECKERT]

I am afraid that the Purina Low Starch is too pricy for me to feed to 4 horses. Fixed income...low income...broke.
And I definitely DON'T want more energy! :<) I WANT lazy!


Bianca only eats about 3 cups a day, so a 50 lb bag lasts me a long time! If you have somewhere to store it, email me your home address and I'll mail you several coupons to try it.

[Linda Y]

Sent!

[motorgypsy]

Glad I'm not the only one who "starves" their poor underfed babies (according to THEM:rolleyes::rolleyes:) I believe they get fat on air. And they run around all the time too.

[Linda Y]

I really do think that Casi is hungry! She comes to the fence every night after I let them out and gives me the sad blue eyes. She has IR, and that makes her hungry anyway, but she is the one that just isn't thriving on the Safe Choice. I hate to increase her feed since she is foundered and hasn't had any bad episodes in a while.

[Cindy]

I would try the Purina Ultium.

[Carol Nelson]

Two things I've also done when I have one that doesn't thrive....float their teeth and worm with a broad spectrum wormer. :)