TC Complete or Senior? Which One Do You Use & Why?

[gooselover]

Thinking of changing over to TC from Nutrena. I noticed that Nutrene changed their ingredients again with the first ingredient being "plant grain". What is that?????

All the OTTB's -17.2+H- are in great weight now - took about a year.

Anyway, for those of you that use TC - which do you use and why? I do have "poor" pasture for now, but do have good free choice hay. Thanks for the replies.

[alteringwego]

I always liked the Complete for my performance horses and still supplemented with beet pulp. But either is a great feed. Can't go wrong.

[gooselover]

Thanks - why did you choose Complete and why did you still supplement with BP?

[dwblover]

Senior is a little lower in NSC%, but they are both great feeds. I have fed both in the past and love them.

[ptownevt]

I use the TC Senior because it is higher fat and lower NSC for my hard keeping, loony TBs. They do very well on it.

[TooManyChickens]

I have my 4 year old TB, my 3 year old WB/TB and my 26 year old QH on it. I haven't seen them ever look so good! (Just switched them all over about 3 months ago). In the winter I add warm beet pulp to it Am and Pm, just to make a belly warm and to give them a little extra padding for the winter months. I like the higher fat content in the senior, and the low NSC. I swear my TB is quieter on it.

[tcnhorsefeed]

Both are textured beet pulp based feeds, both ARE 10% fat, Senior is 11.7% NSC, Complete is 20.6% NSC, Senior is 14% protein while Complete is 11%. Senior is a bit more nutrient dense than Complete as it was designed for horses with dentition problems or (as with an older horse) may not utilize nutrients as well as they used to. But both can be appropriate for many horses. If you happen to have hay that is very high in protein, you may choose the complete....if you have some "hot" horses and want to keep them as quiet as possible, many people will choose Senior for the lower NSC%.

Both would have a minimum feeding recommendation of 5lb per day, more can be fed to maintain body weight.

[mypaintwattie]

I use the Complete, and it has helped my hard keeper really 'bloom'. She has gained and maintained her weight and looks fabulous. I add additional beet pulp to help mix in her supplements, and she gobbles it right down.

[gooselover]

Sounds like either would work. My horses are NOT hot and I do NOT want them hot.

""""Which one is more calorie dense?""""""" They are somewhat hard keepers

Thanks

[Mimi La Rue]

My horse gets the Low Starch. I tried him on Senior first and it made him a lunatic. I took him off it and my smart, calm, lazy WB was back to normal. I then started him on the Low Starch because my mom's horse gets that and there was no changes at all attitude and hotness wise.

[turningpointequine]

I was feeding the Complete but switched to Senior due to the higher protein and lower NSC. Love it! Everybody looks great. Also love that whenever I have a question the company has been more than helpful.

[BeastieSlave]

I like Complete for my horses who aren't elderly and generally don't feed the Senior formula until my older horses 'need' it. Senior has higher protein, more Lactobacillus and Saccharomyces Cerevisiae that're helpful for my oldies.

FWIW, I have a couple easy keepers and a growing youngster on TC 30% and oats. I've been very happy with that too.

[TeamBrickman]

Don't know if anyone else has had this experience, but my feed cans are stored outside, and in the winter, the TC Complete freezes harder than a brick! It takes some serious chipping at it to get it in the buckets. TC Senior gets hard, but nowhere near as bad as the Complete.

Our guys do great on TC feeds, so for us, we feed TC Complete in the summer and TC Senior in the winter. Less chipping, faster dinner, happy horses.

[Invite]

I feed the TC Senior to my 13 y/o TB gelding and my 4 y/o Selle Francais. I feed the Senior because it is higher in protein. I need the increased protein because my hay is not a high protein hay. It is a grass mix. My vet actually suggested the Senior when my 4 y/o was a baby because she didn't want Roo eating 16% protein, but the Complete was too low in protein. My 6 y/o TB mare who just went to stay with a friend and try life as a hunter rather than a dressage horse is also on the TC Senior. I do feed a vitamin supplement because I do not feed enough grain to have the horses get all the nutrients. My horses are all rather quiet. I am disabled and I am able to handle them. I actually backed and broke the 4 year old. The TC Senior has not made my horses hot at all.

[Granada]

I switched from Nutrena XTN mixed with beet pulp to TC Senior mixed with alfalfa pellets two months ago and am very happy with cost savings and horse health.

My horses are on pasture 24/7 and hay from mid Nov to March.
-TB- 16yrs hard keeper was on 9lb XTN and 3lb dry BP/day; now on 6lb TC Senior, 4lb Alafalfa pellets

-Morgan-25+yrs hard keepr b/c of age was on 10lb Purina Equine Senior/day; now on 8lb TC Senior, 3lb Alfalfa Pellets

-WB-12yrs medium to easy keeper was on 5lb XTN and 2lb BP/day; now on 4lb TC Senior; 3lb Alfafla Pellets.

They've all gained weight and are looking great, and my cost savings is very good with the cheaper bags and less feed :-)

I have also tried safe choice and that just didn't work at all for me.
XTN is higher in fat and nutrients, but I found that the oats were going right through and they are utd on teeth, so I think they weren't getting all of the nutrients listed in the guaranteed analysis.

[Samigator]

The senior is more calorie/macronutrient dense because of the higher protein content.

I feed my 3 y/o TC Senior because my feed store doesn't carry the Complete. :winkgrin: They're both pretty similar though, and great feeds, so I'd be happy to feed either one. I really like it and my horse thinks it's pretty tasty too. I switched from Purina Ultium this past summer, which I also really liked, but the TC is cheaper and has more vitamins and minerals.

My only complaint so far is as TeamBrickman said, it does freeze pretty solid- I can't speak for the Complete, but we've had temps in the 40's this month and I have had to break up the Senior to get it into serving sizes/edible sized pieces. I'm thinking I may have to keep it indoors when we actually get into winter.

[onetempies]

My choices from the TC line are Low Starch & Lite. Right now both horses are on Low Starch. Horse #1 is a hard keeper TB mare. She gets the Low Starch mixed with alfalfa cubes & beet pulp... all 3 soaked together since she has choked in the past due to trying to crib while eating. Horse #2 is a Holsteiner gelding who is getting upped to 2 1/2 lbs 2x a day (18hh and in consistent work again). The Senior would be my next choice based on NSC levels. Both horses are also prone to ulcers so I'm always careful of the starch/sugar levels in feeds and treats for them.

[MediaMD]

Based on advice here, I switched my 2 1/2 yr old ISR (GRP/Oldenburg) from Nutrena Grow Safe to TC Senior which is what my 25 yr old OTTB is on. We have NO grass so the horses get a mixture of Coastal, orchard/alfalfa when I can afford it, and Timothy several times a day in their one acre paddock. We stuff the mixture into 3 large Nibble Nets and the 3 horses share them in the pasture.

My problem is, she is pretty chunky--not obese but definitely not thin-and we have progressively cut her grain down to 2lbs a day to try to get a little weight off. She looks fantastic--dappled and healthy, just a little more of a "plus size model" than I would like.

I have been told that growing horses shouldn't carry too much weight for their joints but since she is half GRP (her sire is FS Daily Hero) she is an incredibly easy keeper. I don't want to cut her grain any more and really like the tC senior for all the reasons mentioned above. Plus, I think it's important for her to have the vitamins and minerals to aid in her growth. I hate to cut her hay too much more for over night (she gets two med flakes of coastal and one dense flake of timothy) and since she's not doing much but being ponied a few times a week it's not like I can really increase her exercise to get the weight off.

Should I just not worry too much about it until she is consistently under saddle? We are sending her to a friend's place who has a number of babies her age to play with for a few weeks so she'll have a huge pasture to gallop around in. But I do want to make sure I"m giving her enough of what she needs to grow without putting strain on her joints or causing her to founder or become IR.

Any advice?

[sweetpea]

Switched to it for my hottie-- I feed less now than other feeds .
Made the decision based off of a conversation with Triple Crown

[FlashGordon]

MediaMD, why not go the ration balancer route, try Triple Crown 30%, and only give her 1-2lbs. Or what about their Lite product?

My horse has been on TC senior for about 3.5 months now, after dropping a significant amount of weight early this summer. He looks fabulous and his attitude is great.

I've tried everything under the sun with this horse. This is the first time he's actually looking awesome and maintaining his weight on one single product (and good hay, of course.)

[lostkiwi]

I use TC complete for my 5 yr Old OTTB. He looks terrific on this and doesn't get goofy. I use the TC senior with the 17 yr old hard keeper TB and he is maintaining weight nicely now (I used another senior feed before TC and it was a struggle to keep weight on this horse), and just got got a new OTTB 3 yr old filly and she is real ribby so will be giving her TC senior as well to gets on lbs on her before winter sets in.
I also found I feed less of the TC than I was using other brand and am getting better results.

[BeastieSlave]

I don't remember (if I ever knew), what are the ratios like on Sr? I chose to feed my growing youngster TC 30% with whole oats added for extra calories because the Ca & Ph ratio is closer to the 'ideal' that was recommended for us.

I really liked TC Lite when I was feeding air fern ponies. They liked it too because they got to eat like their friends! The air fern I care for now gets about a pound of TC 30% a day (with 24/7 turnout in grazing muzzle and hay in winter). I think he's finally dropping some weight, but I don't need to worry that he's not getting 'the good stuff' he needs because he's not getting several pounds of feed every day.

[onetempies]

My Holsteiner gelding was on the Lite for quite awhile. He insisted on growing fast AND being an airfern. The Lite is great at just delivering the needed vitamins & minerals. If I need to feed 2lbs or less of feed, I use the Lite... anything over the 2lbs... the horse gets the Low Starch.

[suzyq]

I use complete. Started with senior but my horse quit eating it. Love both of them. My fatty gets lite with a little complete mixed in.

[blackstallion2]

Thanks for this thread - I was wondering how horses did on each as well.

[ToTheNines]

Love them both (Complete and Senior). Horses stay fat and quiet. Can't decide which I love more, so I buy both and feed out of both bags!

[ponygirl]

I feed the Senior and the 12% ration a balancer. Love both products

[zakkandtoto]

I feed the Senior because he wouldn't touch the Complete. BO figured the oats were poking him.

Frankly, he's not especially fond of the Senior, either. The barn feeds a sweet feed, so when the grain is dropped and all the other horses have their heads in their feed buckets, mine has his out the stall door waiting for his alfalfa.

He only gets 6lbs of the Senior a day divided into 3 meals and he's cleaned his bucket twice in the past 3 months*. I think I'm going to taste it tomorrow - I'm guessing there's just not a lot of flavor.

*I've taken to doctoring it with Cocosoya so he'll at least put a dent in it.