Progressive Diet Balancers

[hrfponies]

I own a 24 horse boarding stable. I have been playing around with feeds for years trying to find something I like that isn't going to break the bank. I had a couple of youngsters on the progressive diet balancer and they looked amazing, but that stuff is so expensive. I had our boarding stable on strategy and they all look good, but we had some TB's get hott and alot of impaction colics last year ( like 6!!:eek:) The hay has been checked etc. So I would like to put everyone on the diet balancers. The nutritionist says that it is actually more cost effective, but I would like to get some answers from people who have more than 5-10 horses. Do you really save money feeding the diet balancers???

[ponyjumper4]

I find it is only cost effective if they are easy keepers and all they need is the diet balancer and maybe some beet pulp in addition to their hay. If you require additional calorie sources, it can start to get expensive.

[JMurray]

Because of the expense I swtiched from Progressive to Purina and all my horses look just as good 3 months later. I am using Enrich -32 instead of Porgressive Grass Balancer and Amplify instead of Envision.

[hrfponies]

JMurray- How much is the enrich 32?

[JB]

but that stuff is so expensive.
how are you defining "expensive"? You can't simply go by the price of a 40/50lb bag. Diet/ration balancers are fed at 1, maybe 2, RARELY 3lb a day. Regular fortified feeds are generally in the 5-7lb range in order to meet the nutritional value offered.

The nutritionist says that it is actually more cost effective, but I would like to get some answers from people who have more than 5-10 horses. Do you really save money feeding the diet balancers???Saving money ENTIRELY depends on the horse's caloric needs.

Some people make the mistake of taking the horse off 7lb of grain and putting him on 1lb of a RB and can't figure out why he loses weight. Weight management is a matter of nutrition and calories.

But, many horses can go from, say, 7lb of a fortified grain product down to 1lb RB and a couple lb of alfalfa pellets and/or beet pulp and do very well.

However, a horse who requires a lot of additional calories may end up needing 2lb RB and 5-7lb a-pellets and/or bp, and that can be more $$ than, say, 5lb of a fortified feed.

Aggressive deworming to get horses really cleaned out can help with weight issues as well, then set you up for more conservative deworming.

[Maude]

I have been feeding Progressive for the last 2 years and can't say enough good things about it. The ProAdvantage Ration Balancer is fed at approximately 2 pounds a day and another product (for example Envision) is fed for weight and calories. If you are not feeding the recommended amount on the feed bag of whatever you feed, then your horse is NOT getting the amino acids (protein), vitamins and minerals it needs. I believe that the Purina Enrich 32 is around the same price as the Progressive. Personally, I don't care for Purina products. I've had problems with inconsistency. With Progressive, you always know exactly what you are getting as their sources for protein are consistent (they don't change their ingredients because they can find a cheaper source).

[retrofit]

For the horses in hard work, I think Progressive is a cost-saver or at worst, a wash. I would have to feed 2 or 3 times the amount if I were feeding, say, Ultium. And I would have to add a vit/min supplement since they still wouldn't get their nutritional reqs from the grain.

For the easy keepers, I just give ProAdd Ultimate and again, I would spend that much or more on a different vit/min supp.

Crunch the numbers and if you have to do a small rate hike, write a nice letter to the boarders explaining the benefits of what you are doing and why it will take an addt'l $X per month to accomplish it. Hell I'd pay another $20-50/month just to have a barn owner who cares that much about the horses' health! That is priceless!!

[JB]

I would have to feed 2 or 3 times the amount if I were feeding, say, Ultium. And I would have to add a vit/min supplement since they still wouldn't get their nutritional reqs from the grain.
If you were feeding at least the minimum recommended amount of Ultium, you would be :)