Nutrition was a subject that fascinated me while studying Animal Science in college. It wasn’t until years later that I would get really focused on my horse’s diet though! Over the years since, I’ve gone through many phases of what goes “in the bucket” for the horses in my care. I have settled into combinations of products that work, and feed based on results. This year, I actually deviated from my tried & true to experiment with a whole new combo of supplements, too!
I thought I should take a moment to provide the various options I’ve explored and experimented with, with some context on why I would still go back to previous mixes or why I made changes. I use to always call the bucket of supplements and pelleted feed “grain”, even though I provided zero actual grains in those buckets. I’ve committed to using the term “bucket” instead of “grain”, so that’s the word you’ll see here!
The Budget Bucket
- Forage-based Complete feed, I used a brand called Stable Mix and prefer their “Senior” blend
- Omega Horseshine
- Bonus: Pharm-Aloe 4x Concentrate
While certainly the most bang for your buck, I don’t see this option as compromising on quality, and definitely not on efficacy. I fed this simple combo for years, for many without the aloe, and saw amazing results the entire time! The complete feed was my alternative to actually dialing in perfect levels of nutrients, and it seemed to do the trick for my horses. They were fed alfalfa and 24/7 grass day also, and always looked and felt amazing. When we were the MOST in shape we have ever been in, collectively, and trail riding more than ever before or since…they were only on Stable Mix and Horseshine. The aloe vera product came later, and was the perfect addition. I always keep their tube version, AloeGut, on hand as a very quick and effective remedy for stomach upset. You can read more about Horseshine here, and Pharm-Aloe here.
The downside to this setup was that I couldn’t adjust things with the complete feed, which included rice bran and beet pulp. But I would simply feed more or less depending on the season and activity level. When Tucker was working really hard, he was getting around 15 lbs of this complete feed per day, I think, and it is safe to do that since it was formulated as a complete replacement of other feed if necessary. I do also usually include some garlic too to these buckets too, but that is just for fun. If I had a sudden need to simplify or save money, this is the bucket I would return to!
More Complicated Budget Bucket
- Hay pellets (alfalfa, bermuda, teff, or timothy…or blends)
- Beet Pulp
- Rice Bran
- Omega Horseshine
- Pharm-Aloe 4x Concentrate
- Bonus: Apple Cider Vinegar (with the mother)
Stepping up from the super simple bucket, I currently buy plain alfalfa + grass hay pellets and combine with various amounts of beet pulp and rice bran for Tucker, my hard-keeper, while sticking to just grass pellets for Trubee and Adee, my easy-keepers. The amount of these three feeds varies over the year, with more being needed in winter to keep Tucker looking good, or when exercising more. While more time consuming, I found this works well for my horses. I worried about them missing out on certain nutrients that the complete feed may have provided, but also liked knowing each thing I added to their buckets. The addition of a generous splash of Apple Cider Vinegar was something I added for the possible benefits, but really cannot confirm one way or another if it makes a difference! I also add human-grade garlic powder, though I’m not sure there’s a difference in repelling bugs or anything other than flavor. So these are bonuses that I can do with or without, but when possible, I like to include them. And they certainly don’t hurt – the horses love the taste of garlic.
Fancy Bucket
- Hay pellets (which you can get organic from some places)
- Beet pulp
- Rice bran
- Evolved Remedies Black Cumin Seed Press Cake
- Evolved Remedies Flax Seed Press Cake
- Copper (to balance high zinc in black cumin)
- Pharm-Aloe 4x Concentrate
- Pivotal Feeds Equine Total Recovery (amino acids)
- Apple Cider Vinegar
I love feeding this bucket! This was my summertime experiment this year. The organic seed press cakes are so wholesome and honestly look cool too. The ultimate test for me when it comes to flax is if the supplement can pass Tucker’s sarcoid test. He had a massive one on his chest for years until we started him on Horseshine. I was curious if this flax supplement would also work for him, as other brands we’ve tried failed. After a full 3 month test period, I am happy to report that this combo really works! I also noted that Tucker had far less flare ups with his eye condition during the months of this test period, which he normally always has flare ups during that time of year. So I believe the black cumin truly offers some immune-boosting power, too.
I also have been experimenting with Pivotal’s amino acid supplement, Equine Total Recovery. While Tucker is still quite active at 22, his muscling was declining – until I added this to his bucket. I had him on this supplement for 100 days before taking him off for the three months we were testing the Evolved Remedies seed cakes. He was doing okay, but the progress I was feeling with his muscles specifically decreased when off this supplement. He’s now on it again, and we have a year’s supply! So far I’ve started seeing good results again, though it has only been about a month and it is harder to see smaller changes now that winter coats are coming in!
What is the Price Difference?
There are two factors that go into my decisions around feed and supplements: time & money. I can’t deny that the fancy bucket takes a lot longer when you multiply making it by three! The budget bucket is both quick and less expensive than the other versions I’ve fed. Here is a breakdown and comparison of daily and monthly costs:
The difference:
- Budget Bucket:
- Feed: $207.49
- Supplements: $32.01
- Fancy Bucket:
- Feed: $229.80
- Supplements: $80
There is about a $70 difference between these two buckets for Tucker. Both of these buckets have kept the horses in great condition, and kept Tucker’s chest sarcoid completely at bay. I am looking at what I want to do going forward, and I’m leaning towards the Fancy combo, but with Omega Horseshine in place of Evolved Remedies flax. My horses LOVE the flavor addition of the Horseshine ground flax, and while they also like the taste of the flax seed press cakes they don’t coat their pellets the same way. So while actually slightly less convenient, I would choose Horseshine because of the value it adds to my horses happiness. I also do think that they had a different depth of shine when on Horseshine vs the seed press cake. I only have the two summers to compare for Adee, but I swear she was a bit more mirror-like during her summer on Horseshine. Of course there could be other factors, but the boys also weren’t as blinding in my opinion. The price is actually the same between the two, so either way would work for my horses.
Spreadsheet Time
If you’re wondering how I can quickly whip up price comparisons for these various bucket scenarios, I use Google Sheets! I have a super extensive virtual “feed room” where I stash all the different things I’m thinking about feeding. Then I can mess around with different options for what I’m feeding and different amounts of each thing over in my budgeting sheet for the horses. I have it set up so the prices are pulled from the Feed Room, and then the amounts I want to feed are converted from whatever units I want to use. I had Brian help me with some fancy spreadsheet magic to take care of all these conversions for me because my way of doing it was messy and I had to redo it every time I went through the process of comparing prices. Things like comparing prices for different sizes of the same supplement to see how much you would save if you bought in bulk, while at the same time wondering how that would change if you fed the maintenance dose or loading dose? How long would that size bag last at those different dosages? What if the dosage is in grams but the weight of the bag is in pounds?
Here’s a comparison that covers 3 things: different brands, different versions of same supplement (pellet vs liquid vs powder), and different amounts of the same supplement.
I also like to use this sheet to compare different sizes of the same supplement, or between different stores. I like to include the shipping cost in the prices, which usually means I add the items to my cart on the store website to ensure there’s no extra fees on shipping. This can be what determines if I buy something directly from the manufacturer or something like Chewy or SmartPak, as well as help decide if buying in bulk is worth it. It is also important to note the expiration date of the supplement compared to how many days the package will last at varying feeding rates! So I would never buy 4 lbs of this hoof supplement, unless I was feeding it to several horses because one package will last one horse 745 days:
If you’d like to get your hands on a template of my very same Budgeting Spreadsheet, I’ve got good news! We created that for you to buy right here:
Spreadsheets Make You Nervous?
In addition to the template, I’ve also created a course that covers how to utilize the spreadsheet! It starts with making a copy of the spreadsheet to your own Google Drive, and goes through how to use each section. Here is a snippets from the course, demonstrating how I use the Product Comparison feature:
