[shenanigans]

I added the alfalfa pellets along with the beet pulp, my mare didnt care for the rice bran...I also like BOSS alot for a healthy source of fat/omega

[Adaansmom]

Thanks everyone! I'll see what's at the feed store today.

[Nixxy373]

Originally Posted by Dawn

In that case it would probably be more beneficial to add a fat source into the mix rather than more beet pulp. My personal preference is BOSS, but rice bran works well for some people.

If you do want to stick with a forage source rather than a fat source, I would switch it off to alfalfa pellets instead of beet pulp.

I agree completely, although what I found is that Rice Bran oil (Tripple Crown makes it, in addition to some other companies) helped a lot more than the actual rice bran.

[BettyBootsy]

Hey what did ya find at the feed store? I feed TC Complete to my stud whos a hard keeper and as Dawn suggested. I feed only 6 lbs of TC Complete but you can up that thats there min and added 2 flakes of alfalfa a day and I did add some rice bran oil and he ended up gettin fat so I dropped the oil and alfalfa now he does fine on the Complete and added flaxseed. TC rice bran oil is too costly theres cheaper out there and soybean oil is just as good for added fat.

[Dawn]

Originally Posted by Nixxy373

I agree completely, although what I found is that Rice Bran oil (Tripple Crown makes it, in addition to some other companies) helped a lot more than the actual rice bran.

'Rice bran' oil is actually only a percentage rice bran oil. The rest is filler oil of a much lower value nutritionally. Yes you might see a bigger benefit as far as weight gain as it contains much more calories than rice bran does. But you would be just as well off feeding straight veggie, corn, or canola oil from the grocery for a very small fraction of the price.

Which is one reason that I like BOSS more than rice bran, it contains roughly two times the calories per lb.

[Adaansmom]

I did end up increasing the beet pulp each feeding. I also added a weight gain supplement called Amplifier. I've never tried it, but it's what the feed store had on hand and the owner said he sells about twice as much of it as the WT Gain supplement that I've tried before. It's pelleted and 30% fat from rice bran.

[Nixxy373]

Originally Posted by Dawn

'Rice bran' oil is actually only a percentage rice bran oil. The rest is filler oil of a much lower value nutritionally. Yes you might see a bigger benefit as far as weight gain as it contains much more calories than rice bran does. But you would be just as well off feeding straight veggie, corn, or canola oil from the grocery for a very small fraction of the price.

Which is one reason that I like BOSS more than rice bran, it contains roughly two times the calories per lb.

I should have explained, the reason why I like rice bran oil over other types of oil, is that its not very high in omega 3 as compared to the veggie, corn or canola oil. Most commercial equine diets are already high in omega 3, and supplementing it on any sort of a long term basis can have negative side effects. Too much of a good things often isn't that great. I find that combining oil with a product with a higher nutritional value, ie adding rice bran oil with rice bran, alfalfa, or BOSS does help increase the rate of weight gain.

Now can anyone tell me what is in BOSS that creates the huge caloric difference between it and other products? I'm not super familiar with the product, so I'm a pretty curious

[Dawn]

Originally Posted by Nixxy373

I should have explained, the reason why I like rice bran oil over other types of oil, is that its not very high in omega 3 as compared to the veggie, corn or canola oil. Most commercial equine diets are already high in omega 3, and supplementing it on any sort of a long term basis can have negative side effects. Too much of a good things often isn't that great. I find that combining oil with a product with a higher nutritional value, ie adding rice bran oil with rice bran, alfalfa, or BOSS does help increase the rate of weight gain.

Now can anyone tell me what is in BOSS that creates the huge caloric difference between it and other products? I'm not super familiar with the product, so I'm a pretty curious

You are correct in your info about rice bran oil as opposed to your 'regular' cooking oils. But the problem is, those products sold as 'rice bran oil' are mostly just regular cooking oils. Usually veggie, sometimes corn and/or canola. So you lose any benefit of added omega 3's because of the high levels of omega 6's in the 'filler' oils.

BOSS is high in protein and fats, while being very low in NSC. The calorie value of it is around 2500 calories/lb. Higher than any commercial feedstuff that I have found. Straight oils are higher in calories per lb, but are typically not utilized as well, and do not have the nutritional benefits.

[Dawn]

Originally Posted by Adaansmom

I did end up increasing the beet pulp each feeding. I also added a weight gain supplement called Amplifier. I've never tried it, but it's what the feed store had on hand and the owner said he sells about twice as much of it as the WT Gain supplement that I've tried before. It's pelleted and 30% fat from rice bran.

I hope that you have success with it. The calories found in this product are mostly from processed oils (meaning little to no nutritional benefit). It does have a decent nutritional package added to it, but nothing of any signficance that should be needed if your diet is already where it should be.

It also contains corn (though obviously in extremely low levels, but enough to be of concern due to the risks of corn not related to sugar levels).

It's also extremely expensive. It's completely different than a weight builder type supplement. Amplify is a source of calories. Weight builder supplements help the horse to utilize the calories already found in the diet.

[BettyBootsy]

And the feed store guy was tryin to make a buck. Weight Builder is cheaper and works well! Love it~