Phoenix Company

How much additional protein to add to your horse’s diet is one of the most misunderstood topics that I encounter when discussing equine nutrition with horse owners. While most horse owners base the feed concentrate that they add to their horse’s roughage source (hay) on its protein level, many don’t really understand how that affects the total nutritional profile.

Understanding the percentage of protein in a feed supplement seems to be a very confusing issue. Do I feed a 10% instead a 12%, a 12% instead of a 15%? Let’s take a look.

Where protein is concerned, the considerations should be total protein added to the diet, what proteins are actually provided, and what you are trying to achieve.  Renew Gold™ is 15% natural vegetable sourced protein. Is this too much if your horse seems to get along with a current product that is 10%, or 12%? Looking at the total amount that is contributed to the diet will give you a clearer picture of just what the true protein numbers are and what effect they will have on your horse.

One pound of Renew Gold provides 68 grams of quality, highly usable, vegetable-sourced protein. This would be a typical daily inclusion of Renew Gold in most horse’s diets.

One pound of a “Brand X”, you fill in the name, 10% protein grain-based feed concentrate provides 45 grams of protein. But, according to feed instructions typically found on their label, you will be told to feed four or five pounds, or more, of this product. If we take the lower number of four pounds, you are adding 180 grams of protein per day into your horse. Even if you only feed several pounds of a 10% feed, you are still adding almost 1/3 more total protein than you are with Renew Gold. As you can see, if you are concerned about too much total protein added in the diet, Renew Gold adds much less, even though the label guarantee per pound is higher.

If your goal in adding protein is meeting additional energy needs, we feel that there is a better way. Rather than rely on more added protein in your horses diet like most feed companies do, we designed Renew Gold to provide the type and amount of quality protein necessary in the diet to support tissue repair, healthy growth, and to help meet essential amino acid needs. Then, instead of more added protein as an energy source, Renew Gold provides additional cooler energy more efficiently by the inclusion of three sources of high quality, easily digestible natural vegetable fats. Additionally, Renew Gold’s digestive aid and light foot print in the system promotes an overall improvement of digestive efficiency.

Not relying on additional protein for energy support allows you to take high amounts of added feed out of the diet. Doing this has additional benefits. Less grain means lower total NSC numbers which, in turn, can lower colic risk, and moderate temperament. At the same time, Renew Gold supports a digestive system that can then function closer to how nature intended. Our goal in the end is better use of the roughage that your horse eats, improved efficiency and a consistent predictable energy level from one day to the next. All of this gives you a greater ability to adjust that energy level to your needs.

When you think about it, doesn’t this make more sense?

If you have questions contact us today.

“Cooler Energy” refers to the calm reserves of useful stamina that can result from replacing high starch grain based feed with lower starch components that provide concentrated useable energy. By limiting grain ingredients in the ration your horses digestive system can function in a more natural way. Horses are grazing animals that evolved to consume high fiber, low starch, roughage as their primary source of nutrition. Many natural plant food sources also provide a significant amount of naturally occurring vegetable fat that the horses system readily identifies and utilizes for energy. What a horse did not naturally eat, was a large amount of mature grain. We humans decided that was a good idea, not the horse.

High levels of grain in a feeding program alter the effectiveness of the digestive system with little benefit in return. Supplementing with high starch feeds can elevate blood glucose levels resulting in what we commonly recognize as “grain high” or nervous excitability. This type of “hot energy” is rarely beneficial to the horse or the rider. Additionally, grain based rations, when fed in significant amounts, may pass through the upper part of the digestive system undigested to ferment in the hind gut.  The result is a new set of problems. Fermenting high starch grains can alter the environment that sustains a healthy population of beneficial bacteria. These beneficial bacteria are necessary in the hind gut, and assist in breaking down the roughage that a horse has eaten for efficient digestion. Proper digestion of roughage is the most natural utilization of available nutrition.

So, what do you do to provide additional useful energy when more is needed than that provided by the hay?  The best answer is to provide an energy dense source of “Cooler Energy” with as little disruption to the natural function of the digestive system as possible. The Answer is Renew Gold™.

If you have questions contact us today.

We are commonly asked if Renew Gold is a feed or a supplement. Interesting question, so let’s look at what the difference is when talking about equine nutrition.

What’s a feed?

An equine feed is most often sold in large bags with recommended feeding rates of five pounds per day or more, sometimes much more. The most common source of energy in feeds is a blend of grain and grain by products. The protein source in most feeds is also usually grain based, but, in low quality feeds may be from other sources.

Many feeds are formulated to meet their printed label guarantees at the lowest cost by reformulating every week with different components. This is called “least cost formulating”. While the protein, fat and fiber levels may be the same from bag to bag, the actual product inside may not be. In general, the easiest way to spot a “least cost formulated” feed is to look for a tag on the bag that lists the nutritional information rather than having that information printed directly on the bag. If the manufacturer is constantly changing the formulation as ingredient pricing varies, it is easier to change the ingredient list on a tag than on a pre-printed bag.

When a feed product is made to the same formulation every time, no matter how the ingredient costs vary, it is called “Fixed Formulating”. Usually, a fixed formulated product will have the ingredients printed directly on the bag. The exception to this might be bulk packaging for large users, but in general, fully printed retail store packaging means “Fixed Formulation” and the consistency that goes with getting exactly the same product every time you buy.

What’s a supplement?

When we think about supplements for horses, we usually imagine a small bucket with a little scoop inside. The recommendations for use commonly tell us to feed one or two of these little scoops per day. The goal here is to supplement deficient, or totally missing, pieces of the nutrition puzzle. This can be of value in some situations, but many supplements are not what they seem

As a person who has formulated many equine supplements over the last twenty years, I can speak with some authority on the subject. Not all equine supplements are created equal. The equine supplement market is a very competitive place, and quite price sensitive. There are a number of different ways to compete in this market. Let’s take a look at some of those ways.

The first is to use low quality components and provide an inexpensive product. For the horse owner, this is usually money wasted, no matter how inexpensive the product may seem. If the ingredient quality is low, it is seldom utilized by the horse in the manner promised on the label.

The second is to lie about what you put in the product. This is more common than you might think, and very hard for the consumer to detect, other than lack of result from the product. With the financial problems we have in most states, product testing by state regulatory agencies is not as common as it used to be. Many low quality manufactures know this and take advantage of the situation by making products that simply do not contain what the label states.

The third is to use high quality ingredients and charge more for the finished product. If the product is well formulated, and the feeding rate is proper, the results can justify the added expense in some cases.  The best equine supplements follow this course, and, while usually expensive, can work for the horse and its owner unless you fall into the next scenario listed below.

The fourth might be the most confusing. That is to use quality ingredients and have accurate ingredient guarantees, but lower the recommended feed rate to hit a lower price per day. I see this often with higher priced supplements. They may work well if you use a higher feed rate, but the maker is afraid that you will not buy the product if you really knew how much you needed to feed, and how much that would cost, for your horse to get the response from the product that the maker promises.

This is where Renew Gold is different.

Renew Gold creates its own category between feeds and  supplements. It could best be called a bio-supplement. While we commonly refer to the value of Renew Gold in replacing high starch grain based feeds in the ration, we also see significant benefits in its ability to reduce or eliminate the need for many supplements in the ration. Unless there are specific underlying health problems in a horse there should be little need for added supplementation in a proper diet being digested by a healthy and efficient digestive system.  If you are adding a digestive aid, hoof conditioner, coat conditioning product, or vitamin supplement, Renew Gold, with its ability to maximize digestive efficiency can greatly simplify your program.

While we see benefits from Renew Gold with very small inclusions in the diet, this product is feed at significantly higher feed rates than commonly used in “equine supplements”. The result of this is that you actually feed enough to make the desired changes that you seek, while commonly lowering total daily costs.

It is interesting that, as a group, horse owners who use large amounts of grain based feed also use large amounts of supplements to try to address the problems generated by those large feed inclusions. Renew Gold is a better answer. Removing the high starch, grain based roadblocks and maximizing digestive efficiency in your horse can provide much of the health support that you try to address with a long, expensive list of additives. In addition, simplifying your feeding program saves money, and makes consistent day to day nutrition more assured. Something we all can enjoy.

If you have questions contact us today.

We receive calls daily from customers asking how best to incorporate Renew Gold into their feeding program. To get the most out of Renew Gold, and the rest of your horses’ diet, you need to consider the entire feeding program, and what you are trying to accomplish.

Basic diet:

Most horse owners do not have the luxury of permanent year-round pasture with a mixed roughage source for their horses to graze at their own pace. Instead, most horses live a somewhat confined life with food available in large quantities once or twice per day. An average performance horse diet commonly starts with several flakes of hay of some sort in the morning and evening.  Most horse owners feel that additional energy, beyond that provided by the hay will be needed. Therefore, some sort of grain based concentrate gets added to each feeding. Most feed manufacturers recommend between four and ten pounds of their grain concentrate. If the concentrate is palatable most horses will eat that first. This creates a most unnatural situation that greatly lowers efficiency of the entire digestive system.  In many cases horse owners feel that they now need additional support for horses that for some reason are not thriving. This is where the supplements start. Hoof conditioners, pro-biotics, ulcer treatments, coat conditioners, herbs, magic powders and enough bags, tubs and bottles in the tack room to fill every available corner and shelf. If one does not seem to work try, another one.

The Renew Gold point of view

Let’s take a look at this from the Renew Gold point of view.  The diet described above is inefficient because it simply does not fit in the horse’s digestive system in the way that horses evolved to convert their food into usable energy.  Take a step back, take a deep breath, and start over.

Some things can’t easily be changed. Most horses will continue to live in a relatively confined area and be fed once or twice per day. By limiting the concentrate portion of the ration with one pound of Renew Gold in place of four pounds of higher starch, grain based concentrate, a significant roadblock to efficiency of the system is eliminated. The benefits from such a change start at the stomach and continue to the small intestine and through to the hind gut. The result is that a smaller amount of concentrate can contribute more to the energy needs, and a fully functioning hind gut becomes more efficient in utilizing the major source of fed nutrition, the hay.  In some cases, less really is more. This is one of those cases. In almost every situation, changing to a Renew Gold diet is less expensive at the end of the month, and results in a bloom in condition and usable energy that can be seen with the use of one bag.

How much do I feed?

When planning a diet around Renew Gold, I like to use the one half pound per job rule. Living is a job.  Growing is a job.  Training/competing is a job. Pregnancy is job. High stress is a job. Using this as a rule, results in the following feed rates.

Adult horses in low use ½ pound (living job)

Adult horses in training /competition 1 pound (living job, training job)

Growing horses in training / competition 1 ½ pound (living job, growing job, training job)

Brood mare 1 pound (living job, Pregnancy job)

Senior horse little or no use ½ pound (living job)

As you can see, once you identify the jobs that the horse is doing, figuring how to use Renew Gold in the diet is easy.

Is there ever a place for additional concentrates?

The potential problems in the digestive system that may result from high concentrate feeding does not mean that there is never a use for those types of concentrates at all. Once the entire system is running at its peak potential some horses may in fact benefit from a limited addition of grain based feed. This varies from horse to horse and also with hay quality. The difference, when combined at very low rates of one to two pounds with Renew Gold at recommended rates, is that the grain based concentrate is now efficiently digested higher in the digestive system rather than causing the disruption in the hind gut that can come from feeding it at higher rates. Additionally, the effect of that added feed is very predictable as far as energy production and behavior. This is because there is a direct effect from its use, not a rollercoaster of reactions that can come from overloading the system with starch that can’t possibly be used in a consistent beneficial way. Remember, undigested grain in manure has only been rented, not bought, and is a great indicator of how potentially disrupted the digestive system may be.

The answer is easier than it seems.

In the end, supporting healthy utilization of the entire diet you feed is easier than it seems.  Feed the best quality hay that you have access to, and then follow these simple steps.

(1) Assess how many jobs your horse has.

(2) Assign ½ pound of Renew Gold per Job

(3) Reduce or eliminate up to four pounds of grain based feed concentrate per pound of Renew Gold.

(4) If you have very poor hay and you still feel the need to feed some additional grain based concentrates, do not feed over 1 ½ pounds of it at any given feeding.

(5) Reduce or eliminate additional supplements for hoof condition, coat condition, and pro-biotics.

So, this is how it is done. It really can be that simple, cost effective and rewarding. Renew Gold carries a money back guarantee of satisfaction.

If you have questions contact us today.

We have already discussed the fact that the digestive system of the horse evolved to use roughage (hay or pasture) as its primary source of energy. Digestion of this roughage relies on a healthy population of beneficial bacteria in the hind gut to assist in the breakdown of this most vital component in your horse’s diet. By providing fermented yeast culture in our formulation we help to establish a better environment for those beneficial bacteria to maintain a healthy population. This in turn can promote more efficient digestion of hay you feed.

If you have questions contact us today.

Flax is best known as a significant source of Omega 3 fatty acids and can help to optimize the balance of Omega 3 and Omega 6 in a formulation.  Flax is also an excellent source of vegetable fat and quality proteins. This third source of low starch digestible energy rounds out the Renew Gold formulation.

If you have questions contact us today.

If you have questions contact us today.

Check out our store list, call 855.377.3639 or contact us today to find the dealer nearest you.

If you have questions contact us today.

Drought conditions throughout much of the country this year have dramatically increased the cost of feeding our horses. Both hay availability and the grain used in most concentrate feeds are either hard to find, more expensive, or both. As the issues of the current economy put pressure on many horse owners day to day lives, increases in feed costs, for many, are just one more impossible issue with which to cope.

When we introduced Renew Gold™ to the equine market, in the Fall of 2011, a lot of horse owners looked at the $30+ price tag for a 30 pound bag of feed and quickly moved on to what they assumed were less expensive feeding programs. Before you do that, let’s take a look at just what a Renew Gold program costs compared to a popular conventional feeding program.

We will use a popular performance horse feed from one of the largest feed companies in the US for our comparison. We will call it Brand X. This product has been around since the early 1990’s and has a large following. This article is not intended to pick on Brand X. The product is not unique in the industry, and any number of performance horse feeds could be used for this comparison with very similar results. We will use Brand X simply because so many horse owners use this product.

According to the feeding instructions found on the Brand X tear tag; a 1000 pound horse in moderate work should be fed 12 pounds of hay, and 9 pounds of Brand X per day. At an average cost of $18 for a 50 pound bag, that equates to $0.36 per pound, or $3.24 per day. That seems like a lot of feed concentrate to me, and although a significant number of people may feed that much, many of the horse owners that I talk to across the country feed closer to 6 pounds per day and use more (we will use 16 pounds) hay. To be fair, I will give you the figures both ways.

6 pounds of Brand X @ $.36 per pound = $2.16 per day
9 pounds of Brand X @ $.36 per pound =$3.24 per day
12 pounds of quality hay @ $.18 per pound = $2.16 per day
16 pounds of quality hay @ $.18 per pound = $2.88 per day

Looking at the above numbers we can see that using Brand X and hay to meet the basic energy needs of a mature horse in moderate work will cost somewhere between $5.04 and $5.40 per day.

Let’s compare the Renew Gold feeding recommendation for the same horse.
A mature horse in moderate work should be fed 1 to 1 1/3 pounds of Renew Gold per day. Total cost $1.00 - $1.33 per day.

We would recommend 15 pounds per day of quality hay. Cost? $2.70

These number show us that using Renew Gold and hay to meet the basic energy needs of a mature horse in moderate work will cost somewhere between $3.70 and $4.03 per day.
Renew Gold provides a savings, on average of $1.35 per day, per horse.  This translates to $40.50 per month or $486.00 per year, per horse. How many horses do you feed?

If you are one of those people who add additional supplements for hoof condition or coat condition, or you add pro-biotics or perhaps herbs for attitude adjustment, Feeding Renew Gold allows you to take those out.

This can save you another $2.00 to $5.00 per day. These are real numbers, and they make a real difference at the end of the month.

Ok, you say, that is all well and good, but aren’t there things in Brand X that are not in Renew Gold? Yes, but that may be a good reason to feed Renew Gold. If you read the ingredient list on the Brand X tear tag, or just about any feed bag with a tear tag, it is hard to tell just what is in there. The first four ingredients on the Brand X ingredient list are “by-products” so what they really are is hard to say. One is Forage by-products, I don’t even know for sure just what that is!

In past articles I have explained the advantages found by normalizing efficiency in the digestive system with Renew Gold in your feeding program. Those articles can be found on the renewgold.com web site, so I will not go into that here. I would, however, like to make a point about quality.

Renew Gold is fixed formulated. Our ingredients are actually printed on the bag, not a tag that can be changed from lot to lot. We make it the same every time, from the same ultra-premium quality ingredients, from the same ingredient suppliers, and guarantee that Renew Gold contains no GMO ingredients. A statement that no other maker of blended horse feeds in the US can make.

If you would like help in understanding your feeding program, and how it can be both more efficient, and more economical, email or just give us a call. Let us help you find the horse that you thought was in there all along.

If you have questions contact us today.