Why is Renew Gold™ 15% protein, and is this too much for my horse?
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.
The Cost of Feeding
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.
Sherry Cervi
Renew Gold™ is happy to welcome Professional Barrel Racer, Sherry Cervi to the team!
"Since feeding Renew Gold, I have noticed better utilization of feed, more consistent temperament, and better hoof and hair coat condition."
-Sherry Cervi
"I am posting about Equine Renew, Renew Gold today. Lots of people ask me about my feeding program. I started feeding Renew Gold last year and I really like how my horses are OVERALL. Their coat, energy levels, overall health and performance... I have always been a big believer in rice bran and a low starch/sugar feeding program and that is exactly what Renew Gold is. Renew Gold is basically Stabilized Rice Bran, Coconut Meal and Flax. You feed a lot less of it than a regular grain and it helps the horses utilize their hay more efficiently too. I still add a mineral (BioVigor) and whatever herbs they need, but the Renew Gold is the basis of my horse's nutrition."
-Sherry Cervi
Accomplishments
2011 World standings place: 3rd
2011 Earnings: $183,838
2011 Wrangler NFR place: 4th
2011 Wrangler NFR earnings: $93,317
Career earnings: $2,175,384
Joined WPRA: 1986
Horses: MP Meter My Hay "Stingray" (10-year old palomino mare) Sire- PC Frenchmans Hayday/Dam: Miss Meter Jet, MP A Man With Roses "George" (9-year old palomino gelding) Sire-PC Frenchmans Hayday/Dam: Rose Patch; PC Frenchmans Hayday "Dinero" (17-year old palomino stallion)
World titles: (3) 1995, 1999, 2010
Wrangler NFR average titles: 1 (2009)
Wrangler NFR qualifications: 14 (1994-2001, 2003, 2005-06, 2009-11)
DNCFR qualifications: 10 (1994-2001, 2008, 2010)
Tour Finale titles: 4
• Pace Chute-out: 2001
• Summer Finale: 2005
• Championship: 2005-06
Tour Finale qualifications: 16
• Pace Chute-out: 2000-01, 2003, 2005-06
• Caldwell Round: 2007
• Puyallup Round: 2007, 2010
• Summer/Omaha Round: 2000, 2005, 2007, 2010-11
• Championship: 2005-07
Professional Highlights
2011 Highlights
• Entered the NFR with $90,521 and won $93,317 in 10 days in Las Vegas after placing in seven out of 10 rounds winning Rd. 6.
• Won the average and year-end titles at the Turquoise Circuit Finals Rodeo (Las Cruces, N.M.).
• Co-champion at the War Bonnet Stampede (Idaho Falls, Idaho).
• Won the St. Paul (Ore.) Rodeo.
• Won the Eugene (Ore.) Pro Rodeo.
• Won Strathmore (Alberta) Stampede.
• Won the Safford (Ariz.) Pro Rodeo.
• Won Wayne Wilson Children's Charity Rodeo & Carnival (Cave Creek, Ariz.).
2010 Highlights
• Became the first $2 million barrel racer, surpassing Charmayne James' earnings record of $1,886,568. Won her third world title and set a new NFR arena record in Rd. 8 with a time of 13.49 seconds. Finished second in the average with a 10-run time of 143.29 seconds. Placed in seven out of 10 rounds, winning Rd. 3 (13.65 seconds), Rd. 7 (13.70 seconds and Rd. 8 (13.49 seconds).
• Making her 13th Wrangler NFR appearance moving her into second for qualifications and trails only Charmayne James with 19 for total qualifications.
• Won the Canby (Ore.) Rodeo.
• Won the Snake River Stampede (Nampa, Idaho).
• Won the Treaty Day Celebration & PRCA ProRodeo (Window Rock, Ariz.).
• Won the Helldorado Days Rodeo (Las Vegas, Nev.).
• Won the Clark County Fair & Rodeo (Logandale, Nev.).
• Won RodeoHouston and pockets $61,500 - the most of any competitor. Ties Lindsay Sears' record from 2008 at RodeoHouston for most money won at a regular season rodeo. Third time to win the title and did so on three different horses (Troubles, Hawk and Stingray).
Career Highlights
• 2009 - Won the average title at the 2009 Wrangler National Finals rodeo with a 10-run time of 139.01 seconds. Won $146,100 at the NFR, the most money won of any of the 118 contestants. Finished 3rd in the world with $219,629. Won the Cave Creek (Ariz.) Rodeo, the Safford (Ariz.) Pro Rodeo, the Lynden (Wash.) PRCA Rodeo, the Red Horse Ranch PRCA Rodeo (Fergus Falls, Minn.), the Central Wyoming Fair & Rodeo (Casper, Wyo.), the Airdrie (Alberta) Pro Rodeo and the Dixie National Rodeo (Jackson, Miss.).
• 2008 - Finished the year ranked 20th in the world with $41,986; co-champion at the Pioneer Days Rodeo (Clovis, N.M.); won the Wild, Wild West Pro Rodeo (Silver City, N.M.), the Payson (Ariz.) Spring Rodeo and the Grand National Rodeo Horse and Stock Show (San Francisco, Calif.).
• 2007 - Won the Redding (Calif.) Rodeo. Finished the year ranked 20th in the world with $41,397.
• 2006 - Placed in seven out of 10 rounds at the Wrangler NFR. Finished the year ranked ninth in the world standings with $102,525; won the Wrangler ProRodeo Tour Championship (Dallas) and qualified for her 11th Wrangler NFR; won the Western Stampede (West Jordan, Utah) and the Fourth of July Youth Celebration and PRCA Pro Rodeo (Window Rock, Ariz.); won the Wrangler ProRodeo Tour Round at the San Antonio (Texas) Stock Show and Rodeo.
• 2005 - Won the Pace Picante ProRodeo Challenge (Omaha, Neb.) and the Pace Picante ProRodeo Classic (Dallas); won average title at the California Rodeo Salinas and the Redding (Calif.) Rodeo. Finished the year ranked fourth in the world with $142,258.
• 2003 - Won San Antonio (Texas) Stock Show and Rodeo, Navajo Nation Fourth of July (Window Rock, Ariz.), Andy Devine Days (Kingman, Ariz.), and Kern County Sheriff Reserve Stampede Days Rodeo (Bakersfield, Calif.); won Rd. 5 with a 13.98-second run and Rd. 6 in 13.96 seconds at the Wrangler NFR; finished the year fifth in the world with $109,354.
• 2002 - Olympic Command Performance Rodeo (Farmington, Utah) qualifier.
• 2001 - Won RodeoHouston and pockets $19,033.
• 2000 - Turquoise Circuit Finals Champion (1994-2000); set record for most money won at a regular season rodeo with $16,497 at RodeoHouston.
• 1999 - Set the WPRA record for highest single-year earnings with $245,369 and most money won prior to the NFR with $130,996. Won the Wrangler NFR average title.
• 1997 - Reserve World Champion
• 1995 - Won RodeoHouston and collects $18,983.
• 1994 - Reserve World Champion
Awards
Horse with the Most Heart award to Jet Royal Speed (Hawk), owned by Sherry Cervi, 1999-2000. MP Meter My Hay "Stingray" finished second in the 2010 AQHA/WPRA Horse of the Year voting for barrel racing and tied with Yeah Hes Firen (Duke) in the 2011 AQHA/WPRA Horse of the Year voting.
I have a HYPP positive Quarter Horse. What is the Potassium level of Renew Gold?
The potassium level of Renew Gold is 1.5%. Current research shows that HYPP positive horses benefit if a potassium level of 1% of the total diet can be maintained. That number limits many feeding options for effected horses. All grain based feed products will contribute some potassium to your horses diet. The difference is that Renew Gold is fed at a low rate compared to other feeds so the total potassium contribution to the diet is only 7.1 grams per day. Remember, the issue is total dietary potassium, not just what is contributed by one ingredient in that total diet. In many cases, eliminating large volumes of other feed products with a smaller inclusion of Renew Gold can help lower the total potassium fed in the total diet. All HYPP horses require a close look at the entire diet. Before adding Renew Gold, or any product that contains potassium to the diet of a HYPP horse a review of the entire program is recommended.
If you have questions contact us today.
When I get to the bottom of a bag of Renew Gold I notice that there is some fine material, and some broken pellets. Why?
When some of the pellets break up in the bag the resulting material at the bottom of the bag is call “fines”. Making a hard pellet that has minimal fines is not difficult if you add enough binding material. For visual appearance, this is typically what feed manufacturers do. We took a different approach with Renew Gold™. In an effort to provide a pellet that was more efficient when fed, we intentionally made our pellets softer than other feeds. We feel a soft pellet has a better mouth feel for the horse, is more difficult for the horse to bolt down, can’t lodge in a horse’s throat, and breaks down faster in the horse’s digestive system. When we make a pellet this soft there will be some fine material in the bottom of the bag. That is Renew Gold too. Feed it just as you would the pellets. It is there for a reason.
If you have questions contact us today.
Protein and the Total Nutritional Profile
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.
