Feeding F.A.Q.’s

To understand why Thrivefeed works so well, you first have to understand the attributes of the ingredients horse feeds are made from. The most fundamentally important fact is that wholegrain is naturally designed to be indigestible. This is for a very good reason. Nature intended grazing animals to eat the grass including the seeds. The seeds have chemicals included to stop them being digested, so they pass through the animals digestive system and are excreted somewhere else, in effect a natural seed sowing process designed as part of nature. The system is perfect, and has worked very efficiently since creation. What we have done is interrupt the natural process, harvested the seeds from the grass, and fed the animals the seeds that were never meant to be digested in the first place. The chemicals contained within the grain and grain byproducts are powerful enzyme inhibitors, they effectively resist the enzymatic action of digestion. The non-chewed grain berries pass through the gut unharmed, and are deposited in a pile of nutrients, germinate at the right time, and grow more grass so the animals can live on in the future. If the first part of a horses digestive system is driven by enzymes, and raw grain has enzyme inhibitors included in it, it is not hard to work out what happens when horses are given concentrated amounts of grain and grain by-products with those inhibitors in an active state. They do exactly what they were designed to do, effectively limit the very processes needed to build and re-build a healthy horse.

What I have done is process the enzyme inhibitors to denature them, but leave the nutrients intact. When Thrive Feed is consumed, it encourages and supports normal small intestine enzymatic digestive function. This is why we see horses being able to consume in excess of 50,000 calories per day without any ill effects. To the best of my knowledge this has never been safely achieved before, yet it is practical, safe, and proven on many rescue horses, most of which were in terrible states of starvation when they started free choice Thrive Feed.

The ingredients are straightforward, they are of the purest quality available, and minimally processed to create the digestive ease that Thrivefeed is already famous for. Thrivefeed does not contain the enzyme inhibitors that can create so much digestive distress in equines. Strangely, nonstructural carbohydrates have been blamed for Cushing’s disease, laminitis, founder, and a host of other problems. Thrivefeed has viable amounts of nonstructural carbohydrates, yet the horses on Thrivefeed never display these problems, is that enough to make you think and maybe investigate more. Thrivefeed operates with it’s own set of rules, the old thinking simply does not apply. Thrivefeed is rewriting the rulebooks of equine health, and I’m proud to say America’s horses are benefiting from this in a major way.

Thrive Feed is an investment in your horses health and longevity. Many people consider Thrivefeed an absolute bargain, some people think it’s pricey. Really, the cost of a horse feed can’t be measured in how much a bag it is, but rather what effect it has on your horses health over a long period of time. I know people who don’t feed Thrivefeed all year round, because their horses gut is in a pristine state and they are able to live on just grass for a good part of the year.  That makes Thrivefeed very good value. Also, it’s extremely difficult to compare Thrivefeed to normal horse feed bag by bag. You simply can’t do the things you can do with Thrivefeed with normal horse feed.  Really, when considering which feed to purchase, the question you should be asking yourself is, “Is my purchase going to be an investment supplying dividends, or an expense with a future price to pay”.

The sack holds 40lbs (18.14kg). Thrivefeed is de-hydrated, with 93% digestibility ensuring the contents equal or exceed the usable nutritional value of a normal 50lb. (22.67kg) sack of feed. Another benefit is the 10 pound lighter sack is much easier to move around.

The way you change your horse to this ultimate diet is just as different as the results you will achieve. DO NOT MIX THRIVEFEED WITH ANY OTHER TYPE OR BRAND OF HORSE FEED. The only acceptable addition is forage grasses, and water. The reason is the rate of digestion. If you mix other feed with Thrivefeed, you may induce a digestive upset that is easily avoidable. Please be aware that many vets are still unaware of the difference in Thrivefeed to normal horse feeds, and may advise you to change over slowly. If you have professional advise telling you this, please ask them to call me and discuss why the difference. To change over, stop feeding your horse all rations except hay/grass pasture and water for 24 hours, then feed the appropriate quantity as per the initial feeding quantities printed on lower left back of the bag.

No they do not. Two factors come into play, the first is mouth feel. Thrivefeed is light and crunchy, and some horses take longer than others to adjust to the new feel in their mouth, and also how they get it back to their premolars and molars. Thrive Feed dissolves so readily in a horses mouth, it’s effortless to chew. The next issue is that of flavor. Thrive Feed is not a flavored or sweetened ration, it relies on naturally delicious flavors to entice horses. If a horse is in a barn where feeds containing oils and molasses are used, or has been fed a ration of oil rich or senior feed, sweet feeds or feeds with flavors or odors included, you may experience an initial resistance to Thrivefeed, your horse will want the candy, not the vegetables!

You can start with 4 (1.81kg) pounds per day per 1000 (454kg) pounds body weight. That’s a bag every 10 day’s. Thrivefeed is like the gas pedal on your vehicle, when you want more performance, you push down on the gas pedal.  If you want more performance, you add more feed, all the way up to free choice.  Extended testing with all different types of horses in different situations revealed that the average amount consumed by a 1000lb horse is a little over 4 pounds a day. That being the case, the average horse should get at least eight days from one bag of feed. No additional supplementation is suggested. Please Note, hot breeds like Thoroughbreds may use and burn more for the same size.

You can break the daily ration up into multiple feeds if you choose. If you need to leave your horse unattended for longer than a day, you can place the feed in a dry manger out of the weather, and let your horse feed him or herself during your absence. Make sure that a constant supply of clean water is available at all times for your horse to drink.. It’s easy to give your horse the best.

Dramatic changes in horses have been observed very short time periods, many owners report obvious improvement in their horses attitude within a week, and every owner notices changes within twenty one days if they follow the protocol designated for their horse.  Support is an an email away seven day’s a week!

Thrive Feed is designed to be fed dry and not wetted down. When you wet the nuggets down you stop the saturation by saliva with it’s associated enzymes and alkalizing ability and compromise the first part of digestion. If you supply the feed in a large, flat bottomed tub and spread it out thinly, your horse will graze like they do with short grass and the saliva will soften the feed in a matter of seconds, so even if your horse has no teeth, they can still get the required nutrients.

Aged horses with worn down teeth do wonderfully well on Thrivefeed, as do all horses. Thrivefeed rapidly softens when it contacts saliva and turns into an easy to swallow meal. It does not take very long for senior horses to get the prance back into their gait. Many senior rescue horses are thriving every day on this wonderful diet. I do not recommend wetting down Thrivefeed into a sloppy paste. This effectively stops the important action of the primary enzyme in saliva, (alpha amylase) which is the first step in efficient digestion.

Foals usually start nibbling at their mothers food at about a week to ten day’s old. Thrive Feed is so appropriate that foals will start to eat my feed and at the end of a month or so will be happily and safely eating around a pound a day with their mothers. No negative effects have been observed with this practice, only beautiful horses growing up healthily.

Thrive Feed is low in sugar. The small amount of sugars in the feed are naturally occurring with nothing added to sweeten the ration.

Yes, Thrive Feed is formulated and produced with all approved ingredients. No prohibited substances are ever intentionally used in the manufacture of this product.

Because Thrivefeed has been processed to kill mold and fungal spores, and then de-hydrated, it will last at least four years if kept in a dry place. The processing temperature is not high enough or long enough to deteriorate the valuable nutrients contained in the feed, but the amazing technology used does enhance the digestibility.

Major misunderstandings are evident with regard to protein in horse feed. The high quality proteins in Thrivefeed are easily utilized and what is not used for muscle building or rebuilding is converted into energy just like carbohydrate. Protein is essential for all the intestinal micro organisms that break down fiber into simple sugars for energy, that’s what they live on. Protein and carbohydrate both have the same energy value so once again your horse has all the protein necessary to build and rebuild and what is not used will become fuel for useful work. If you are not convinced, check the results Thrivefeed produces.

Thrive Feed has proven very helpful dealing with the support of metabolically challenged horses. Usually the horses that have been diagnosed with Cushing’s are really in a stress response and have Pseudo Cushing’s, a situation where the bloodwork resembles the result of a pituitary tumor but is the result of stress. Exactly the same with IR (Insulin Resistant) horses. The condition is the result of stressors placed on the horse. Thrive Feed has proven to be a very useful tool in supporting recovery from these issues, when the stressors are identified and managed or removed.

Thrive Feed is a complete ration and needs no supplementation. Adding other products to Thrive Feed upsets the nutrient balance I work so hard to achieve. A normal equine digestive system has the capacity to manufacture all the necessary nutrients when supplied with the correct diet. Horses and humans alike don’t need all the vitamins and minerals for health every day, we have tissue reserves to compensate nutritional variations during the year.

No absolutely not. The calming effect effect you may notice is how the horse is naturally meant to be, your horses base temperament. Thrive Feed supports stable blood sugar, and with that stability comes optimum temperament. Don’t be fooled by the calmness Thrive Feed horses may exhibit, they still have substantial performance capabilities, it’s just delivered in a more focussed and calm way.

There are no Probiotics in Thrivefeed. Literally speaking Probiotic means “for life”. In digestive terms they are used to replace desirable bacteria killed by digestive anomalies, or events. An event could be as simple as the consumption of antibiotics as a treatment or precaution after an injury or sickness. When horses are ingesting appropriate nutrients creating the correct pH, the gut microbes multiply and flourish as nature intended.

Even though there is Alfalfa in my feed formula, it has been optimized by skillful processing. I do not advise or recommend feeding alfalfa (Lucerne) when it is raw and unprocessed. Alfalfa is a legume, and has a fermentation profile very different from grasses. I recommend pasture grasses first, and then forage hay like Coastal Bermuda, Tifton 44, Timothy, Orchard grass, prairie hay, and other acceptable equine forages found around the world. Remember, horses are grass eaters by design, and given the right digestive bacteria, they are very good at getting energy from common grasses. After a short time you may notice your horse not eating as much hay, but is in better physical condition. Digestive efficiency is a saving you can measure in dollars and cents, pounds and pence.

Thrivefeed is designed for all life stages and breeds. The ability to feed free choice ad lib allows optimum growth with a digestive system not compromised with oils, fat, or raw starch.  Senior horses thrive on the highly digestible nuggets so kind to the whole digestive system. Really, when you think about it, horses naturally eat grass, they never eat anything but forage grasses, bark, leaves, and weeds, their whole life, it’s only humans that dictate the hundreds of different types of feed for each type of horse. I marketing terms it’s called “Needs Satisfaction”, the perceived needs of owners trying to do the best for their horses.

If your horse is obese they may shed the excess fat over time. Owners report that Thrivefeed does not fatten their horses, but supports the growth of lean, strong muscle mass. Keeping the parasitic weight (the weight a horse has to carry around that does not help with propulsion) to a minimum is important, especially with performance horses.

Once the initial trepidation is passed you will see a whole new urgency at or near feed time, horses really get attached to the feed bin. Fortunately Thrivefeed is a great pocket treat for them as well… Caution guy’s, make sure you remove Thrivefeed from your pockets before washing time!

Because of the ability to feed Thrivefeed free choice your horse will just have a good time and enjoy him or herself, that’s about it. What peace of mind for you not to worry about something that is all too common, and can have disastrous consequences with many bagged feeds and all grain types.

Thrivefeed does just the opposite. Just because your horse may become easier to handle and calmer doesn’t mean they will be slower. To be flighty and anxious takes energy, and energy comes from what horses eat. The utilization of the available energy to support speed and endurance instead of nervousness and bad attitude is a wonderful attribute Thrivefeed supports.

Contrary to popular trends I don’t advocate or endorse the feeding of fat and oil to horses. A horses digestive system was never designed to digest fat and oil, they are herbivores, grass eaters. We all know the amount of information available that supports the adoption of a low fat diet in humans, just look in the supermarket for products that say, “high fat for health”, there aren’t any. We are more adept than horses at metabolizing fat, and we are told to eat a low fat diet for health, yet we willingly feed our horses fat laden pellets and are assured that it’s just fine, that makes so sense. Thrivefeed is low fat because that is what a horse is designed to eat.  Many owners report Thrivefeed supports the building of lean muscle mass, allowing their horses to perform without layers of useless fat to drag around.

Three types of heat affect horses and are detrimental to their performance. Environmental heat, muscular heating due to physical work, and heat of digestion, the heat generated by the digestive process. The ease with which Thrivefeed is digested dramatically reduces the horses heat load and that effects performance, especially in hot weather. Additionally, because Thrivefeed may have a calming effect on your horse, little energy is lost in nervousness, so the energy value of the feed is saved for useful work, instead of being dissipated as dangerous attitudes and behavior not commensurate with easy handling and interaction.

No! Do not add any oil/fat to my feed. Adding oil and fat to a horses diet is like doing a load of greasy dishes without any detergent. The greasy sink is just like the coating on the horses gut wall. Horses have never been and will never be fat and oil eaters. For over 2.6 million years they have eaten forage, and that is how their intelligent design is supposed to work. Thrive Feed works so well because it emulates nutrient dense grass.