Questions

Why is THRIVE so different?

Thrive is cutting edge feed technology unlike most other horse feeds. Thrive is processed in a similar way to baby cereal, making it very vulnerable to attack by digestive juices. The starch component of the feed derived from grain, is gelatinized in a similar way to popping corn. A useful comparison is the difference between corn starch and popcorn, which would you rather eat? The sophisticated process we use renders this feed over 90% digestible, allowing the grain component to be fully utilized in the small intestine, and untangling the complex carbohydrates in the grass fibers so they are easy for the bacterial flora in the cecum and large intestine to transform to useful energy. Because there is no raw starch to ferment in the hind gut, the correct intestinal pH may be achieved, promoting desirable bacteria to flourish, and allowing digestion of fiber to take place efficiently. Your horse may become highly efficient at utilizing forage grassed and hay, and that could save you money.

If Thrive is so great, why is it not advertised very much?

The reason is simple, money! Advertising costs lot’s of money and I would rather spend the money on the best ingredients I can procure and let the results people are already getting do the advertising for me. Thrive sales are growing, and it’s all due to results people are getting, they tell others, the others tell more people, and that’s the way I like it. You will never see me giving feed away just to get endorsements, when companies give feed away someone has to pay for it and it’s the customer that ends up footing the bill. People come back again and again because Thrive does what I promise it will do.

Has Thrive been proven safe for my horse?

Yes, absolutely. Thrive will establish itself as the finest horse nutrition money can buy anywhere. I have tested this incredible feed on all sorts of horses, many breeds of horses, fed them nothing but Thrive, hay, and water, they never coliced, never got sick, never did anything but thrive. I have customers phoning me, telling me how excited they are at the results they see in their horses, while the major companies keep telling people we are stupid to supply a low fat diet to horses, we let our customers decide who the smart ones are, they know the truth after a short time using the feed, results mean everything!

Do horses really work in the heat better after eating Thrive?

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 Thrive is digested dramatically reduces the horses heat load and that effects performance, especially in hot weather. Additionally, because Thrive 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.

Do the ingredients change during the year?

No, the premium ingredients Thrive is manufactured from are a fixed formula and never change. The product you buy in the summer is the same as in the middle of winter, and the wonderful results you will experience are constant. Many horse feeds are produced by what is known in the industry as “least cost”. The feed is in the same bag with the same name, but the ingredients will vary during the year, as different ingredients become the cheapest to make the feed out of.

Is Thrive expensive?

Comparing the difference in price between one bag of feed and another is not an accurate way to ascertain the yearly cost of ownership of your horse. There are many other factors that feeding a horse influences. The difference between feeding a low quality horse feed and Thrive may only be a couple of hundred dollars a year. The nutritional efficiency of Thrive is great value, in fact I guarantee it with an unconditional money back pledge of satisfaction. Many horse owners now use their horses without shoes for the same tasks they had to shoe previously, so that’s about $40-$50 every six weeks you save from the start. (Price difference between a trim and a shoeing) Because your horse will become a more efficient user of forage you will need less hay to get the same amount of energy for your horse, he will eat a noticeably lower amount of forage. With hay running at all time high prices, that’s a saving you cannot ignore. Vets are already using Thrive to help chronic cases of colic and colitis, the improvements observed cannot be ignored, it’s all about very good digestibility.

Will Thrive slow down performance horses?

Thrive does just the opposite. Just because your horse will become easier to handle and calmer doesn’t mean they will be slower. To be flighty and anxious takes energy, and that energy is taken from what horses eat. Thrive reserves the energy for more useful things like speed and power. Your horse should be warmed up before a speed event, and they will remain focused and calm until you ask for performance, then they will give 100%, then after the run is finished, back to calm and easy to handle. Does that make sense?

How do I change over from the feed I use now?

The way you change your horse to this ultimate diet is just as different as the results you will achieve. DO NOT MIX THRIVE WITH ANY OTHER TYPE OR BRAND OF HORSE FEED. The only acceptable addition is forage hay and water. The reason is the digestibility, it’s over 90%, and if you mix any other feed with Thrive, including other brands of extruded feed, you may induce a digestive upset that is easily avoidable. Please be aware that many vets are still unaware of the difference in Thrive to all other 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. All you do to change over, is stop feeding your horse all rations except hay and water for 24 hours, then feed the appropriate ration of Thrive (2 to 3 pounds) just like you were feeding the previous ration. This amount of feed assumes you are like most people and feed twice a day, morning and night making a total of 4 to 6 pounds per day. Just remember, Thrive is like nothing else on the market, and neither are the results.

How long before I see a change in my horse?

Dramatic changes in horses have been observed in as little as 24 hours, many owners report obvious improvement in their horses attitude within a week, and every owner notices changes within 45 day’s

What is the most common change?

The most commonly reported change is a calmer, easier to work with horse. The people that experience the most noticeable change are those that feed their horses plain oats or sweet feeds. The change to a feed that may supply all metabolic requirements has an effect that may be only day’s away from starting the feed.

Will my horse be easier to train?

That’s what the feed was originally designed for, to compliment the training process and make horses calmer and more receptive to new concepts and ideas. Your horse may concentrate more intently and come down from an increase in mental stimulus quicker.

What other changes can I expect in my horse?

Common feedback indicates that owners observe a change in their horses hair coat. They report the horses hair gets softer and finer, with an increase in color brightness and depth. A change in hoof quality may occur. Farriers report an easier horse to trim and shoe and many advise to de-shoe within three months of starting the feed, the horses are much better bare foot and it’s a natural for better hoof health. None of my horses have shoes, and I ride in varied terrain that at times is challenging on horse hoofs. I have no problems with my horses feet.

What horses are suitable for the feed?

I have yet to find a horse of any age, gender, or breed that does not do well on Thrive. the ability to feed Thrive free choice, allows optimum growth with a digestive system not compromised with oil and 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 given a life in the wild, they never eat anything but forage grasses their whole life, it’s only humans that dictate the hundreds of different types of feed for each type of horse, once again I disagree.

How much do I feed?

You can start with 4 pounds per day per 1000 pounds body weight. Thrive is like the gas pedal on your vehicle, when you want more performance, you push down on the gas pedal. With Thrive, 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 of Thrive consumed by a average sized horse is around 5 pounds a day. that being the case, the average horse should get at least eight days from one bag of feed.

How often should I feed?

You should break the daily ration up to at least two equal feeds minimum. 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 himself during your absence. Make sure that a constant supply of clean water is available at all times for your horse to drink.

How long does it last in the bag?

Because Thrive is a dry feed and has been processed to a temperature that kills mold and fungal spores, it will last at least a year 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, just make them easily digestible.

What size bag is it in?

The sack holds 40 pounds. The high digestibility ensures the contents equal or exceed the nutritional value of a normal 50 pound sack. The big benefit is the 10 pound lighter sack is so much easier for ladies to move around, and a lot of ladies have horses.

How do I purchase THRIVE?

In the first instance, call 940-465-9836 and discuss your needs and your horses needs can be met in the future.

Why is Thrive low fat?

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”? 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’s just plain stupidity! Fatty feed may produce fat covered obese horses that carry around parasitic weight to limit performance. This is how it works. Fat is a cheap way to get calories at the expense of health. You don’t need to be a nutritionist to work out the concept, it’s about feed companies making money. Thrive is low fat because that’s how it must be for a horse to thrive. Many owners report Thrive builds lean muscle mass, allowing their horses to perform without layers of useless fat to drag around.

Why is the protein 15%?

Major misunderstandings are evident with regard to protein in horse feed. The high quality proteins in Thrive 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.

What is digestible fiber?

Digestible fiber is that part of the plant material ingested by the horse, that is able to be easily broken down and converted into energy by the acids, enzymes, bacteria and protozoa in the horses digestive tract. Not all fiber taken in by the horse is broken down and utilized as an energy source. Manure consists primarily of the undigested fiber a horse has consumed in the quest for energy.

Do I need supplements?

Thrive is a complete ration and needs no supplementation for optimum nutrition, in fact I advise against it, adding other products to Thrive upsets the delicate balance of ingredients 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, Thrive achieves this with advanced technology so all you have to do is just feed your horse without worrying about mixing supplements together.

Are there drugs in the feed to calm the horses?

No absolutely not. The calming effect is how the horse is naturally meant to be, it’s base temperament. It’s not that this feed drugs them to get horses calm, it’s just the feed on the market in America creates less than ideal emotional performance.

Are there Pro-biotics in Thrive?

There are no Probiotics in Thrive because they are unnecessary with a healthy horse on this diet. 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, or the destruction of the normal intestinal bacterial flora due to the constant ingestion of raw starch causing fermentation in the cecum and colon and producing an environment not conducive to the growth of good bacteria.

Do I need to feed my horse alfalfa?

No you don’t, forage hay like Coastal Bermuda, Tifton 44, Timothy, and other acceptable equine forage are just fine, remember, horses are grass eaters, and given the right digestive bacteria they are very good at getting energy from it. Feed Thrive at the suggested rates and you will have a horse that will become very efficient at getting the most from what you feed, doesn’t that make sense? After a short time you will notice your horse will not eat as much hay, but is in better physical condition, it’s called digestive efficiency, and that’s a saving you can measure in dollars and cents.

Will my horse lose a lot of weight if I use Thrive?

If your horse is obese they may shed the excess fat over time. Owners report that Thrive does not fatten their horses, but it lays down 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. Thrive is highly digestible and energy dense, so your horse has little trouble getting the most out of it. Also, your horse will lose up to 150 lbs in water from the large intestine and cecum, this is called gut ballast and is predominantly salty water that the body holds in the digestive system to allow the fibrous material to pass though the gut easily. Because Thrive may make your horse a much more efficient user of forage, there won’t be as much grass and fiber in the gut, so less water is necessary to keep it moist. This can make a huge difference to a performance horse, to understand the difference a horse would feel, have a really large meal and then go for a good run, not an nice feeling, and horses are no different. Without extra weight in the gut your horse may breathe easier and perform better.

What if my horse breaks into the feed shed and eats a lot of Thrive?

Because of the ability to feed Thrive 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.