Nutrena SafeChoice Special Care
Horse Feed Review
Product
SafeChoice Special Care is a low-starch pelleted feed produced by Nutrena. It is intended to be fed to horses with metabolic issues and those that readily gain weight, easy keepers. It is a pelleted feed that is a supplement to good quality pasture or hay. It is not a complete feed. Starches and sugars are kept at a low level, 11% and 4% respectively, so as to not exacerbate metabolic medical or body condition (easy keepers) issues. Further, the packaging states that probiotics (live microorganism cultures) and prebiotics (food for specific beneficial microorganisms) are included in the formulate to aid in digestion.
The SafeChoice line of products is composed of six products, all of which claim to provide a controlled starch formulation:
SafeChoice Original Horse Feed – "A proven controlled starch formula for all life stages"
SafeChoice Senior Horse Feed – " A high-fat, controlled starch, complete feed to meet the unique needs of senior horses"
SafeChoice Special Care Horse Feed – "Low, controlled starch formula for horses with metabolic concerns and easy keepers"
SafeChoice Perform Horse Feed – "High fat, controlled starch formula for performance horses and hard-keepers"
SafeChoice Mare & Foal Horse Feed – "A controlled starch feed for pregnant or lactating mares and growing horse through the second year"
SafeChoice Maintenance Horse Feed - "Controlled starch formula for maintenance horses with moderate energy needs"
Manufacturer
Nutrena (www.nutrenaworld.com) is a business unit of Cargill (www.cargill.com), with headquarters in Minneapolis, MN. Nutrena produces feeds for a variety of species such as dogs, cats, horses, poultry, cows, rabbits, sheep, goats, and pigs. For horses, there are seven product lines: ProForce, Safechoice, Triumph, Vitality, Pennfield, Respond, and Stock and Stable.
Under, “Research Partners,” in the Nutrena web page (www.nutrenaworld.com) the company identifies five university research partnerships. Three of the five describe research study areas that relate to starch and sugar (retrieved 16 September 2018):
Michigan State University – “Study Area: Effects of different nutrients and ingredient combinations on glycemic response in horses.”
University of Maryland – “Study Area: Effects of starch levels and direct fed microbials on gut health.”
University of Wisconsin – River Falls – “Study Area: Glycogen repletion in high performing horses.”
Within the Nutrena blog, “Starches and Sugars in Horse Feeds,” Nutrena describes the use to the term, “controlled starch,” instead of, “low starch.” Controlled starch, is low starch, but the level of starch and sugar in the feed is controlled to a maximum level appropriate for the life-stage, medical condition and activity level. Equine athletes will need a higher starch and sugar level to replenish glycogen used up in exercise. Horses with metabolic medical conditions, such as Cushings, need a lower level of starch and sugar. The SafeChoice line has a low-starch product to address various life-stage, metabolic condition and activity levels.
Cost and Feed Rate
As stated in the purpose statement on the feed bag, the SafeChoice Special Care Horse Feed is intended for horses with metabolic concerns, and easy-keepers. However, this is not intended to be a complete feed. The feeding instructions advise that 50% of the diet should come from good quality hay or pasture. Per the feeding instructions, a 1,000-pound horse in maintenance should get a daily ration of two to five pounds. At two pounds per day, a 50-pound bag, which I bought for $18.49 at a local feed store, would last 25 days and have a daily cost $0.74. At a rate of five pounds per day, the bag would last 10 days and cost $1.85 per day.
Product Label
Some manufacturers print the required (AAFCO model bill) product labeling information (e.g. guaranteed analysis, ingredients list) on the product packaging. For SafeChoice Special Care, the product labeling information is printed on a separate piece of paper that is sewn into the top seam. The guaranteed analysis and ingredient list is useful data to certain extent, but I think that data is more informative in the context of other similar products.
Below is chart showing product label information for the SafeChoice Special Care and two other similar products from other manufacturers, and to a legume (e.g. alfalfa, clover) hay:
For me several items stand out. First, the cost per pound. The Nutrena and Triple Crown products have similar cost per pound. The Blue Bonnet product, however, is considerably more expensive per pound. This difference can be further exacerbated when considering the recommended feed rates. Nutrena and Triple Crown products have a 2 - 5 pound and 2 - 4 pound per day feed rates for a 1,000 pound horse in maintenance, respectively. The Blue Bonnet product recommends 5 pounds per day. Is the additional cost worth the slightly higher fat content, increased digestibility of an extruded product over a pelleted product and/or the ingredients?
Second, all three products use wheat middlings, alfalfa and calcium carbonate within the first ten ingredients. Soybean products also feature prominently in all three. The relative weight of these ingredients in the respective formulations differs which may contribute to the differences in crude protein, fat and fiber contents. In my database of products and ingredients, these ingredients are commonly found in horse feeds. The Blue Bonnet product, however, does use less common ingredient such as rice bran, flax seed and kelp.
My third observation involves the different approaches to protein, fat and fiber content among the featured products. The Triple Crown product has gone for a lower fat content and higher fiber content. Fat can be used to increase the more immediately available calorie content, in lieu of adding starch from grains. Fiber, in addition to being less digestible, takes longer to digest as it requires fermentation by microbes in the hindgut. The fermentation products, acetate, butyrate and proprionate, provide less energy than glucose or fatty acids.
My last comment highlights an advantage of commercial feed over forages. While a single set of nutrient content figures is presented for the legume hay, in reality the content of hays can be quite variable. The soil a hay is grown in, maturity when cut, which cutting, drying process and even time of day hay is cut can affect the nutritional content. Commercial products, by comparison provide guaranteed levels of nutritional content.
Conclusion
Nuntrena's SafeChoice Special Care is a cost-competitive product featuring ingredients commonly used in feeds in my database. The company, as evidenced by it's research partnerships, appears to be interested in the effect of starch on horses. Hopefully, that research informed or influenced the formulation of the Special Care product. There are other comparable products available.