Blue Seal Sport VS Purina Strategy

I have been using Blue Seal Sport for my OTTB but recently Tractor Supply has started adding Purina to the grains they sell and I as suprised to find out that Purina Strategy is only $1 more than Blue Seal. So I am considering switching as I have heard such great things about Purina and a lot of people use Strategy. What is your opinion.

I switched to Strategy when TSC started carrying it ($12.50 here in WV a bag) and several rescues I've dealt with highly recommended. We have some hard keepers and one rescue that will not gain weight with anything, and the rescues said they had horses that would gain with it and condition would improve when nothing else had - even tons of hay, rice bran or whatever.
That said, we've been switching over to it for about 2 weeks now, so we will see here in another few weeks if there is a difference! :)

I use Strategy for my TB and QH and it has done wonders for them.

Guaranteed Analysis: BS Sport Purina ----------- Strategy
Crude Protein, Min. ......................................... 11.0 % --- 14%
Lysine, Min. .................................................. ... 0.60 %
Crude Fat, Min. ................................................. 6.0 % --- 6%+
Crude Fiber, Max. ............................................. 8.0 % --- 6%+
Calcium, Min. .............. 0.65 % Max. ......... 1.15 % --------- 1.0-1.3%
Phosphorus, Min. ............................................ 0.60 % --- .60%
Copper, Min. .................................................. 50 ppm --- 80PPM
Chelated Copper, Min. ................................... 12 ppm
Manganese, Min. ......................................... 125 ppm
Chelated Manganese, Min. ............................ 20 ppm
Selenium, Min. ............................................ 0.52 ppm --- .6PPM
Zinc, Min. .................................................. ... 150 ppm --- 280PPM
Chelated Zinc, Min. ........................................ 40 ppm
Vitamin A, Min. .......................................... 4,500 IU/lb --- 3000IU/lb
Vitamin E, Min. ............................................. 125 IU/lb

The only real difference I see is in the amount of protein. What are you doing with your horse? Does he need a 14% protein? Most horses are fine on 10-12%. Also, blue seal is higher in fiber which is always nice.

And on the Purina website for their analyses most of them say "not less than ___%". So even though it's "guaranteed" you might be getting different protein levels from bag to bag. I also don't like how they don't have ingredients posted on their website. Purina seems to change their ingredients A LOT to make the batch for the least amount of money possible. Blue Seal stays very consistent.

My Beau thank you that was helpful with the comparision. (I appreciate everyones opinion too) This is for my mare I got Off the track that I am trying to put weight on without making her hot. I think I may even try mixing them them one bag Blue Seal and One bag Strategy and see how that works so she has the consistancy of Blue Seal and the added benefit of Purina (it does have a little more protein) What do you think?

Most feed company's labels list protein and other items as % min. This is generally a lowball # in most all cases. For example many bags of shelled corn will list the protein as 7% min. Many times the actual shelled corn in the bag will be 9.5% protein. This is because like hay, actual crop harvest conditions, field fertility, etc. contribute to the grains feed value. This is one of the reasons companys like purina change thier indgredients somewhat to keep the analysis on the feed label very close. Otherwise the bag of Country Acres 10% might actually be 14%. One local small feed mill got tested a few years ago by the state as to whether or not his feed in the bag matched the label and only 30% of his products matched the label!!!!!!!!!! A lot of small mills are like this, they use the protein out of a book for the label on for example, corn. The larger mills (Purina) test every load of ingredient that comes in and use it accordingly. If the shelled corn comes in at 9.5% protein, they may only need x pounds per 50lb bag, but if it comes in at 6.5% protein, they may need y pounds per 50lb bag. Thus sometimes the feed bag that changes its ingredients occasionally may actually be a more consistant feed than the feed bag that always has 20lbs of oats per bag.

Hmm... well I've never had my horses on Purina, mine get Blue Seal Carb-Guard and my weanling gets BS Contender. I am putting weight on my older TB mare with the carb-guard and hay stretcher (also BS).

Maybe try some type of hay cube on her and call the feed companies - ask them specific questions (since they'll be trying to convince you that their feed is the absolute greatest!) and go from there to decide which one will be the best for your girl. :)

She gets good quality hay, she would probably gain weight if we had more green grass but with winter coming grass is down. She is a nibbler so I can't give her large quanities of things so we just ensure she always has food available she gets alfaha cubes, grain and hay. But I just want whatever I give her to be good quality. And it is true that every feed company will tell theirs is the best and I figured I would rather find out from people who actually use the products.

I just wanted to remind you that it takes time to gain weight. Maddy was fed great quality feed but it look her about a year to get to a good spot where I knew exactly what to feed her and got to a weight that I was perfectly happy with.

You prob already know this tho

Yea I know it always takes time, my other horse is an easy keeper she stays out 24/7 and I normally feed her some corn or we make our sweet feed that she gets. So I don't normally purchase grain so I want to pick one now that I am going to be happy with long term. So I really appreciate everyone's imput.