Feed for entire barn?

The barn I just moved my mare to feeds Strategy to most of the horses and they all look wonderful on it. My mare just made the switch from a sweet feed (the barn grain at the old barn) to Strategy and she has mellowed out from it (plus extra turnout at the new barn). It is a small barn so she does not get in bulk, but will buy a palate at a time so the boarders can buy it from her for cheaper than at the feed store (buy $15/a bag rather than $17.50 at the feed store) and your own grain is kept separate of other people's. Some horses are on different things (Relieve and Senior) and then the owners just provide that and are not paying for barn grain that they are not using.

My gelding is on Safe Choice at his barn that he's staying at for the summer (Nutrena) and he does better with a higher fat when he's working, so instead of upping his grain, I use Empower Boost as a supplement to his Safe Choice, rather than upping his grain (he only needs a cup of Empower twice a day).

Both my horses are fairly easy keepers, my mare only gets 1lb of the strategy twice a day along with her Quiessence and SmartFlex Senior, the boy gets about 3lbs of SC twice a day, with his Empower. Both horses are in good weight, and all the horses at their respective barns look excellent.

This is the way to go, Imho. Even for just our 4 mares, we use a very nice performance mix from the local mill. It's less expensive than the national brands and we're big on supporting the local farmers.
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Thanks everyone for your input! I am glad so many peole have good things to say about Strategy.

My current barn feeds Country Acres, which is definitely not an option. The other closest barn feeds the tribute Kalm n Ez. I need to keep checking around...

When you have a local feed mill blend for you, it's not pelleted so does that means its going to be more of a sweet feed?

Absolutely not. We've had up to 50 here and they all did just fine on Nutrena SafeChoice as the base feed. Adjustment amounts needed PER horse.

Some needs can't be met with a feed. Owners need to provide hoof or other type supplements. Keep up on vet, farrier, teeth and worming.

You can pick only one feed so why not go with something like Safe Choice. Call the plant and see about bulk delivery and costs. Don't go making assumptions that it will be over the moon. Someone is delivering to the feed outlets and they may very well want to deliver to you.

Most of the barns around here offer Strategy, Nutrena Safe Choice, and/or Nutrena Senior. Nutrena has a new SafeChoice out called Perform, which might be worth looking into if the horses are highly competitive and in heavy work. I *think* Nutrena products come in bulk.

When you have a local feed mill blend for you, it's not pelleted so does that means its going to be more of a sweet feed?[/QUOTE]

Some mills have the equipment to pelletize. Ask to speak with their nutritionist and see what they can do for you.
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If you offer any kind of concentrate, I'd go with Strategy or Safechoice. My horses do better on Strategy but that's just here. If you have a good supplier of Timothy/Alfalfa you may not need to feed a concentrate. I don't use the word grain as a description because that usually brings sweet feed and COB and things like that to mind, and Strategy & Safechoice are more than just grain.

Someone recommended the local mills for your feed and if your mill is good & reliable, go for it. It can save you a bunch of money. I tried at my local mill and was not impressed with their local feed that was supposed to be like Strategy and they weren't reliable for being able to buy in quantity. I'd show up to pick up my usual 3 tons and they'd be out......just forgot to mill it that day. Do WHAT?

Our barn has about 40 horses. All are on Safechoice and beet pulp(if needed) with the exception of 3 who are on Nutrena's senior feed.

Our feed store delivers it in bulk.
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So I contacted Nutrena and asked if there was any way to get Safe Choice delivered in bulk to my area. Hopefully they can point me in the right direction since their website says the only places within 100 miles are tractor supply and a carry out.

I contacted alocal feed mill and they don't do pellets, which I think anything else would be a pain in a bulk bin.

Thanks again for all the help!