Another....Thunderbrook feed

ktj1891

ktj1891

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I am at my last straw with my boy before putting shoes back on as he's just not comfortable and have tried almost everything I can do for him. my trimmer believes it is related to his digestion so suggested Thunderbrook feed as she feeds it to all hers and her clients do to.

What does everyone make of it? Is it worth the money?

My main issue is I feed Charnwood linseed and Copra. In the base mix is Linseed and rice bran- fairly similar to what I am already feeding.

I know that Thunderbrook are now supplying Charnwood linseed so I would imagine this is what is already in their basemix, so my query is, is this feed really going to make that much of a difference?

Also its very expensive to buy and I've been told that I only need to feed 500g a day therefore should last me 40 days. Does anyone know what the DE of basemix is? My worry is that feeding only 500g a day he would be loosing a lot of calories compared to what he gets now- he is a poor doer.

Any general reviews, advice or suggestions welcome Smile
 
Ring Debbie @ Thunderbrook and ask her, she's great with responding to questions/worries.

They don't just do the base mix, a friend feeds the oats to her TB who needs more than my good doer and my not a good doer but not in work yet !
 
ktj1891 said:
I am at my last straw with my boy before putting shoes back on as he's just not comfortable and have tried almost everything I can do for him. my trimmer believes it is related to his digestion so suggested Thunderbrook feed as she feeds it to all hers and her clients do to.

What does everyone make of it? Is it worth the money?

My main issue is I feed Charnwood linseed and Copra. In the base mix is Linseed and rice bran- fairly similar to what I am already feeding.

I know that Thunderbrook are now supplying Charnwood linseed so I would imagine this is what is already in their basemix, so my query is, is this feed really going to make that much of a difference?

Also its very expensive to buy and I've been told that I only need to feed 500g a day therefore should last me 40 days. Does anyone know what the DE of basemix is? My worry is that feeding only 500g a day he would be loosing a lot of calories compared to what he gets now- he is a poor doer.

Any general reviews, advice or suggestions welcome Smile
Click to expand...

I tried it and couldn't get one to eat it and the other one really lost weight on it. I really liked the idea behind it but it didnt work for me.

I also posted on a fb group about it and was shot down by the owner or someone who works for them.they were very rude but at the end of the day their feed is not going to work for every horse. Worth calling them though.
i don't see how changing what you are feeding to thunderbrook will make a huge difference. Have you tried vit and min balancer such as forageplus or prohoof/

I have 1 horse successfully bf and the other one i've had to put shoes on as she was really struggling with bf. I tried hoofboots but she kept losing them in the field and was coming in with bruised soles. I hated seeing her sore so after 6 months of perservering i put her shoes back on and she is happy again. sure i will be shot down by some people on here but I don't think its fair to see a horse suffering
 
I use Thunderbrook feeds for my two horses - one is a native, the other a TB. Both are doing very well on it. Both love it, and after having tried nearly other feed for the TB, this is the only one she will eat. As a feed, I rate it highly and don't find it expensive at all!
 
I have had exactly the same problem as you with regards to comfort when barefoot, and also suspect digestive issues. Switching to Thunderbrook made absolutely no difference in that respect, and I struggled to get condition on him although his coat looked great (he is a poor doer too). After much trial and error with various feedstuffs I eventually hit on copra and linseed and he is now in the best condition ever. Despite my best efforts I never could resolve the comfort issue barefoot, I am now focussed more on solving the suspected hind-gut issues but again, so far no supplements I've tried seem to help (and some he won't eat!), and for his comfort I have put him in Epona Shoes.

To be honest if you really do suspect gut issues, unless you can resolve those issues you will be lucky to get him comfortable barefoot whatever you feed. As long as you are feeding and managing correctly (high fibre, cereal free, plenty of forage and turnout etc ) I don't think something like Thunderbrook will help. Having said that I do think it's a great balancer and a far better option than something like Top Spec or Blue Chip.

So it's Copra and linseed all the way for me, but just be aware that it's a high protein combination - it has suited my horse as he has had a lot of muscle to build, but some people wouldn't feed both for that reason. I am a great advocate of barefoot but think I got so obsessed with trying to get him comfortable that in my quest to achieve it I almost overlooked the fact that he wasn't comfortable, if that makes sense. I should have put the Epona's on sooner, we haven't looked back since they went on. I still haven't resolved the gut issues and I'm not sure that I ever will, but he looks and feels amazing now!
 
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I had a blazing row with the Thunderbrooks man after he attacked me for suggesting magnesium was good for barefoot horses. He then point blank refused to tell me what was in their feeds. Thats quite important to me as I like to know what I'm feeding. Apparently I had to ring to talk to their nutritionist, but having spoken to people who have they get a very rude hard sell. Turns out their balancers contain magneisum. Apparently its only ok to feed if you feed Thunderbrooks feed?!

I also posted on another forum asking for experiences. I had 2 people contact me to ask about my experience with them. I told them about the above but said it might well work for them and to do their own research, and then Thunderbrooks went mental and created a bit of a fuss and had the post removed. I personally wouldnt use them if they were the only feed suppliers in the world after that! And even without that wouldnt have used them as after a fair bit of research, their balancers etc contain iron which is a no go for me!

Shame, as its a good idea in theory ruined by a very rude man and a band of evangelistic followers!
 
I had a simar experience to LMR and Frankicob

I tried it as my then trimmer kept pushing it. My horse lost condition very quickly. I called Thunderbrook to ask for the ingredients (they weren't on the website at this point) and analysis. The female who took my call was extremely rude, unhelpful and patronising. So it was an absolute no brained to never use TB again.

When there have been threads on barefoot pages asking about it I've replied that it didn't work for me but others appear to rate it and that every horse is an individual so just because it didn't work for me doesn't mean to say that it won't work for another. I get jumped on by TB staff and friends and I've seen it happen to others who have had similar experiences. Now, no matter if it's an unrelated topic the TB person seeks me out and "tagged" me regularly until I called her out on it.

I also find it hard to comprehend the stance of not making the analysis freely available. The BFers often bemoan the lack of transparency with the big commercial feed companies but will blindly use a feed that won't tell you (the commercial companies do). Forage Plus, Progressive Earth and Equimmins all do.

What are you feeding just now? I've noticed a huge difference since stopping beet products for my three (alfabeet, speedibeet and fast fibre), stopping all Alfa and treated (with preservatives and NIS) unmolassed chaff.

I now feed a mix of grass nuts, grass chop, linseed, copra and Pro Earth (pro hoof for one and pro balance for the others).
 
I don't get why he'd attack you for suggesting magnesium is good for b/foot horses, as the base mix contains 3 different types of magnesium.

Anyway I use it for mine because one of mine has very compromised feet, has PPID and EMS and this is the feed that works best for her. I tried her on the Cushings approved feed but her feet went splatt with the beet and so we went back to Thunderbrook. There is analysis on the bag as well listing vits/mins and ingredients.

We've tried most feeds in 10 years and this is the best for her, but as ever not all feeds suit all horses.
 
I've stayed with Thunderbrook since trying their base mix 2 years ago. I found them helpful and knowledgable and my horses look great, if I say so myself : )
Feet have improved and the worrying gut issues kept at bay. I'm happy with the quality and very speedy delivery too.
 
Have to say I've had bad experiences with the Tb staff, first when I enquired about the ingredients for an allergic horse and then asking about organic oats and bran and was told that I would not qualify for free postage unless I bought the base mix even though it contained things I was trying to avoid.

Also got on the wrong side on fb for not knowing who the rep was, hadn't said anything about their feeds at all, but he was really bitchy and accused me of not knowing how to use fb because his fame escaped me.

My issue with any pre mixed feed is that you can't just remove one element so I went back to straights.
 
I've heard a lot of people getting bad customer service from TB, which is a shame as it lets them down as a company..sigh, the way the world seems to be going these days!
However, my lad is on the base mix and has been since last may, after diagnosed with PPID and LGL, plus micronised linseed ( half a coffee cupful), his feet and coat improved no end ( no exaggeration!)..then i read that spillers balancer was better for PPID horses so swapped and to my amazement ( sceptic here), his feet went downhill, coat went dull and starey blah blah...so swapped back and back to wonderful feet and coat plus weight gain ( with help from lysine supplement) which he needed...so I'm a fan of the base mix! I found with my daughters old pony that alfa a oil chop worked well (with other supplements) to improve feet...though i do stress I've not met anyone yet(!) that didnt see an improvement with micronised linseed too....
Hope this waffle helps :)
 
I feed this and it's fab but I do feed it to a lazy cob. He is a very good doer and is also barefoot but he always lacked energy. He has the base mix and the herbal chaff plus their performance balancer and he is a completely different horse. He has muscled up quickly (he's only four and half) and he has not has the horrid bloated grass belly this year that he normally has. I feed 250g of base mix. handful of the chaff and a scoop of the performance balancer. He is out 24/7 with a hay net at night and he has never looked so good. I did try it on my old anglo arab at the start of the summer as he had cushings and lami and it made an amazing difference to his coat but I sadly had to have him put to sleep before it had any chance to make any sort of a difference to him but the shine on his coat was instant. I love this stuff but Ollie is a good doer.

I'm shocked at the comments about rude staff and customer service as I have only ever found the company and it's staff very helpful.
 
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