Baby boy's new diet experiment

So a few days ago, I was trying to rule out any other possibilities for problems with Apollo. Treated for ulcers, dewormed, teeth done, saddle is fine, chiro adjustment, check check check! His sides jiggle, but I want those last few ribs covered. The fact that he's packed on plenty of weight during the dead of winter really makes me happy, but I'd like a little bit more. Something I didn't think about?

WHAT WE ARE FEEDING HIM.

It seems so obvious. So clear. One of the first things you go to. But no, I'm a dope and totally overlooked it until a few days ago. He gets 6lbs of Purina Senior and 3lbs of Strategy per day, plus 3lbs of alfalfa or grass pellets as a third meal. He's also getting Optizyme, SmartCalm and U-Gard pellets every morning. I decided to read up on other people's luck with the Purina Senior and Strategy on young hot-headed hard keepers. The results were not promising. I'm not good or super experienced in the science end of stuff, but they said the Purina Senior has a NSC of 22% (too high for a horse like him), and that it's very carby/sugary/starchy, also not good for both hot heads AND ulcer-prone horses. Ruh roh, I say. A lot of people said Strategy is the same way and turned their young OTTBs into fruit loops. Other people said their youngsters were totally fine on it. The other horses at the barn seem fine on it, then again everyone else can eat Chinese food but it gives me more digestive problems than you want to read about.

Apollo is very reactive to his feed. I already knew this because he was injured earlier this summer and needed SMZs melted and mixed in his feed. I figured hey, he's not working, if I give him sticky sugary sweet feed, surely he'll eat it all up! He got half a scoop every evening with his meds for several days. He went from a good boy:

To a fire breathing dragon:

The first photo was taken several months after the injury (and after we moved to a new barn) but you get the idea....

So I started looking at other options for him. From the day I bought him, people online went CRAZY for Triple Crown Senior. Greatest feed ever, puts tons of weight on, doesn't make them hot, good for ulcer prone horses, etc. I finally said OKAY FINE I'LL TRY IT. Tractor Supply doesn't carry it, but a local feed store does. They were even nice enough to load it in my trunk for me :)!

Yippee!!!

I bought two bags to start. I'm gonna transition him over this next week, and hopefully by next weekend he'll be eating just the TC Senior. According to a calorie per lb chart I found, the Purina Senior has about 1200 cal/lb, while Strategy has 1500 cal/lb. This stuff has a little over 1500 cal/lb plus pre and probiotics already mixed in. It also has rice bran in it, which people rave about but I have no experience with. I'm really hoping he does even better on this feed! It was a little expensive, but that's okay. If it's what he needs, I don't mind spending the extra $$. His needs come before my wants. 

And just in case anyone was wondering....

I got two pencils per hole of my god awful Kincade keepers. I'm moving up in this world.