It is synthetic

Hello, The prebiotic and probiotic levels in Empower Boost, and any of our other feeds, are considered maintenance doses. They should provide what a normal horse needs to maintain a healthy gut population. Should your horse be recovering from a digestive issue, or under significant stress, then you may want to investigate other supplemental sources. We do guarantee the levels in Empower Boost at 9.5 MIL CFU/LB for Lactobacillus acidophilus,Lactobacillus casei, Bifidobacterium thermophilum, and Enterococcus Faecium.

Hello, Thanks for the question! For a 150# mini that needs to gain weight, we'd recommend feeding at the "light to moderate" or "moderate to heavy" work levels, so that she is getting more calories than just maintenance level calories. For her weight, that would equate to between 0.1 and 0.3 lbs per day of the Empower Boost. To measure that out, it takes 4 cups to make 1 pound of Empower Boost, so you'd want to add about 1 cup of Empower Boost per day. Make sure to introduce it gradually if you are not already feeding it, as the high fat levels can loosen things up a bit if introduced too quickly! If you have any further questions, please let us know. Thank you!

Hello, Thank you for the question! Since Empower Boost is a supplement and is not designed to provide a full nutritional profile, feeding it along with something else is necessary for overall health. The Empower Topline Balance product is a great option for just that! Also, another option would be to feed SafeChoice Senior as the main diet, and you could supplement with Empower Boost if you desired. With any of these options, be sure to introduce them slowly over 5-10 days, as the change in diet and the increase in fat content could cause some issues if added in too quickly. Thank you!

Hello, Thanks for the question. Your vet was likely referring to wheat bran, which is a high fiber source, and not rice bran, which is a high fat source. In either case, feeding wheat bran as a standalone ingredient in the diet over a long term period can cause other issues due to the imbalanced calcium:phosphorus ratio - and bran is usually fed for its laxative effect, not for it's ability to stop loose stools. We would recommend a few things: 1. Ensure your pasture does not contain any trees or plants that are mildly toxic to horses - this is an often overlooked source of trouble. Contacting your local university extension office is a good place to start, as they will be familiar with local plants. 2. Try a significant/long term dose of a direct-fed microbial, or probiotic. A horse with chronic diarrhea has a gut microbial population that is completely out of line, so we want massive dose of beneficial microflora to see if we can get the gut repopulated with beneficial microflora. 3. Use a commercial digestive enzyme product. There are a number on the market. Goal is to optimize enzymatic digestion and slow down fermentation. Fermentation produces fatty acids and may lower pH, even normal fermentation. You want to do all you can to get gut pH normal. Your vet might want to measure fecal pH in the process to see what the current status is for the horse. 4. You can reduce demand on the colon by reducing long stem forage and feed a complete feed such as SafeChoice Senior. Feed good quality grass hay if the horse can handle hay properly. 5. Use a feed such as SafeChoice Senior Horse Feed that contains probiotics, prebiotics and organic trace minerals. Goal is to reduce stress on the entire gut. Smaller, more frequent meals will also help. Finally, a few other things to look at include: Small strongyles can cause chronic diarrhea and they can evade detection of routine fecal analysis. Ulcers can cause loose stools especially intermittent loose stools. Treats can also cause loose stools, for instance too many apples at a time. Your vet should be able to help you determine if the first two are sources of problems, and you can manage the third!

Hello, Thanks for the question. The Empower Boost product will put weight on a horse, which will generally show up across the ribs and other fat deposit areas - and it can be fed up to 3 lbs per day. To build topline, however, you will actually want to use Empower Topline Balance (see more here: https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/nutrena-empower-balance-grass-formula-horse-supplement-40-lb?cm_vc=-10005) which should be fed at about 2.5 - 3.5 lbs per day for your size horse to build up that topline quickly. Thank you!

Hello, Thanks for the question! The Empower Topline Balance would be the correct product to replace the Super Supplement with. The Empower Boost is a high fat rice bran product which will help with weight gain, but it will not provide the nutrients you are looking for to supplement the hay.

Hello, Thanks for the question. Yes, you can feed the Empower Boost with the Empower Topline Balance! It is a great way to add extra calories in support of an already-balanced diet.