Whitney - the TC Lite is great under most circumstances, but not all as you have discovered. I use it on my maintenance horses as I do find I lose some topline muscle mass with it alone. The Gro N' Win may be too caloric.
Kcal for TC Lite = 1150 calories per pound
NSC= 15-16%
minimum amount to deliver guaranteed analysis = 8 ounces per day for 250 lb mini (maximum 1.25 lb)
I do not have those same figures for Gro-N-Win.
In terms of delivering protein, the BOSS is negligible in the amount you are feeding. 4 tablespoons of flax per day is probably WAY more than you need and at that rate you ARE using it as a protein supplement (about 28-30% protein). I feed 1 oz per day which is about 1 heaping tablespoon.
To tweak what you are feeding you could:
1) Add some alfalfa either in the form of cubes, pellets or alfalfa hay -- replacing the T&A cubes or in addition to. The diet as is may already be calcium heavy vs. phosphorus which may be okay since an adult horse's tolerance level for calcium
hosphorus can be as much as 7:1 (ideal being 1.5-2:1). I would be concerned about magnesium:calcium ratio, though as the calcium levels rise. If your horses are easy keeper or any of them cresty, might be worth looking into a supplement that is high in magnesium, or simply adding some magnesium oxide to the diet.
2) If you'd like simplicity in terms of balancing the diet, consider Triple Crown's TC-30 supplement. This is their version of Gro-N-Win and is designed to be fed with their other products. You could a) supplement the TC Lite -- though that seems rather redundant, or more likely replace the TC Lite with the TC-30 (8-12 oz per day). This is 30% protein product, but obviously fed at much lower rates than standard feeds. This would bump the overall protein level up in the diet (you could still give add some alfalfa), yet ensure that they were getting all the daily nutrition they need. TC-30 is low fat, so you could continue to provide flax and BOSS for added fat.
I am currently using Purina's Born to Win, but really like the ingredient list of the TC-30. I have one show horse, however, that is allergic to rice bran which TC-30 contains, so have to resort to the Purina product despite my preference for Triple Crown.
I keep good weight on my show horses and excellent top lines with:
2 cups Born To Win (8-10 oz)
2 cups (6 oz dry) beet pulp
1 cup (4 oz) chopped dengie Hi-Fiber hay
1/2 cup BOSS (1.5 oz)
1 heaping tbsp flax seed (1 oz)
1/2 +/- lb of alfalfa hay (big handful or so)
2-3 lbs orchard/timothy/grass hay mix
4 hours pasture
All the above is PER DAY, not per feeding.
That being said -- what works for my horses is ONLY what works for my horses, my circumstances. Any equine diet may require tweaking -- even for that individual horse as circumstances change, seasons change, amount of exercise changes, and even their metabolism shifts. Always be prepared to re-evaluate your feeding program when you feel that it is no longer producing the results you desire. The goal is to provide daily required nutrient levels, adeqate fiber for good gut health and calories that match your horse's needs for weight and exercise level -- neither too fat, nor too thin. For any given horse, you could probably mix and match 10 different diet plans that would achieve that goal on paper in terms of numbers -- the art of feeding is to put a program into practice and obtain the results you are trying to achieve!
Robin C
