# Heads up for those feeding Horizon Legacy



## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

ugh, of course. Conner had exactly four types of kibble that didn't have an ingredient he is allergic to. Then Acana changed. Now Horizon is changing. That leaves us with two. Good thing I mostly feed raw.


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## Loboto-Me (Nov 13, 2008)

Nooooo! I changed over to Horizon Legacy when Eagle Pack changed formula and Sophie actually started eating again when I did that change over.

I hope they didn't change to inferior ingredients  Sophie can be such a delicate little flower when it comes to food.

Thanks for that heads up.


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## Laurie (Sep 20, 2009)

Oh boy....all of our dogs eat Horizon Legacy.....thanks for the heads up. Will be e-mailing the company tomorrow.


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## MyBentley (May 5, 2009)

A few months ago I tried the Horizon Legacy with my dogs. One did well on it and the other didn't; so I moved on to something else. It looked good on paper though. From just checking their website, it looks like there is less fat, higher % of peas (listed 3 different times) and is the salmon meal new? Just wondering what the main changes are.

There seems to be a lot of formula changes with different companies. I imagine it's a combination of sourcing challenges and keeping their costs down. I wish they would start making the formulas more simple rather than adding more and more ingredients. It makes it hard to know what the problem is when a dog doesn't do well with it.


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## Goldilocks (Jun 3, 2007)

From what I can tell, most of the ingredients have remained the same but they've lowered the protein to 34% and increased the fat content. Obviously there's less meat in it now. If you want to do a comparison, the "old" formula is still listed on the Dog Food Analysis website and the new formula is listed on Horizon's website.

Similar to MyBentley, our Golden wasn't able to tolerate the Legacy but it seemed to be the only food that our whippet tolerated....until now.


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## MyBentley (May 5, 2009)

Goldilocks said:


> From what I can tell, most of the ingredients have remained the same but they've lowered the protein to 34% and increased the fat content. Obviously there's less meat in it now. If you want to do a comparison, *the "old" formula is still listed on the Dog Food Analysis website and the new formula is listed on Horizon's website.*
> 
> Similar to MyBentley, our Golden wasn't able to tolerate the Legacy but it seemed to be the only food that our whippet tolerated....until now.


Thanks for the tip. I just compared the two.
Old formula had 40% protein and 16% fat
New formula has 34% protein and 15% fat.

Accordingly, the old had 4 meat sources listed first and now there are two meat sources listed first. The old had "whole eggs" while the new has "egg product". They deleted "pumpkin meal", "fenugreek" and "milk thistle" but added "salt".

If the price is still the same, the company has shored up its bottom line with these changes. As a dog owner, if you dog didn't do well with the old formula, it might do better with the new; and visa versa.


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## CarolinaCasey (Jun 1, 2007)

Why mess with a good thing? I never understood that!


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## Goldilocks (Jun 3, 2007)

Laurie said:


> Oh boy....all of our dogs eat Horizon Legacy.....thanks for the heads up. Will be e-mailing the company tomorrow.


Just wondering if you emailed Horizon and whether or not you received a response. I emailed on Thursday morning and have not received a response yet. 

I am really annoyed because I have searched through Horizon's website and no where is there mention of a formula change. If one didn't know what the formula used to be, there is no clue that anything has changed. I find that very deceptive. Considering my dog got sick, it's more than just deceptive, it can be in some cases dangerous to not tell people when you change a formula.


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## MyBentley (May 5, 2009)

Goldilocks said:


> Just wondering if you emailed Horizon and whether or not you received a response. I emailed on Thursday morning and have not received a response yet.
> 
> I am really annoyed because I have searched through Horizon's website and no where is there mention of a formula change. If one didn't know what the formula used to be, there is no clue that anything has changed. I find that very deceptive. Considering my dog got sick, it's more than just deceptive, it can be in some cases dangerous to not tell people when you change a formula.


I would be upset too if I were feeding Horizon Legacy right now. That is one thing I appreciate about Natura's website. They do report what changes they are making in formulas. You may have to dig into the site a little bit to find it, but it is there. They tell exactly what's deleted, added or changed. My impression is that most companies don't communicated the changes very well.


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## Goldilocks (Jun 3, 2007)

I ended up returning the bag of Horizon Legacy today. Dallas is just not able to adjust to it and has never had this type of issue before with any food. I got a small bag of regular Acana Adult to try. It's potato free so we are keeping our fingers crossed. 

The owner of the pet food store named off 3 brands who over the past year have changed formulas but used up old bags they have on hand. She said the whole pet food industry is poorly regulated and they have about 6 months where they can use old bags with the new formula inside, etc. Pretty sad.


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## Gerdrick (Mar 1, 2010)

Hello, I am new here, very glad I bumped into this discussion. I just started my boy (not a golden) on Horizon Legacy 2 weeks ago (old formula) and he is doing great on it. Now that they have changed the formula I am not sure if this would work for us (he has some skin issues). 

Here's the old and new formulas I found.

*OLD formula:*
Ingredients:
Fresh chicken meat, chicken meal, salmon meal, turkey meal, pea starch concentrate, green split peas, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols, rosemary, citric acid), whole eggs, flaxseed, salmon oil, dried alfalfa, carrots, apples, broccoli, bok choy, cabbage, cranberries, Saskatoon berries, dried kelp, dried pumpkin meal, colostrum, sea buckthorn, fenugreek protein meal, dried pomegranate, dried astragalus root, dried milk thistle, glucosamine HCl, chondroitin sulphate, garlic, enzymes (dried aspergillus oryzae fermentation extract, dried aspergillus niger extract, pineapple, dried trichoderma longibrachiatum fermentation product, rhizopus oryzae), probiotics (dried enterococcus faecium fermentation product, dried lactobacillus casei fermentation product, dried lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, dried bifidobacterium bifidum fermentation product, and dried lactobacillus plantarum fermentation product), yucca schidigera extract, mannan oligosaccharide (MOS), burdock root extract (FOS), vitamin A, vitamin D3, vitamin E, vitamin B12, riboflavin, niacin, folic acid, pyridoxine hydrochloride, thiamine mononitrate, d-calcium pantothenate, biotin, vitamin C (ascorbyl phosphate), ferrous sulphate, iron proteinate*, zinc sulphate, zinc proteinate*, manganous oxide, manganese proteinate*, copper sulphate, copper proteinate*, calcium iodate, sodium selenite, seleno methionine, magnesium oxide. 
* Chelated Minerals.


Botanical Addition Rates 
Colostrum 800 mg/kg
Sea Buckthorn 700 mg/kg
Fenugreek 600 mg/kg
Pomegranate 450 mg/kg
Burdock 450 mg/kg
Astragalus 400 mg/kg
Milk thistle 300 mg/kg
Glucosamine 600 mg/kg
Chondroitin 400 mg/kg
Garlic 300 mg/kg


Nutritional Information
Protein (min.): 40%
Fat (min.): 16%
Fibre (max.): 3%
Moisture (max.): 9%
Omega 3:1%*
Omega 6:3%*

*NEW formula*:
*Ingredients*: Chicken, chicken meal, pea, pea starch, turkey meal, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols, source of vitamin E), salmon meal, pea fibre, flaxseed, egg product, salmon oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols, vitamin E), carrots, apples, broccoli, bok choy, cabbage, blueberries, salt, fructooligosaccharides, yucca schidigera extract, dried aspergillus niger fermentation extract, dried aspergillus oryzae fermentation extract, pineapple, dried trichoderma longibrachiatum fermentation extract, dried rhizopus oryzae fermentation extract, dried enterococcus faecium fermentation product, dried lactobacillus casei fermentation product, dried lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, dried bifidobacterium bifidum fermentation product, and dried lactobacillus plantarum fermentation product, vitamin A acetate, vitamin D3 supplement, vitamin E supplement, vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin, niacin, folic acid, pyridoxine hydrochloride, thiamine mononitrate, d-calcium pantothenate, biotin, l-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), ferrous sulphate, iron proteinate*, zinc sulphate, zinc proteinate*, manganous oxide, manganese proteinate*, copper sulphate, copper proteinate*, calcium iodate, sodium selenite, magnesium oxide. 
*Nutritional Information*
Crude Protein (min.): 34%
Crude Fat (min.): 15%
Crude Fibre (max.): 3.5%
Moisture (max.): 10%
Ash (max) 8.4%
Glucosamine (max) 500 mg/kg
Chondroitin (max) 300 mg/kg 
Omega 3:1%**
Omega 6:3%**

It is still possible to get "old" horizon Legacy here.


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## LucyBean (Mar 4, 2010)

This is my first post. I don't have a Golden Retriever, but was browsing online and came across this topic on Horizon Legacy and must say thank you for posting it. I've been feeding my dog Horizon Legacy since she was only a few months old. She did so well on the old ingredients. It WAS a great product and didn't realize the ingredients recently changed - I bought a new bag a few weeks ago and her stools have become soft, change colour and are inconsistent. She's become a lot hungrier and hyper. I couldn't figure it out until I read this post last night. I looked on the back of the dog food bag and it's true -- it's changed!! It's now a much inferior product for the same price as before. This is wrong and unsafe to do without warning and I have written them as well. They've taken out so many ingredients like pumpkin and alfalfa. They've taken out dried kelp and put in salt, they've added fructooligosaccharides which can be used for an artificial sweetener, low on calories and can cause diarrhea if consumed too much and the list goes on!! THANK YOU for this topic and spread the word!


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## Gerdrick (Mar 1, 2010)

Here's what the company answered me:
Hi Catherine;

Please be assured that the new formula for Horizon Legacy will not have a negative impact on your dog’s health. The new formula has a slightly lower protein level. This has been reduced as a result of customer demand. High protein levels have been a hot topic for a long time and a lot of people are concerned. Horizon maintains that the high protein levels in our food is not a cause for concern. Studies were conducted years ago on high protein food but what is not commonly known is the different types of protein. Various foods with by-products and high levels of corn can register as high protein but the quality is low and not easily digestible by animals. We have never used by-products, which often include feet, feathers and entrails...yuck! Our chicken and turkey protein comes from muscle meat only.

We have removed colostrum, unfortunately, as well as most of our botanicals in order to comply with AAFCO regulations so that we can distribute our product in the US. These natural products are not patented or have scientific studies the “prove” their benefits and simply having them on our list of ingredients is according to AAFCO, the same as making a drug claim.

Legacy still includes prebiotics, probiotics (added at the end of the production cycle to maintain viability) omega 3 and 6, fresh fruit and vegetables and high quality, nutrient dense muscle meat protein.

Some of our customers were disappointed to hear about the exclusion of colostrum in our formulas and we have directed them to the Saskatoon company that we purchased our colostrum from. They are a fantastic Canadian company that will ship colostrums to you if you would like. You can visit their website at www.peterna.com

I hope that I have answered all of your questions but if not please don’t hesitate to contact me directly.

Sincerely,
Chris Strawson

I think I will get as many bags of the "old" formula as I can while that web site I posted earlier still sells them...


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## Loboto-Me (Nov 13, 2008)

Well it sounds like they went into the change because of red tape and not of their own accord. My dogs are still on the Horizon and have not had any problems so I don't think I'll be changing them over any time soon.

What really upset me is that I used to get their "Multi Oil Blend" which was a great mixture of Sunflower, Flax, Salmon and Sage oils. For some reason they stopped making it  . I still have about 1/2 a bottle in my fridge but I know that once this is gone, it's gone.

Thanks for emailing and posting their reply, it's good to know that they didn't change the formula just because they wanted to go on the cheap.


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## Goldilocks (Jun 3, 2007)

Gerdrick said:


> I think I will get as many bags of the "old" formula as I can while that web site I posted earlier still sells them...


The bag that I had that made my dog so sick was an "old" bag probably with the new formula inside. I was told by the pet store that the dog food co's have up to 6 months to use up bags they have on hand. The expiry date on the bag I had was December 2010.


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