Natural feed system for Sec D??

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Taffyhorse

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Hi All,

Have been following the Simple System post with interest as would be interested in converting my boy to something like that. He is a 15h Sec D with a tendancy to porkiness. He is currently fed 1/4 scoop (normal round ones) of Hi Fibre Nuts, 1/2 scoop Chaff and 1/4 scoop of Speedibeet to moisten. He gets this twice a day and has a general supplement added to his evening feed to provide vits and mins. He is turned out in the day (with hay at present as fields covered in snow) and has a large haynet at night.

He seems to do ok on this but I am moving to a yard where we can feed what we like (he is Part Livery so can normally choose the type but not the brand) and I'm keen to feed him a bit more 'scientifically' and naturally if that makes sense.

So, thought I would post on here and ask all you lovely, knowledgable peeps for advice!

Winter Pimms or a hot cuppa and cookies for all those who get this far. Cheers :-)
 
I feed my Sec D ad lib hay and mollichaff calmer feed - i really like this as it doesnt need anything else added (mixes/nuts) as he is a bit spooky and silly it helps with that too.
 
Mine is also a porker and I am feeding him a bit more than usual due to the wetaher. He gets 1/2 scoop of low cal mix and 1/2 scoop veteran chaff x 2 feeds per day. I have found mine does well on dodson and horrells version of happy hoof. Mine wont touch certain feed i.e. simply systems and also spillers happy hoof. i think he likes sugar with his tea!
 
I have fed Simple Sytems for a few years and would recommend. If you ring their helpline they will give you all the information and advice you need concerning their feeds. They are most helpful. www.simplesystems.co.uk

I use Lucie Cobs, Lucie Stalks, Purabeet and Total Eclipse
 
My Sec D only ever got sugar beet / speedibeet when he was hunting. The rest of the time he got a bit of mix and some chaff. If it was my horse, I'd cut out the sugar beet firstly and just stick with the high fibre nuts and chaff, as they're just fibre. My 17hh IDx is "well covered" on more or less adlib hay/haylage (whilst they're in 24/7 thanks to this weather because I'd rather he put a bit of weight on but had plenty to it, rather than limiting his forage whilst in. I can easily work the extra weight off) and just 3/4 scoop chaff and a handful of high fibre nuts at night, plus a handful of both in the morning.

I don't think you need to go down the route of specifically trying to feed more scientifically TBH, just limit the hard feed he's getting unless you're trying to achieve something specific (put weight on, feeding for energy if he's working hard etc). If he's well covered then I'd just remove the sugar beet from his diet as he probably doesn't need it. Wet the feed with water
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He was just getting Chaff and a bit of Speedibeet but with the cold I put some nuts back in.

Ester - he's worked about 4-5 times a week normally, mixture of lungeing, hacking and schooling. However, he's been off since a week last Sunday due to the weather. He's also due for a break so have used the weather as an opportunity :-)

He's carrying the right amount of weight at the moment - not sure if have recent pic of him without rug, of if I have the technical capability to post it on here, then you could tell me what you think. Thanks for advice so far - might bin the sugar beet, just added it to provide more fibre and palatability but he will happily eat without it- he's a bit of a labrador when it comes to food :-)
 
I only ask that cos ditto chestnut cob, unless mine is out competing a lot or hunting he doesnt get or need the sugar beet, though quite a small amount seems to randomly have a large effect on his energy levels!
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He would just get one round scoop of hi fi and a square scoop of low cal nuts twice a day.

also depends on what the chaff is too.

no experience of simple systems though, not sure it would make that much difference when you are feeding plain 'straights' anyway.
 
He will be better with either Lucie Stalks (alfa) or Ruff Stuff (grass) chaffs. I feed these products to mine if they look as if they are putting a bit of weight on.

If weight is fine, I use Just Grass (grass) and Green Gold (alfa) these are the higher feed value version of the two other products.

Mine get a scoop of chaff twice a day in summer with their vits and mins - we have poor grazing and in winter they get a scoop of each type of chaff twice a day plus some speedibeet.

If I need more energy for the showring, I add the red bag grass nuts - more go go than oats.

No sugar, no starch etc - just natural fibre and mine which are reasonably good doers - both are rising 6 and still growing, clydesdale mare and gypsy cob gelding do very well on this system.

I also feed linseed which I get from Charnwood Milling as it is far cheaper and speedibeet - I prefer speedibeet as it is so quick to do.
 
Just for your interest I feed similar to the Simple system, but using Dengie feeds. All 4 of mine basically get the same feed just differing quantities. I feed Dengie Alfalfa pellets - I soak 2kg for 20mins in warm water and this shared betweed 4 equines - 1 16.3 bad doer, 1 14.2 good doer, a 10hh laminitic an an 11hh youngster. Each also gets a handful of Alfa A and Baileys lo cal balancer plus carrots parsnips and an apple twice a day. I add some oil in winter and a small amount of high fibre cubes to th 16,3hh and all have adlib haylage. You can work them immediately after this feed or I often feed after exercise and don't wait an hour. All look well. and it's a cheap system. hope this is of interest.
 
Thanks guys - well doesn't look like I'm going too far wrong, might just can the sugar beet and have a look at simple systems too as they sound interesting.
 
You can't go far wrong with winergy equilibruim, pricey though......or alfa a oil and speedibeet, again very natural and nutritious.
 
If you google Thunderbrook a lady called Debbie runs her own feed company. She is really knowlegable and helpful and not pushy at all to deal with. I know some people who have used her products with good results. I think she is very similar to Simple Systems feeds but she may be worth a phone call.
 
Hi Taffyhorse, it was me that originally posted the simplesystem post and i too have a sec D, although the post was about my shire horse as my sec D does excellently on what he gets. I have owned him for 10 years (he's 12 now) and after many trial and error diets as lots of things don't suit him either, for the last 2 or 3 years he has been on HiFi and baileys low cal balancer (no.4) and obviously hay. In the past i have found he is sugar intollerant, in terms of temperament not digestion. I frequently get asked how i keep him so slim and shiney, and my very experienced instructor friend said she has never seen a horse look so well in winter (he winters out).
In winter, daily in 2 feeds, he gets 3 scoops of HIFI and 2 mugs on balancer. Although i have been adding 1 scoop of ALFA A with the -10s we have been getting as he does feel the cold, always has loves his rugs!, and in summer if he is being worked quite i lot or it's dry so not too much grass i leave him on HIFI or if we get a wet spring/summer so lots of grass or not being ridden much i change it to HIFI Lite. Dengie also do good doer but never tried that one. I also obviously feed hay to suit the time of year / work etc.
My boy has alwasy been a bit of a loon, hence the no sugar, and this diet has really sorted it, his temperment is perfect. He also gets all the vit mins etc from his balancer all year round. If he did need a bit more energy/condition dengie Alfa A is the energy equivilant of cubes/mix in a forage feed and alfalfa is what the simplesyste is based on. Would recommend this diet combination 100 times over, escepically for a sec D! Also very economical, around about £20 and last my 15hh about 6-7 weeks (£3 a week), 2 mugs a day all year round! Plus because it's in pellet form he things he getting a proper feed bless him!
 
[ QUOTE ]
Natives aren't designed for high cereal/sugar feeds - hence

[/ QUOTE ]

That should really read equines aren't designed for high cereal/sugar feeds...
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Simple System is good because they don't sneakily add molasses and other nasties. It drives me mad that feeds like Happy Hoof, Safe and Sound and lots of others supposidly recommended for laminitics still have molasses in. I don't feed anything with molasses in anyway but I certainly wouldn't ever risk feeding a laminitic horse feeds with any quantity of molasses in.

No molasses sugar beets are great - if you want to remove even more sugar from them you can soak them once, drain them, then wash them through again with clean water and drain again.

Avoid most commercial mixes including cubes and nut... even the high fibre ones have molasses in them. Some Simple System Ruff Stuff, speedibeet and linseed could be a good solution for your horse. Your instincts are spot on to make things more natural - not only do most commercial feeds have molasses in them (hidden in various ways), they also contain presevatives, additives, mold inhibitors etc etc. We don't really know what affect all these chemical additives have on our horses as no studies have been done but we all know what filling little kids full of E numbers does, and the increasing frequency of food allergies in human beings. There's a reason organic foods have become so popular with people, why shouldn't we give our horses the same benefits?
 
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