simple system ltd - feed advice

greenlivery

greenlivery

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My vet has suggested we speak to 'simple system ltd' for a new feed for our showjumping mare who has a sensitive gut and is currently recovering from being very unwell and having two months off work.
Has anyone used any of the feeds from simple system ltd before? What would you suggest? Did you find it expencive?
I'm finding the website very confusing! I will call the feedline and ask for advice but wanted to know if anyone has tried this company before.
 
As with all feeds some people love em some hate them, I had both my horses on SS due to the natural ingredients etc but neither of my lads fared well on it.

However my mate feeds her horses Pura Beet all her horses do well on it. She however doesn't feed any of their other produce but feeds another brand of mix.
 
I have tried their feeds and the only one that suited any of my horses were their Lucerne Nuts, a few of my liveries have tired to feed SS, one wouldn't eat it after the first week, one would only pick out the bits it liked and one fizzed up so bad we had to change back to its normal feed immediately instead of gradually.

My advice is if they have one food specifically for what you want I would only use that, their feed is very expensive.

NAF do a Biotics supplement it might be worth trying a supplement with the feed she is used too.
 
Thanks for the advice, I had a feeling it might be very expencive! Its hard speaking to the feedline people as they obviously want to sell the product, and my mare is very unwell, so I can't risk paying out for feed that won't help her.
 
I wouldnt touch the stuff with somebody elses bargepole! lol quite a few people on our yard tried it + they all had problems with colic + diorea. When i spoke 2 SS about this problem they actually said, its quite normal for horses to get this problem when horses start eating SS as it takes some getting used to + cleanses the gut. That was enough 4 me, i wouldnt ever use a product that even the company admits is likely to cause colic when you start using it.
 
I have used it and mine didn't get on with it at all but others love it. If you search simple systems on here you should get lots of posts about peoples experiences.
 
Have used SS for years on all my ponies and horses and youngsters. I find it works out quite economical. I like the fact that i can bulk feed without any fizzing up, all mine have bags of energy and look fab.

I personally would not feed mixes/cereal or mollases again, i like the fact that they eat what nature intends. Lots of people i know feed SS and are more than happy with it. Again, each to their own.
 
i have used SS for nearly 3 years and find its perfect for all my girls. One of them took a few days to decide she liked it but she loved her sugar which SS doesnt have. it worked fantastic on my old gal, my youngstock and my WB when they needed some extra condition on them
I feed mine lucie nuts, red and blue bag grass nuts - it works out very easy and exceptionally cheap for me. Im lucky that i can buy it with my horse dentists parents when they order a pallet load so i can get as little or as much as i want without having to orde a full pallet load myself.
my feed bill is roughly £40 per month on SS whereas it was nearly £350 on D&H feeds
 
Sounds like the vet is suggesting a high fibre diet which you can do with more conventional feed which would be cheaper for you, and probably more appealing for her. I wouldn't touch SS either, too faffy, expensive, and the horses don't seem to like it!

You could try something like high fibre nuts (D&H for example) with alfalfa chaff and speedi beet.
 
I know one RDA yard (mixture of ex racers, ancient shetties and anything else they can get thier hands on) and one RS/Comp Yard (cobs, sports horses, a few ponies) who use nothing but. The second yard found horses much calmer abt feeding times as they weren't getting the sugar highs/lows of their old feeds and still with enough energy for comps etc.

I know share horsey (Arab x) was tried on it and didn't like it much. Though he really only gets token feeds (out 24/7 in summer and as much as poss winter with ad lib hayledge the rest of the time) most of the year anyway.

Re: your other post...
Switching to hayledge rather than hay might be good for a gentle increase for your girl (subject to vet's advice.)
 
If you google Thunderbrook horse feeds - lady called Debbie runs her own feed company. Give her a call. She is very helpful and not at all pushy for a sale. I am just starting to use her feed after a lady on my yard started using it for her welsh D that she was having problems with feed etc. The website is quite technical but if you ring her she is really helpful and knowledgable.

Good luck
 
Thanks for all your advice
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xx
 
I feed my two heavy horses on SS. The feeds are completely cereal and sugar free and are ethically sourced. I would never feed mixes again. My horses look incredibly well on it and are calm and happy. I don't find it expensive at all. Horses don't tend to bolt the feeds, they take a long time to eat it. In fact I have just been over and collected some more feed today! If you give their helpline a ring, they will give you impartial advice - they are also very knowledgeable on other feeds. It is a different approach to feeding, but is definitely worth considering.
 
I feed it to 16 horses on my yard, one of which had ulcers when he arrived and was a seriously grumpy chap. he was on a diet recommended by a well known feed company which clearly didn't suit him We moved him off all conventional feed and on to a Simple Systems diet. Within 2 weeks he was less grumpy, now he is a happy chilled chap. A test has been done by a local vet practice with a horse that has bad ulcers and had been on Gastrogard for severl weeks and it had not helped. The owners in desperation tried simple System feeds and amazingly the ulcers reduced dramatically and went. Reintroducing ordinary feed caused ulcers again. Speak to simple Systems, they are actually really helpful and it is quite easy to understand once it has been explained. I find it works out really cheap to feed my horses, far cheaper than conventional feed, extremely easy to feed. And all horses love it, are calm, sane, relaxed and in great condition and have a fantastic level of energy - sane energy - not hot energy. Your vets are suggesting something that is well worth trying, and will probably be very cost effective and make a huge difference to your horse.
 
I wouldn't feed anything else tbh; SS feeds = fibre and nothing else, no hidden extra's and your not paying for half a bag of straw!

They are very economical ( Lucie nuts are soaked so bulk up x 5 approx)

Can't stand mixes, sugar coated this and that, horses just don't need it, they have become like a lot of kids, so used to eating sugary things that anything else is not palatable!
 
To me SS is a bit of a con & very expensive, after they told me at MK3DE that I should feed a bucket of grass nuts in the 10 minute box I wouldn't quite trust their advice, apparently this would give her energy for the XC, not colic, as the grass is quickly broken down by the gut, I pointed out of that were the case I could just let her graze, why buy a bag of compressed grass?? Someone at my yard put her tb on it, he wouldn't eat it, so they told her to add their balancer at £25 for 5kg!! He is no calmer at all, & I think she could have just given H&P nuts, Alpha a lite & speedi beet, same result & cheaper.
 
Yep I feed Speedi Beet (next bag will be fibre beet) with D&H High Fibre Cubes and Alfo-Oil and Top Spec Senior to my 22yr old who is now on a diet lol

Youngster gets Speedi Beet (also going on fibre beet) with Alfa-Oil and Build Up

Both horses are doing really well and I won't go back to SS
 
I've tried it and know a few people who either use it now or have used it and come off it - in my experience horses do tend to get bored of it quite quickly. I totally understand and agree with the ethos behind it, and if you can cope with all the soaking here there and everywhere it is probably worth a try, but in the experience of everyone I know the horses do go off it after a period of time.
 
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