Simple Systems Horse Feed

P4NN

P4NN

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I have been looking into panni's diet for a number of months now as Im sure what she is getting can be improved on. As far as I can try Im keeping her on a high fibre diet but most chaff products seem to contain molasses to bind it together.
My mare is sugar intolerant and gets lumps all over her body if fed anything high in sugar and cannot have hayledge as a result.
She can also be very sharp and fizzy. Esp when the spring grass grows through.

Anyway I emailed simple systems and explained everything from her temperament to workload, her past medical history, and lifestyle etc.... I have received an email back to say the best thing to feed would be the Lucie cobs and Total eclipse and maybe Blue bag grass pellets in the winter.

I have looked at the price list and the product quantity and feel it could work out to be an expensive way to feed? I was told in my email that I need to feed 2-3kg of lucie cobs per day and 125kg of total eclipse per day which seems a hell of a lot of food???? And I would also have to soak it.

Is there anyone out there that uses simple systems but feed less than what they told you? Do you find it a huge expence or do the benefits outway the cost?
Anyones opinion would be gratefully received
 
I used to feed Lucie Cobs, but found them quite dusty. You do have to soak them for a few hours, But they expand hugely, so are quite economical to feed.
I use the Lucie Stalks now, my three natives love them, i only feed a couple of handfuls. ( One bag lasts my three a month)
You can either feed total eclipse ( it is expensive)or another form of vitamin and minerals.
I do like their foods, but can be tricky to get hold of.
 
We use to feed it but had to import it to where we live so adding on the shipping costs it was very expensive for us. It was fantastic though - my mare had very classic azoturia symptoms etc. But now on a fibre only diet is a different horse.

I would say though they do need the amount suggested - even though it seems alot.

I now feed Badminton Horse feeds easier rider and high fibre nuts (these aren't ideal but the best I can do at the moment)
 
I use Simple Systems and I really like it. My horse was really skinny when I first got her and this feed seems to be bulking her out. She's also been remarkable sane (she's a TB) on the food.

I use the Blue Bag Grass Pellets, PuraBeet and TopNosh which is really expensive so I slightly lessened the amount of food she gets, and this seems to be working well.
 
I have fed simple systems for a few years now. The feeds are large and I have adjusted them myself over time to suit the horses I have. Lucie nuts are easier to soak than lucie cobs - the livery yard staff prefer me to use them as the cobs take a lot of soaking especially in cold weather. It is the same stuff. I feed them on an 80 / 20 ratio with unmolassed sugar beet (Speedibeet or Kwik Beet), plus some linseed and garlic.

The lucerne products are good and almost unique to the company but do shop around for other things - I have to feed large quantities of linseed to one horse with muscle problems and have just found a source at less than half the price of the linseed meal SS supply.

Overall I have been happy with them and are great for a horse like yours which can be fizzy, the products are slow release non-heating feed.

Good luck!
 
Do you mean 125g of total eclipse?!!

Mine had problems eating the recommended amount and used to wade through it initially, then started leaving bits, to eventually not eating it at all. I felt they got bored by it because there are obviously no molasses, sugar etc and rather over faced by the size of the meals they were given.
 
I have used simple System feeds for years now - about 12 probably. all my horses are now on less than the recommended amount and look fantastic on it. I have 16 horses at my yard and all are now on Simple Systems. it is well worth every penny and actually works out far far cheaper than most bagged feeds. I use Lucinuts, Red nuts, pura beet, linseed and brewers yeast. I never use garlic as it is likely to cause far more digestive problems than it solves. it destroys the gut flora and really has little benefit to horses so you might want to think about stopping that as that can also cause fiziness and discomfort.

Horses are designed to digest slowly- they are really not suited to normal hard feeds, they make far better use of forage than hard feeds and the idea behind Simple Systems is that it is digested in the hind gut and goes slowly through the body.
 
Thanks for those replies. It is helpful to know that people do feed less than the recommended amount.
sfoers - yes, sorry I did mean 125g of total eclipse... I got a bit Kg crazy!
Winstonsmum - if lucie cobs are the same as lucie nuts what is the point in having them?? I would certainly prefer something that takes less soaking .....no soaking at all would be nice??!
 
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