Simple Systems/Total Eclipse

[J1993]

Do many use this? The horses I have seen fed on it look great! Its for my rising 2 year old who although looks great, we haven't much grass and the haylage quality is very up/down.
Would be fed with the lucie pellets and greengold

 

[Follysmum]

I used to use it and horses looked great on it , I only stopped after I had my grass analysed and did not need the seaweed, I now just buy the linseed and brewers yeast separate.

 

[MuddyMonster]

I use SS nuts but didn't find the Total Eclipse suited my horse as much as another vitamin & mineral product.

 

[DD265]

I did for a year or two before switching to Metaslim, then eventually we stopped using SS as my horse's needs changed as he got older. I was happy with it when we did use it.

 

[Orangehorse]

I used for a bit and horse looked well, but I was warned off too much seaweed (iodine I think) when horse was barefoot.

My horse loved the Simple System feeds, just wolfed them down, but I found that they made him fat and with no "go" and talked to someone with a WB who had the same experience. I think the feed is great for horses like Arabs and TBs but for the lazy, greedy sorts maybe not.

 

[Leo Walker]

Its not great. Seaweed isn't good for most horses and the other ingredients are really only brewers yeast and linseed. Its probably the linseed that makes them look good.

 

[Ladyinred]

It's quality feed and a really good company to deal with.

Trouble is many horses have a degree of sensitivity to alfalfa which is why we stopped using it. One of ours looked like a sweetitch advert, it was that bad for him, and in fact took me a long time and a lot of disbelief before discovering the culprit was the high quality dust free feed we had been using.

Metaslim is useful for small fat ponies, but the price alone would prohibit feeding it to larger horses especially as it is fairly easy to suss out the combination of herbs and spices in it. Mainly cinnamon with turmeric and other herbs in there as well.. it smells like Christmas pudding lol.

So, to sum it up, good stuff but watch for any signs of itching, which will increase quickly over time until the feed is withdrawn.

 

[J1993]

Thanks some really helpful replies. Think I will give it a go and see how we get on! Should last her until she goes back out for summer and then can see again for next winter then..

I'm hoping it will help her skin etc as she seems to be lacking in something and keeps getting mud rash in one leg only which also has a small injury. Vets suggestion was try a balancer as may be lacking in a supplement.

 

[Orangehorse]

Interesting that the vet recommended a balancer to help with mud fever. Years ago I had a TBX that was very, very susceptible to mud fever, despite being in at night and putting Vaseline on her legs every morning.

Then I changed her to a balancer - can't even remember the name now, it wasn't Blue Chip but the original balancer - and I noticed that she didn't get mud fever after that. When I bought my current horse he came with mud fever and it was noted on his vetting (and excluded by the insurance company) and I fed him on a Balancer - Top Spec, Dodson & Horrell) and he never got mud fever again 17 years later.

I told one or two people about this with their horses and I don't know if they tried it, but now recommended by a vet!

If it doesn't work OP, try another balancer next winter.

 

[Leo Walker]

Thanks some really helpful replies. Think I will give it a go and see how we get on! Should last her until she goes back out for summer and then can see again for next winter then..

I'm hoping it will help her skin etc as she seems to be lacking in something and keeps getting mud rash in one leg only which also has a small injury. Vets suggestion was try a balancer as may be lacking in a supplement.

Then you need to look for a no iron, high but balanced copper and zinc supplement. Those are the bits that seem to be most important for skin/hooves. Progressive Earth, Forage Plus, Equivita. and Equimins all do them. I'd be adding a mug of linseed and a big dose of salt as well.

 

[ester]

I too wouldn't want to feed seaweed, the page is a bit odd as it lists minerals but that is for the alfalfa but that doesn't seem to be included in total eclipse?
I like the philosophy I am not convinced the result is great.