Simple systems who uses?

[Sammy1983]

Hey everyone after some behaviour issues with my boy he is going on as sugar and cereal free diet as I can manage. I've been looking at the simple systems feed, I've spoken to one of there advisors and it seems to work out very expensive approx £30 a week to feed my boy. So wanted to get some recommendations from anyone that uses it or has tried it as to how you find it and is it worth the money?

 

[PorkChop]

I have used it in the past when I was feeding hard feed, I really liked it, the only reason I stopped because there was only one supplier in my area and it was a pain to go there.

I don't remember it being any more expensive than any other decent feed though, certainly worth a try. Do stick with it as they sometimes don't eat up for the first few days as it is quite different to usual hard feeds.

 

[Hurricanelady]

I haven't used them, but wouldn't as my horses don't like Alfalfa. If you want to look at other alternatives for a sugar and cereal free diet, you could feed a good vitamin and mineral supplement (I used Equimins Advance Complete Concentrate which doesn't have any fillers in it and has a high specification) plus micronized linseed and/or Coolstance Copra. I use grass chaff and speedibeet/fibrebeet (only half a scoop each) to mix in, you could use Hi Fi Molasses free instead of the grass chaff to avoid the sugar in that.

Feeding a good vitamin and mineral supplement + micronized linseed would be very similar to some of the Simple Systems balancers and IMHO you would be getting a wider range of vitamins and minerals. You could go down the forage testing and mineral balancing route with somebody like Forage Plus but that can get very expensive, some people have difficult getting their horses to eat individually added minerals; and I understand that you may need to keep testing the forage because levels can change considerably throughout the year.

Good luck hope you find something that works.

 

[Ladyinred]

I haven't used them, but wouldn't as my horses don't like Alfalfa. If you want to look at other alternatives for a sugar and cereal free diet, you could feed a good vitamin and mineral supplement (I used Equimins Advance Complete Concentrate which doesn't have any fillers in it and has a high specification) plus micronized linseed and/or Coolstance Copra. I use grass chaff and speedibeet/fibrebeet (only half a scoop each) to mix in, you could use Hi Fi Molasses free instead of the grass chaff to avoid the sugar in that.

.

Hi Fi Molasses free is sprayed with sugar to 'aid palatability'! Top Chop Lite is sugar free and great stuff.

 

[Buddy'sMum]

Hi Fi Molasses free is sprayed with sugar to 'aid palatability'!

Not according to the Dengie website:
"Hi-Fi Molasses Free contains no added sugar and naturally provides 1.5% starch and 2% sugar which is approximately one fifth of the sugar found in average hay"

 

[SpottyMare]

An awful lot of feed companies seem to overestimate the amount of feed horses need... I think my horses got about half of what the Simple rep recommended in the depths of winter, if that, and they certainly aren't starving! They are now on even less.

I use Simple for a couple of horses, both fairly good doers, using lucie nuts, green gold chaff and kwik/speedi beet (I'm paranoid about forgetting to soak the pura beet!), plus blue bag grass pellets for feed balls and the meadowbrix for entertainment. It costs me just under £80 per month to feed the 2, which is about the same cost as what I was feeding before but they're in much better condition.

Because I'm a bit sad I put together spreadsheets showing costs and options of various feeds and combinations (inc Halleys, D&H, GWF, Dengie, Allen & Page, Charnwood, Simple and Countrywide) and Simple were actually one of the cheaper options for what I wanted to do. I did the same thing for nutrition levels, but we won't go there , but related to that I don't use the Simple Total Eclipse Balancer, although I did for about 4 months plus farriers formula for 1 horse - I use the Forageplus hoof health balancer as it covers all bases!

 

[Ladyinred]

Not according to the Dengie website:
"Hi-Fi Molasses Free contains no added sugar and naturally provides 1.5% starch and 2% sugar which is approximately one fifth of the sugar found in average hay"

Thats good news. Wonder if it had anything to do with my complaining to them!

 

[flojo]

My gelding who has Cushings is currently fed Simple Sytem's feeds.

He had GreenGold chaff which is chopped unmolassed Lucerne - it needs to be fed damp, Metaslim and Intant linseed.

I'm looking at alternatives though as Metaslim works out very expensive with 10kg bag lasting him just 20 days and it costs £33.50 a bag.
It doesn't help that the nearest stockists is a 45 minute drive away so fuel costs add up too.

 

[PolarSkye]

Because I'm a bit sad I put together spreadsheets showing costs and options of various feeds and combinations (inc Halleys, D&H, GWF, Dengie, Allen & Page, Charnwood, Simple and Countrywide) and Simple were actually one of the cheaper options for what I wanted to do. I did the same thing for nutrition levels, but we won't go there , but related to that I don't use the Simple Total Eclipse Balancer, although I did for about 4 months plus farriers formula for 1 horse - I use the Forageplus hoof health balancer as it covers all bases!

You are amazing! Any chance you would be willing to share those?

P

 

[MotherOfChickens]

I don't (although I recently bought some calcified seaweed from them and some meadowbrix) but have to say that their customer services and delivery rates (to central scotland where we are seemingly fair game for ridiculous delivery rates) were very good.so no use whatsoever sorry, I wouldn't feed solely them because there's too much alfalfa for my lot.

 

[LadyRascasse]

I use SS as my horse has a soya allergy. Feed lasts me ages and he is a TB. I have NEVER feed recommended amounts of hard feed to any of my horses. My lad has a handful of (dry) blue grass nuts, a handful of (dry) purabeet soaked then half a cup of charnwood micronised linseed meal once a day. In winter he has half a cup of each twice a day with ab lib haylage and looks fab.

 

[glinda]

All mine get SS feed now….. its done wonders for my TBx who always stops eating and drips weight in winter- this year she came through looking amazing despite being unwell for a while… she has Blue Bag pellets, pure beet, Top nosh and total eclipse.

My EPSM mare has done amazingly well- I no longer have to add gallons of oil to her feed and she is MUCH happier- she has purabeet, total eclipse and lucie stalks

The other good doers just have a tiny bit of purabeet and lucie stalks and total eclipse

My cushings laminitic totally refuses to eat metaslim though I have tried twice….

I have to say that I feed far far less than the advised feeding amounts though and they do just fine.

 

[dollyanna]

Have a look at thunderbrooks as well

 

[Equi]

Not for me im afraid. It made both of my good doers very dull in coat and no energy. (i was feeding the linseed and lucie cubes)

Much happier on spillers balancers and red mills

 

[SpottyMare]

You are amazing! Any chance you would be willing to share those?

P

Thanks Friends tend to use the words geek, anal and control freak...

Don't mind sharing at all, but the calcs are very specific to what I wanted to do with my horses, which was forage based, cereal and molasses free, and it's not static, although I don't tend to tweak until I've been doing the same thing for a few months at least to give any changes time to settle. Just pulled up the spreadsheet, and I did my calcs based on the Simple recommendations which are way over what I actually feed, so the actual costs are probably even lower than I thought.

 

[MerrySherryRider]

I'm looking at alternatives though as Metaslim works out very expensive with 10kg bag lasting him just 20 days and it costs £33.50 a bag.
It doesn't help that the nearest stockists is a 45 minute drive away so fuel costs add up too.

Why is it so expensive, I wonder. Only 10kg in a bag of Metaslim which lasts 20 days and works out hugely more expensive than feeding Formula4feet or Bailey's Lo Cal.

It was ok, but the horses look just as well, or maybe, better on the Lo Cal for a fraction of the cost and it's easier to buy locally.

 

[Mike007]

Simple systems,does what it sys on the tin. If you have a problem then your own knowlege and expetations are the problem

 

[hoggedmane]

Nearly all the horses on the yard I keep my mare at are on Simple Systems. The YO has it delivered in. The horses all look great and there a re quite a few oldies (my mare is 23). I contacted them for advice and my mare is on lucie nuts and blue bag with pure beet in the winter. I also give her total eclipse. I feed mine the most of any horse in the yard and she costs about £60 a month in winter - probably about £30 in winter.

 

[AngieandBen]

I feed both my natives Lucie Nuts, one bag lasts me about 2 months for both! and they devour every scrap! Makes huge feeds My nearest stockist is about a 20 min drive, but I only go three times a year.

 

[Sammy1983]

Ok so it sounds like the majority of people rate the food I've been recommended the green gold, lucid pellets, top nosh and total eclipse. To be fed at the same rations of my current feed which is 0.8kg of Alfa a and 3kg of Saracen show improver pencils a day with 800g of top nosh and 200g of total eclipse but again from what most people are saying I probably won't have to feed this size feeds?

 

[spookypony]

I feed a bit of Lucie Fibre Cubes along with Speedibeet, just as a carrier for a mineral supplement. My lot don't like Speedibeet on its own, so the Fibre Cubes are just there for flavour. One bag lasts me well over a month, and that's for 2 ponies and one horse.

Is Total Eclipse named after the Handel aria?

 

[fattylumpkin]

I use Simple System MetaSlim for my ex-lami mare and she's doing wonderfully on it. At first I was reluctant because it hadn't been registered with the Laminitis Trust, but decided to give it a go anyway and I'm very glad I did. The difference in her was noticeable in the first week as she was already losing her stubborn tail fat pads that refused to budge. She eats her hay much much more slowly now instead of gulping down several kilos in a matter of minutes. She's also 100% less spooky, but that could be attributed to the time of year and the fact the worst of the spring is over but overall she's a happier horse and I'm even considering reintroducing her to grazing when the last of her fat pads are gone.

Yes it's more expensive than other feeds, but for me it's been well worth the extra few quid.

 

[Equi]

Simple systems,does what it sys on the tin. If you have a problem then your own knowlege and expetations are the problem

Or perhaps the knowledge of the supplier, because i did what he said and i had terrible results.

 

[Hen]

An awful lot of feed companies seem to overestimate the amount of feed horses need... I think my horses got about half of what the Simple rep recommended in the depths of winter, if that, and they certainly aren't starving! They are now on even less.

I use Simple for a couple of horses, both fairly good doers, using lucie nuts, green gold chaff and kwik/speedi beet (I'm paranoid about forgetting to soak the pura beet!), plus blue bag grass pellets for feed balls and the meadowbrix for entertainment. It costs me just under £80 per month to feed the 2, which is about the same cost as what I was feeding before but they're in much better condition.

Because I'm a bit sad I put together spreadsheets showing costs and options of various feeds and combinations (inc Halleys, D&H, GWF, Dengie, Allen & Page, Charnwood, Simple and Countrywide) and Simple were actually one of the cheaper options for what I wanted to do. I did the same thing for nutrition levels, but we won't go there , but related to that I don't use the Simple Total Eclipse Balancer, although I did for about 4 months plus farriers formula for 1 horse - I use the Forageplus hoof health balancer as it covers all bases!

I'm very similar! I use the FP Hoof Health balancer too for mineral supplementation but use quite a few elements from Simple Systems to balance and bulk out my horse's diet, in far smaller quantities than recommended on the bags. She currently gets the Lucie Fibre Cubes (anywhere between 100-150g per feed), a couple of handfuls of Lucie Stalks and one Lucie Brix a day alongside her Kwikbeet/balancer/linseed meal feed. I always keep some Timothy chop on standby. I probably place a SS order every 3 months or so of around £80 so it works out pretty well. The delivery I have found pretty efficient, last time quite amazingly so (within 24 hours).

 

[pip6]

We have a 26 year old tb (just passed 40km endurance ride at golden horseshoe on exmoor setting new record for oldest horse to pass a competative class there) still in full work on SS (expecting next delivary today). On red bag grass nuts & complete feed, plus lucie nuts in winter. Very good feed, great comapny. Is delivered to our stables so don't even have to collect it. Also get linseed from them. Not expensive, think they are over estimating feed you will need.