Thunderbrook Feeds - your thoughts & experiences please

[canteron]

Hi, Thunderbrook Feeds are taking over around here, and I was wondering what your experiences were. The theory seems to make a huge amount of sense, but it would be great to hear from any long term users. Is it just another "run of the mill" feed, a feed that changed everything for your horse, or just great marketing.

Thanks!

 

[Leo Walker]

The people who own it are the rudest, vilest people I have ever met and on that basis alone I wouldnt feed it if it was the last feed one earth :lol: Lots of forums/FB groups wont allow the brand to be mentioned at all as it just causes such grief with the company owners

However I also dont like the ingredients, so even if they were lovely, charming people it still wouldnt be for me

 

[MotherOfChickens]

my Exmoor wouldn't eat the chaff. nuff said. both of mine love the Agrobs though.

 

[vanrim]

Thunderbrooks feed is used extensively by people with horses prone to ulcers and sensitive digestive systems. On the Facebook page Horses With Ulcers nearly everyone uses the feed. Please don't use Simple Systems feed as it gave my 2 horses ulcerated stomachs and intestines. I have never heard anything bad about X Thunderbrooks and apparently the lady who runs it has a scientific background and is very helpful if you ring her for advice.

 

[rowan666]

The fanatics/suppliers on the barefoot page alone make "bargepole" spring to mind!

 

[sychnant]

I use the Grass Chaff and various herbs/supplements. I have to say, I have never had a problem with any of the staff, they have always been lovely when I've phoned up to order, and very knowledgeable when I ask for advice.

Since moving to their feed my SI pony has been much less itchy, and has a full mane and tail this year. I do feed other bits as well but mostly Thunderbrook. My other 3 look amazing on very little.

Honestly, I may be in a minority, but I would recommend it

 

[SEL]

I've used both their chaff & base mix. The chaff smelled great & the horses loved it. But when I found out the mare has PSSM I stopped using it. The base mix has quite a high NSC & the chaff is very, very variable depending on when & where it's been cut.

 

[DD]

have used their chaff which the horses loved.

 

[Vodkagirly]

Friend has just got 2 bags for her ulcer prone horse. She is normally unfussy but won't touch it.

 

[Mongoose11]

Buy the main ingredients much cheaper without their name on it. The basis would be micronised linseed, fast fibre and non molassed, basic herby chaff. You'll save about £25 doing it that way rather than buying their base mix and herbal chaff nonsense.

Some horses won't touch it but mine will. I stopped buying it because I disliked the very odd behaviours demonstrated on social media as well as discovering that I could save a fair bit of money elsewhere and basically feed the same thing.

 

[WelshD]

My pony was on it while away being broken and did really well on it (he is intolerant to so many feeds normally)

However there is a barefoot horses facebook group, its wonderfully informative but so many of the people on there are practically evangelical about the stuff it does put me off a bit and looking at the above posts I'm not the only one, the defensiveness demonstrated when you mention other brands can be a bit strong

 

[vanrim]

The fanatics/suppliers on the barefoot page alone make "bargepole" spring to mind!

Apparently the barefoot pagers like Simple Systems but it nearly killed my horses and cost over £6k in vets bills to treat them!!!!

 

[Micropony]

Friend has hers on Thunderbrooks, and one has a bit of added Agrobs. They are all unshod natives who don't cope well with lucerne. Works for them certainly, they have never looked better, they love it and their feet are great.

 

[Bernster]

I like the idea of it but am also put off by the total social media censorship that seems to exist, which allows for no debate or sharing of info and which frankly annoys me. Not seen that for any other retail business.

 

[melbiswas]

This was recommended to me when I my elderly gelding lost weight and none of the feeds I was trying made any difference ( turned out to be a hind gut problem).
They were very helpful when I asked for advice and the base mix and gut restore did the trick.
I haven't seen any of the social media stuff so have not felt influenced by anything but personal experience. I have all of mine on the base mix and chaff now. They look great but took a few days to accept it was feed at first though!

 

[Achinghips]

Great feed, but prohibitively expensive. But I'm not buying into or buying hard feed or chaff anymore. All my, and dare I say, 99 percent of horses need is a balancer, hay or haylage when grass is less abundant and some micronised linseed for added calories, IMO. Let's all use some common sense and stop all this unnecessary spending on chaff, cereal based mixes and hard feed.

 

[JJS]

I haven't used it, but I know a woman whose horse has always suffered with hind gut issues and she swears by it. Said horse certainly seems a lot happier since he's been on it, but whether that's down to their feed or other management changes I couldn't say.

 

[Cheeky Chestnut]

Over rated

 

[Slightlyconfused]

I use the herbal chaff, a handful to carry their pro hoof as one of mine won't eat any of the Dengie or spillers chaff I have tried.
Her gobbles down the healthy herbal chaff though.

They like the hay cobs too.

But I go on what the horse will eat not marketing, only tried it as got give some free samples and horse lived it otherwise it would have even too expensive to give it a go.

 

[galaxy]

I have a horse with hind gut problems and really rate it. I've seen none of this 'bad attitude' on fb people refer to and I'm on the ulcer and barefoot page.

When I was researching it I did price out the ingredients separately and it worked out cheaper buying the tb version. It depends if you want all the ingredients! If you are just looking for micronised linseed then yes a bag of that is cheaper. I can't feed beet products to my mare so people saying fast fibre instead is like comparing chalk and cheese.

When you are looking for a feed that contains no beet, cereal, alfalfa, molasses etc and then no hideous fillers like 'distillers grains' and wheat your options are v limited!

My mare loves it, my friends mare wouldn't eat the base mix. So she's now on copra with the tb daily essentials. She has also had hind gut issues and has stabilised on the feed. Both of us have spoken to several independent (as in don't stock tb) supplement companies this year that are v knowledgable about digestive issues and they all rated tb highly.

 

[Rocky01]

I also am very put off by the attitudes on social media and the way people assume everything the owner says is gospel. I feed st.hippolyt and have found it brilliant for my horses.

 

[BlackRider]

I switched to thunder brooks from simple systems about 3 weeks ago, as I'd noticed Apache was getting a bit gassy plus he had quite large portions. He loves the food, and his digestion is better too.

I'm feeding the base mix and the muesli.

 

[D66]

I dont do Facebook so haven't seen any nonsense there. I tried the chaff, base mix, ulcagon and liquid gold on a horse with undiagnosed mild ulcers and had an overnight, very positive reaction. So much so that we had her scoped. Having successfully treated the ulcers she is on fast fibre, base mix, and ulcagon as a maintenance plan. It seems to be working.
It is expensive though the base mix does last a long time as you only feed a small amount a day. I changed from the chaff to fast fibre to save money and it doesn't seem to worry the horse. I have found the staff helpful on the phone and delivery is quick.
The horse refused to eat the food the first day, but the second day wolfed the lot and hasn't left any since.

 

[Pocketr@cket]

We use the herbal chaff which horses eat with no issues. My reason for using it is I don't want to feed stuff with straw, soya oil and mould inhabitors in it and like to stay as natural as possible.

I have met the owner and she was very polite, helpful and appeared knowledgeable.

The chaff feels and smells very nice, my other option of dried grasses were like pine needles.

 

[maybedaisy]

We have been using their feed on the yard for a couple of years now. We used to feed fast fibre but its full of nasty's such as oat and wheat feed. The horses all eat it and have fabulous coats. My only gripe is the regular big price hikes. The hay cobs were 14.50 and are now 17.50 and the muesli which has been changed and isn't as nice went up from 16.50 to almost 19.00. I wouldn't let any social media arguments sway my decision in relation to what to feed. I just chose what I think is best for my horse.

 

[Slightlyconfused]

I have just seen that dengie are bringing out a meadow grass chaff.
Going to get a sample and see if Mr fussy likes it then swap.over as the price if feeding it to two it expensive.

Just stopped the hay cobs as again I was going to go through two bags a month and I really can't afford that.

 

[Nudibranch]

Great feed, but prohibitively expensive. But I'm not buying into or buying hard feed or chaff anymore. All my, and dare I say, 99 percent of horses need is a balancer, hay or haylage when grass is less abundant and some micronised linseed for added calories, IMO. Let's all use some common sense and stop all this unnecessary spending on chaff, cereal based mixes and hard feed.

This! Though the feed companies won't have you believe it.

 

[DD]

I don't even think feeding balancers is a good thing. we never used to and horses did fantastically well, hacking, hunting, winning grand nationals, showjumping. the balancers can over do it IMO. Peoples anxieties being played on by the feeed companies. great MARKETING TOOL. I HAD MY FORAGE ANALYSED AND ITS TYPICAL BRITISH STUFF A BIT DEFICIENT IN COPPER AND SELENIUM AND MAGNESIUM AND THATS ALL IF I FEED A COMERCIAL BALANCER I'm ACTUALLY GIVNG TOO MAY VITS AND SOME MINS AND TOO MUCH PROTEIN AND I BET THAT APPLIES TO A LOT OF PEOPLE TOO.
Sorry didn't see the caps lock was on

 

[be positive]

I don't even think feeding balancers is a good thing. we never used to and horses did fantastically well, hacking, hunting, winning grand nationals, showjumping. the balancers can over do it IMO. Peoples anxieties being played on by the feeed companies. great MARKETING TOOL. I HAD MY FORAGE ANALYSED AND ITS TYPICAL BRITISH STUFF A BIT DEFICIENT IN COPPER AND SELENIUM AND MAGNESIUM AND THATS ALL IF I FEED A COMERCIAL BALANCER I'm ACTUALLY GIVNG TOO MAY VITS AND SOME MINS AND TOO MUCH PROTEIN AND I BET THAT APPLIES TO A LOT OF PEOPLE TOO.
Sorry didn't see the caps lock was on

I agree that balancers are not essential, most people have no idea what they are "balancing" I have rarely used them and my horses look well, perform well on a simple diet of grass in it's various forms.

 

[catembi]

My previously ulcery TB who is also barefoot has been on it since my b/f trimmer recommended it...maybe 9 months...? He looks good on it despite the volume fed being a lot less than I was feeding him previously, and his feet are looking really good. He's on muesli & basemix, & the shetland is on a handful of meadow chaff, a handful of hay cobs & the daily essentials.

I do find the prices a bit eyewatering, but I was feeding a LOT more by volume previously, & faffing about soaking sugar beet. I get through a basemix & a muesli every 2 weeks (ouch) & the chaff & hay cobs & daily essentials last *forever* as I'm only feeding the shetland a handful. Previously I was probably getting through at least a sack of coarse mix a week, plus a sack of speedibeet every 2 or 3 weeks plus I was feeding linseed on top. So...dunno. It is probably more expensive, but I am confident that I'm not feeding a load of bulked-out c**p, everyone's feet look good, my fairly fussy TB licks his bowl clean & the floor & the people (Eddie...?) on FB saw my post on FB & sent me a whole box of free samples, so no complaints from me, although a few squeaks from my budgeting s'sheet...!

T x