Simple systems experiences and advise please:)!!

BonBon85

BonBon85

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Dec 17, 2012
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Hi there I'm new here so please bear with me , I think I'm posting in the right place;)!
So I've started my girl ( kitty, 11years, idxtb) and boy ( Prince, 22 years, beast of a cob!) on SS after seeing them at the horse world live show in the excel this november... my girl is new ( only got her in June) we've had various issues along the way with napping/ bolshyness etc etc etc:/!!! It's been a long road and we're still getting to know one another but things are better we now have a wonderful trainer, have got feet sorted, saddle sorted, back/ teeth checked etc!! So the last thing was her feed- well SS has worked for her, calming her down ALOT and also helping my boy with his boisterous attitude!! I really do believe in it but is it just me or are the quantities of feed needed very expensive ??!!! I've tried to cut them down from recommended and they dropped off so have put them back up again which Is fine but didn't know If anyone knew of any other feeds that were as natural as SS without all the refined sugar and crap in it but that was easier to get hold of and maybe more economical??? My feed bill this month is £62.00:/ to me thats excessive, is it not??!!! Sorry if I've rambled on but I'd be really grateful for any ideas or advise:) thank you, Bon
 
What parts of the ss are you feeding?

Halleys do plain hay or oat chop - and one without alfalfa - I use this as my pony is allergic to life.

Micronised linseed is cheapest from Charnwood milling.

And seaweed is not really recommended to supplement anymore since forage analysis showed most soils in uk are high in iron or iodine - sorry cant remember which - think it was iron.

Magnesium/copper/zinc can all be bought individually and fed that way too.
 
Oh yes sorry that would help wouldn't it:/!! Doh!
So they are on lucie nuts- Lucerne grass, which is soaked And expands to twice it's size.. Top notch- a top up feed in nut form, fed dry- total eclipse- balancer and purabeet- unmollased sugarbeet...
All fine but the quantity a I should feed are HUGE!!! 2 stubbs per horse per day of dry lucie nuts:/!!! Plus a stubb of top nosh for my mare plus 1/2 a dry stubb of purabeet ( this swells to 5 x the amount!!) again for the mare then 125g of total eclipse for both prince and kitty:/
I'm not as concerned about the cost of the purabeet (£8 per bag) or lucie ( £10.50 per bag) but the top notch is 22.00 and the total eclipse is 23.00 for 5kg??!! Also wanted to make own balancer by buying brewers yeast and the micronised linseed seperately but how much of each would I give them??? Arrgghh My heads spinning:/!!!
 
I think 200gm a day of linseed is the suggested amount for coat condition, more if you need it for weight gain as yours are bigger.

Mine doesn't tolerate alfalfa - so can't help you on the pellets.
 
Can't help you on the lucie nuts, mine doesn't tolerate alfalfa either - however I do feed Simple Systems blue bag grass nuts. And I cannot fault them - Tobes is calm, holding his weight well and looks good. Can't say I have found anything as good.

I don't feed any chaff - I prefer to up his hay - any possibility you can do that too? And change their beet for a non mollassed beet? I feed Equifeasts vits and minerals - very good and not high protein.
 
Are you feeding according to wet weights instead of the dry weight?

I feed 1 scoop of timothy chop or pure Alfa Alfa, 1 scoop Lucie nut, 1/2 scoop-1 scoop of beet.

By the sounds of your volume do you split it into 2 or 3 feeds because of the amount? I am not a qualified feed adviser and I dot know your horses but it 'sounds' too much.
 
What work are you doing?
To me the amount of feed sounds too much. 5 products if i read right. Nuts, grass, beet, top notch and a balancer.
Did they discuss that with you?

I recall putting Jack on metaslim as meant to help with weight loss-he got fat! I have used the beet in the past but for me i keep the feed as simple as possible with only one or two products in the bucket.
Now i just feed fast fibre, my feed bill is one or two bags a winter.
 
Hi there sorry nat17 and newforest I'm so late in replying!! I should have made it clearer what I stated is what SS told me to feed!!! But I'm NOT! I've now come to conclusion I need to feed more than I was but nowhere near as much as they stated:/!! I'd be feeding all bloody day and night with that amount!!!!! It's just so confusing to begin with and newforest I COMPLETELY agree with trying to keep it simple!! Once I've established a base ( I'm hoping lucie nuts + purabeet I will cut out the balancer and top nosh faff!!!) my cobs retired so he's obs on less than my mare however he dropped alot and at an alarming rate that I'd never seen before, im thinking because he was packed full of sugar and crap before then all of a sudden well.. he wasnt!!! its changed his attitued 360 but hes 22 so need to get him back to a maintenance level and then will be able to reduce right down again (fingers crossed!) kitty is in light/med work but bear in mind first winter I've had her- so how her body reacts is new to me, before SS she was dropping but the more I fed her the hotter she became!! ( both were on happy hoof, I know I thought it was one of the safest, low everything feeds, WRONG:/!!! And kitty also had Alfa a oil but as I said started to send her bonkers:/!!)
I really hope i havent come over as one of these fuss pots who has every add in and new fangled feeding whatever's on the market, actually completely the opposite before SS but I am so impressed with the change in both my two I won't ever go back to all the refined, processed c*#p!! But I'm honest enough to say its confusing and expensive at the moment, hoping this will change as time goes on tho!! Thank you for all your really helpful advise tho- esp about the gigantic portions SS actually want you to feed:/!!! just to clarify once again I'm NOT feeding those potions, at all!! My god I'd have to put them both on the back of the tractor and tow them to the field if I did:/!!! Thanks so much once again :) Bon x
 
The principle behind SS is sound but the stuff is definitely expensive, and some horses are difficult to persuade to eat it, especially when there's plenty of grass in the field. The mainstream feed manufacturers all seem to have got on the bandwagon with the demand for low sugar fibre feeds these days, so there's plenty of choice out there and you can do the same thing more cheaply. Agree re their recommended quantities too, but that's true of many feed manufacturers.
 
I would look at the reason for feeding first:

Weight gain?
Energy?
Specific health need?
Because everyone else has a bucket? (Ours all get fed at the same time, some horses trash their doors if they don't have a bucket too)
Because they are on restricted turnout?
For vits and mins?

If you decide on the reasons for the feeding, then you can plan better what you will feed.

Weight gain - an unmollased beet, grass nuts or an oil based product such as micronised linseed.

Energy: something like linseed which will provide slow release energy, or grass nuts which have more readily available sugars in

Health needs: look at intolerances, or specific issues such as anxiety or prone to colic

Vits and mins: specific supplements such as forage plus or equimins advanced concentrate (think both have by in)

I often feed linseed and supplements without a base feed - there isn't a need for it really for us.

Well reputed mollases free feeds:

Halleys chops-plain chop
Dengie mollases free (though I don't like them as they have oil and "nutritional pellets" in)
Mollichaff - do a lightly oiled chaff which is quite nice but difficult to source
Speedibeet - in mollased beet
Locally sourced grass nuts
Fast fibre
Top chop lite I think is another one
 
Thank you yann:) glad I'm not going mad with thinking their quantities a are HUGE!!!!!
PFB- wow what great info!!! Thank you looking into them all now:) def feeding mare at min for weight gain and am feeding the purabeet ( 1x wet stubb per day) and lucie nuts ( 2x wet Stubbs a day) + total eclipse balancer 125g + top nosh ( 1/2 dry stubb) these are fed split up between morn and night ( bigger at night to let them pick at!) I'm hoping if the pura beet does its job then I can cut out top nosh eventually!! Just don't want her going off her rocket on the beet but I've been assured this wont happen as is unmolassed ! (Fingers crossed!!)
Prince the cob is now on 1/2 wet stubb of beet and 1 1/2 of lucie per day + the total eclipse and a tiny sprinkle of T/N but will stop this asap, but for now want to steady the weightloss as I just don't like the way it's fallen off him:/!! So there we are!!! That's my plan of action for feeing at the mo ( who knows could all change again next week:/!!) I'm actively looking into replacements and cheaper alternatives for the balancer ( found some on eBay called herbal shine contains micronised linseed, b/y, seaweed and mint... Looks good and good reviews) and really like the look of the halleys plain chop:) thank you so much for all of your patience and guidance it really has been such a help and massively appreciated:))
 
I found them very helpful, they asked what I was feeding and basically I'm to replace in same quantities Safe & Sound with Greengold and speedi beet with Purabeet and use Total Eclipse balancer - this I'm not getting as my barefoot trimmer recommended micronised linseed from Charnwood milling, as works out less then half the price.
 
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