Bennie

This is my pride and joy, Bennie. I have owned him for just over 3 years now. When I bought him despite being 7 he had spent most of his life in a field doing very little. He is a 15.1hh IDxTB x Andalusian and has a few special quirks.  We have had our ups and down and he wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea but he and I are a perfect match. I try to bring him on and he keeps me on my toes with new tricks every day!  Bennie had very few dietary problems but did suffer a little from constipation.  He lives out 24/7 and is a very good doer.  In April this year after a short hack out Bennie refused his dinner (not like him) he then started to roll and was obviously in distress.  I called the vet explaining suspected colic and sure enough by 8am the following morning he was on a 100 mile journey to our nearest equine specific vet school in Glasgow.  He was put in intensive care for 3 days with an impacted gut, severe dehydration and peritinitis and there was the possibility of him having to go through surgery (thankfully that didn't have to be done). After a week of expert care I finally got him home. When he was allowed back out to grass I decided to rethink his feeding regime and so looked into Simple System. I started feeding Simple System in May. He is fed GreenGold, Red Bag Grass Pellets, Lucie Cobs and garlic. The transformation in him is unbelievable. He is less flighty but still has tons of energy and has no constipation issues like he used to and is very very happy in himself. The combination of low starch, highly digestible fibre and plenty of moisture in his diet is perfect for him. I started working him again in June and got him back to good fitness. The pictures were taken in August this year when, just 4 months after his colic we competed in our first one day event.  I am completely converted to Simple System and think Bennie looks the best he ever has. All our friends commented over the summer how well he looked and I have never known him to be in such good condition. His Donkey companion, Walter, loves the food too and is also thriving very well on it.