Khan (aka Kerry Man)

I have waited nearly 12 months before writing a testimonial for Simple System due to the circumstances which I found myself in last April (2013) when my beloved horse was diagnosed with a life threatening condition. Last April my 24 year old horse Khan (aka Kerry Man to his friends!) a 16.3 part Irish gelding suffered 3 bouts of choke in 12 days. In the preceding 14 years, Kerry had never once suffered from choke and therefore, the first time this happened, the vet said it was probably a "one off". Days later he suffered a further bout and 5 days later another. In between he was his normal bright self with no outwardly signs that anything was wrong. After the third bout of choke (and on this point I will say that the only symptom he displayed was retching) I decided to take him to my vets for an endoscopic examination. On 1st May 2013 I attended the vets with Kerry completely oblivious to what I was about to be told. Never once did I suspect anything serious let alone life threatening or that I may be asked if I wanted to take him home with me! The vet carried out an endoscopic examination followed by an X-ray (when dye was passed through a tube into Kerry's throat and stomach). The X-ray showed a large mass which was situated at the end of his oesophagus just at the entry of the stomach. The vet called me to one side and said that Kerry had a very rare "Oesophageal Diverticulum". She said that she was sorry but there was nothing they could do because of where the diverticula was situated and the prognosis was "hopeless". A diverticula is a sac or pouch that protrudes outwards in a weak section of the oesophageal lining. It is a pocket which then catches food matter as it passes down the oesophagus. It is a rare find in horses and I was told that it was my decision whether I took him home with me that day!! I was totally shocked and devastated. The vet predicted that Kerry would continue to suffer choke at least once a week and therefore, it was his quality of life. Kerry showed no signs of distress or pain in between the three episodes of choke and had been so keen to load onto the trailer the morning I took him to the vets. I had only ridden him the morning before and he was his usual happy self. I decided to take my faithful friend home with me and decided that if anything were to happen, it would be at home where he knew and where he was happy. The vet advised that I remove hay from his diet as the long fibres were likely to cause a problem. I drove home expecting him to continue having choke and in the belief that I would have to make the heart breaking decision of having to have him put to sleep within weeks. I was then told about Simple System Horse Feeds and how they can be soaked and fed as a complete hay replacer. Within days I called the feed help line and soon had buckets and buckets of Blue Bag Grass Pellets, LucieNuts and PuraBeet on the go! I also purchased the Total Eclipse balancer. I had purchased the feed as a hay replacer only and not for any other reason. The weeks turned to months with no signs of choke at all and now, just shy of 12 months on (since his hopeless diagnosis), Kerry is doing amazingly well. The Simple System feed transformed him - I only wish I had known about it years ago when I competed him. When Kerry was diagnosed with his diverticula, the vet advised that I retire him from ridden exercise. However, as the weeks went by after bringing him home, and having fed him Simple Systems feeds, he seemed a totally different horse. There was no signs of choke and he was absolutely full of life! The vet agreed that I could hack him out as that could do no harm. Once back in the saddle, I noticed that Kerry was a different horse to ride. He has always suffered from back, neck and pelvis problems and I must confess to having tried virtually every product/supplement on the market! He had more life and exuberance than ever and was walking out better than he had in years! I could not believe it. I was that impressed that I decided to feed it to my 28 year old Shetland pony too. They both adore the feed and the difference in both of them is remarkable. I cannot rave about your products enough! In spite of the hopeless prognosis in relation to Kerry's diverticula, he is doing amazingly well. The vet cannot believe it. It is nearly 12 months since he was diagnosed and, touch wood, he has not suffered any further bouts of choke. He will never recover but is living with this very rare condition (managed by me with the assistance of SS feeds). He is ridden at least twice a week, is full of life, gallops around the paddock with his friends, is happy and looking great (as you can see from the recent picture). The only difference in his life is the removal of hay from his diet! I thought this would be a problem but having discovered the SS products, it really is not! He adores the Blue Bag Grass Pellets and LucieNuts and has a huge corner manger full every evening (I call it the slop run carried out by me at around 9 -10pm often in my dressing gown!). As I said above, I tried the SS products as I was looking for a hay replacer - not only has it been a success in this regard, it has transformed Kerry and given him a new lease of life. He is so very happy and more active than he has ever been! Thank you so much. Kerry's condition is that rare that he is appearing in Horse magazine in their May 2014 edition.....(and I have made reference to the SS products as they really have transformed him). Thank you again.........