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Last Order Date for Christmas Delivery

For a guaranteed delivery before Christmas please order by 5pm on Friday 15th December.


Our office and warehouse will be closed on the following dates:



  • December 25th

  • December 26th

  • January 1st


Orders can be placed on our website (www.simplesystem.co.uk) throughout the festive period. 

Winter weight loss, good, bad or something in between?

When the temperature decreases horses need more calories to keep warm so it is important to ensure our horses have enough food to sustain them. For good doers this may be as simple as placing hay out in the field, but poorer doer’s may need extra support. 


Forage feeding is ideal for all horses all year round, but it really comes into it’s own in colder weather. The fibre in quality forage is broken down by microbes in the hindgut. This fermentation process generates heat, providing our horses with their own in-built central heating! Cereals and low-quality fibre, such as that obtained from straw, cannot be utilised in the same way. So when it comes to keeping warm, ensuring you provide plenty of quality forage, such as hay or buckets of soaked HayCare, is essential for horses when it is cold and grazing is in short supply.

Reducing the risk of impaction colic in cold weather

When the weather turns cold, horses are less inclined to drink and coupled with sudden changes in management, such as more time spent stabled or eating more hay, this can increase the risk of impaction colic. Ensure that exercise remains part of your daily routine for stabled horses. Walking out in hand helps to keep the gut moving, reducing the risk of impaction and generating warmth in the process. 

 

Encouraging drinking is important to help reduce the risk an impaction occurring. Here are few tips to help keep your horses hydrated...

Frost and the increased risk of laminitis




Many of us have seen hard frosts this morning and snow has even been on the cards for some parts of the country. This has the potential to increase the risk of laminitis, especially for our good doers.


 


When it is frosty and sunny, the grass can still make sugar but then cannot do anything with it as it is too cold for growth. Sugar levels increase and that is why there is an increased risk of laminitis in frosty weather. Also, when temperatures are sub-zero, the grass releases sugars to act as anti-freeze. Clever plants!



Feeding the itchy horse

Itchiness can be caused by a variety of factors; some within our control such as those affected by diet or management and some beyond our control i.e. environmental factors such as the weather or pollens. Soaps, sprays and detergents can also irritate sensitive skin and some horses do appear a lot more sensitive than others!


Itchy cobs may have underlying conditions such as Mallenders or Chronic Progressive Lymphoedema (CPL) whilst native breeds can often be prone to conditions such as sweet-itch.


There is little scientific evidence for 'best practise' but it is usually important to keep sugar and starch levels low and remove common irritants such as cereals and their by-products, also soya, molasses and artificial additives or bulkers.

We're exhibiting at the Horsemanship Showcase | 25th & 26th November

Simple System Horse Feeds are exhibiting at the Horsemanship Showcase on 25th & 26th November at Bury Farm Equestrian village. The event promises 2 Days of Horsemanship education and inspiration!

 


Simple System Horse Feeds will be ready to discuss forage feeding and our key ingredients - including our much loved forage legume, sainfoin.

We'll have exclusive show offers across our limited edition Christmas range and forage Brix.

Managing changes in routine during winter

In winter it can be hard to strike a balance between horse ownership and day-to-day life; less daylight means many horses spend an increasing amount of time indoors and may also have less interaction with their owners who are dashing back home to thaw out!


Some horse’s enjoy their “home comforts” - a deep bed, a pile of hay and a warm mash of soaked Lucie Nuts, but for others, spending more time stabled can be stressful and take some getting used to.  Similar to changing their feed, management changes should also be introduced gradually, so if you know your yard restricts turn out from 1st December for example, start stabling them for short periods now.


If your horse doesn’t cope well with being stabled for longer, there are lots of things you can do to help:

Feeding the poor doer in winter


Winter can be a challenging time for our poor doers; grass quality declines offering much less nutritional value than in the warmer seasons and the cold weather makes use of energy stores for generating heat and staying warm, on top of daily maintenance requirements and fuelling any work.


Over winter, the majority of the diet may be made up of hay or haylage which can be of varying quality and some horses may struggle to consume enough calories through hay alone. Some owners turn to high calorie cereal mixes, but with a high cereal inclusion comes a high starch level and when undigested starch passes into the hindgut, it causes a rapid drop in pH. This can lead to a disruption in the sensitive microbiome and digestive discomfort. Starchy feeds can also cause hot” or reactive behaviour. This is why feeding large, starchy feeds, can be counterproductive for weight gain or cause secondary problems. If we make use of higher nutrition, forage-based feeds we can feed generously but keep starch levels at a minimum to support good gut health. 


How much linseed is safe to feed my horse?

"How much linseed can I feed?" is a question we are often asked. Start with 20g per 100kg of the horse's ideal weight, for example 100g for a 500kg horse. If needed you can increase up to five times this amount. Build up gradually, taking up to 4 weeks to increase to this level.


Instant Linseed is nature's finest source of plant derived, essential omega 3. It is high quality with 42% oil compared with 38% in other sources of linseed. It is always a great addition to the feed, but especially with hay or haylage, as omega 3 is lost in these. During the autumn moult, additional Instant Linseed aids and hastens moulting, ensuring a healthy, shiny coat. As a natural anti-inflammatory, it is helpful in any inflammatory condition.

Back in stock | Red Bag Grass Pellets


Our Red Bag Grass Pellets are back in stock and available to order online or from your local Simple System stockist.

 



Providing all the goodness of spring grass, Red Bag Grass Pellets are the feed of choice for high performance horses, racing, eventing, jumping or breeding high value foals early in the year. The energy is released a little more steadily than that from cereals, so horses should settle more quickly to their work and have more stamina. 100% pure and free from all binders.