What cool horses eat – when Batman went grain-free

Did you know that Batman live on a grainless diet? I quit all sorts of grain and müesli based horse feeds back in 2012, and that changed Batman’s life!

Horses are from the nature’s side designed to eat grass, so why do we feed them with huge amounts of grain when they can have that energy from forage?

Batman used to eat maaany liters of muesli and other fancy feeds every day, but he did not look good at all. Lack of muscle, no energy, skin problems, dandruff … I tried EVERYTHING, but the feeds could simply not compensate for the lack of nutrition in the haysilage (which was pretty good, but not nutritional enough for Batman). It’s not healthy for horses to eat huge amounts of dry pelleted feed every day. Batman is also a very sensitive horse who has struggled with his digestion many times. The horse’s stomach and digestion is not even made for handling larger amounts of starch, as most grain contains. They are designed to eat grass many hours a day, slowly. Feeding Batman with tons of grain and muesli was more harmful than it helped him.

Giving hay only, and then giving vitamins and mineral supplements would be the best solution, but it’s hard to find the perfect hay, that can cover all the nutritional needs. And then I discovered Simple System! It’s a brand of horse feed that only produce natural horse feed with lots of fibre and without any soy, molasses, preservatives or additives.

Sounds great, huh?

On top if that it’s completely vegan, natural and it is actually forage, made from healthy ingredients horses are naturally developed to eat and benefit from.

In Simple Systems assortment you can find something for any horse, to everything from high-performance competition horses to retired horses and everything in between, and they have feeds for horses with itch, horses who have struggled with laminits, horses low on energy, with stomach problems, poor coat etc as well. Lucerne in all shapes and sizes, timothy, beet fibre and grass pellets, one hundred percent natural and healthy food that keeps blood sugar steady and provides smooth and long-lasting energy. They also have supplements; they are also organic, pure and natural. After reading on their site, it did not take long before I had found a dealer near me I introduced Batman to it.

It felt very weird to start feeding in a whole new way, but I received lots of help and advice.

Batman began with eating Lucie Nuts, it is Lucerne pellets you soak, and it will swell to five times its size and should be given as porridge. At first he seemed it tasted weird and would not touch it, but eventually he began to like it and after a week he loved the feed. He ate his dinner twice as fast as before and soon looked like a massive, green mess.

I was in heaven, finally I had found something that was both healthy, smart for hot horses, good for horses who tend to be thin, good for the stomach and digestion, good for horses with itching, dandruff or skin problems – and Batman liked it, and on top of that I would finally be able to let Batman live on a diet of only forage. And instead of giving 6 liters grain a day, I can now give him 1 liter with Simple System which is covering the entire daily requirement – so much more economical!

Already after a month I noticed a big difference, Batman had less dandruff, shinier coat and his mood was much better. Absolutely incredible! I also found it wonderful to be able to give Batman warm, delicious, healthy and nutritious porridge after a cold ride, without having to worry about ulcers or indigestion as I did before. :)

He has now been eating Simple System for four years, and eats a mix of Simply Complete, Lucie Nuts and Greengold. I’m still very happy with the products, and Batman still loves the taste. Simple System changed my horse so much and I am really grateful for that!

No more grain for my horse! The simplest is often the best, and in this case, why feed your horse a thousand things they don’t even need?

I highly recommend you check out their website, www.simplesystemhorsefeeds.co.uk, as it basically gave me a new horse!

Peace, love and Friesian hugs,
Batman & Matilde