You’ve seen the glossy adverts, the fancy packaging and you’re hooked on the cinnamon fragrance but what has really gone into a bag of their latest super feed, Shape-Up™? Read on to find out what happened when we dropped into Saracen Horse Feeds Head Office and talked recipes, cauldrons and Fit Freddy with the Managing Director, Jim Scott and Top Equine Nutritionist, Lizzie Drury.

A family-owned business since 1840 ...

When arriving at Saracen Horse Feeds headquarters in Kent you are greeted with the comforting scent of your local feed merchant and the traditional building conjures up images of the workforce beavering away in bygone eras. Nowadays of course, not everything is manufactured in just the one location; however, you can still grasp a feel for what the historical company would have felt like over the past 150 years. Whilst Saracen is now a household name in equestrian terms, it started life as WM Lillico & Sons in 1840, a company with roots firmly in agriculture animal feed, which only grew in to the Saracen brand some 21 years ago.

Interestingly, the ever-popular Sports Horse Mix was Saracen Horse Feeds debut product back in 1989 and was known then simply as Bradleys Horse Mix (Bradleys being the name of the original mill). Never looking back from there on, the company has grown and expanded with technological advances and now boasts a comprehensive collection - tailored to the rigorous demands of the equestrian nutrition industry.

Now with a team of around 35 members of staff, Saracen has pioneered products for many equestrian feed markets including the first complete feed designed for Veterans as well as a Donkey Diet and a comprehensive Thoroughbred range formulated in conjunction with Hallway Feeds in Lexington and Kentucky Equine Research (KER). KER, along with a network of international horse feed manufactures (only one in each country), is devoted to the advancement of equine nutrition and the affiliation with Saracen was set up, by Jim Scott, in 2000. “This partnership is very much a two way street,” comments Jim. “They have an impressive ongoing research programme and this alliance of like-minded companies gives our industry direct access to the most up-to-date products and ingredients. Whilst Saracen may not be number one in sales figures, our aim is to lead over the competition using groundbreaking research and technologies with the science and results to prove it.”

Throwing something ‘new’ into the mix ...

So with such an already impressive collection of horse feeds available, we were eager to know what inspires a new one, how the recipe is decided and if the cost to us as a consumer dictates the quality of the products or whether the quality of the products determines what we will eventually pay at the till? We were incredibly fascinated as to how our horse feed goes from being a simple concept, to being mixed up in our feed buckets before being served to our beloved gee-gees – and with this one practically good enough to pour your breakfast milk on, we were intrigued as to just how good it really was and why …

A new feed comes about in two ways according to Jim. “One is through customers requesting it and the other is through our Area Sales Managers and nutritionists feeling that there is a gap in the market,” he states. “An example of this is Veteran Mix – there was nothing on the market tailored to the requirements of an older horse so we researched and developed one of our most recognisable products. When you hear people asking for something you get a sense as to whether the market is big enough to develop it. Then comes the chance to build up enough of a story to market it, but it always has to have a nutritional argument behind it.”

Shape-Up™ came about from a combination of these reasons. Saracen’s head nutritionist Lizzie Drury was more and more aware of the increasing amount of overweight and obese horses. “The biggest problem the feeding market now faces is obesity – so much so that it has become an epidemic,” states Lizzie. “Over the years there has been so much emphasis on laminitis and metabolic syndrome and, despite there being no shortage of information out there for horse owners, the problem is still increasing.”

It is not as simple as producing a ‘diet feed’ – as with humans – nutrition is just one element of the equation and management and overall lifestyle is key. “For this reason we always intended Shape-Up™ to be part of a weight management programme and that is where we saw a huge gap in the market,” explains Lizzie. “It has always been about education and stretching much wider than laminitic horses and ponies - so over two years ago the development of Shape-Up™ began.”

So Lizzie knew ultimately what she wanted her new super duper feed to do and Jim was on hand to help with the 'accounting', so now 'all' Lizzie had to do was come up with the perfect recipe? This was formulated in-house and started with discussions about identifying and sourcing key ingredients, with Lizzie putting together her ‘wish list’. It really wasn’t hard to imagine Jim and Lizzie in aprons, sleeves rolled up and hairnets, hunched over their mix engrossed, pondering the next ‘secret’ ingredient. Once they were happy with their ‘recipe’ and the ingredients evaluated, it was a case of producing a trial batch. “It took two years to create the perfect formulation and it was well worth the wait,” says Jim. “Each time we had to produce a trial batch of a minimum of 2 tonnes and before Lizzie was happy with Shape-Up™ we had trialled four or five batches. You have to be 150% right and ensure everything is covered as you only get one shot at getting it right.”

Referring to their cookbook and with some valuable input from KER's top scientists, the ingredients were indeed sourced the job of putting together a trial batch got underway. Everything was weighed on industrial size scales and poured in to ‘the Mixer’ (we like to imagine a big smouldering cauldron!) – which is in fact a unique mixing machine that is both gentle and fast - with the whole ‘perfect’ mixing process taking just 15 seconds to make up a half tonne batch, which then goes in to a holding bin (think one huge icing bag) before being ‘piped’ into 25 bags of packaged feed ready for the shelf - ready for the equine taste testers. 

Saracen, as with all feed manufacturers, runs under the watchful eye of the Universal Feed Assurance Scheme (UFAS) which has written procedures assessing the suppliers and manufacturing process for traceability purposes. Quality control is constantly monitored and dispersion tests are carried out every six months to ensure consistency.

Tastefully done …

The Area Managers at Saracen were very involved in the trial process and sourced suitable equines for Shape-Up™ to be trialled on. With over 200 subjects, some of whom were from the Household Cavalry and the Blue Cross, Saracen monitored the results over an entire year. Due to Home Office regulations feed companies are not allowed to carry out any scientific studies in the UK so the basis of this trial – as with all feed trials – was observational.

“We trialled every batch and the biggest changes we saw were early on,” says Lizzie. “There were various reasons for tweaking, one of which was that a particular ingredient was actually working too well and some horses were putting on weight! All of the owners kept a diary and used weight tapes to monitor condition changes and we were very closely involved.”

“Choosing the right horses was important to the trial as, whilst the feed is aimed at helping horses and ponies lose weight, it should be as part of a healthy, balanced lifestyle,” comments Lizzie. “Whilst the product does work very effectively when fed to horses that are overweight and not in work – the best results are seen when a horse is being exercised regularly, so for our trial all the subjects were in work.”

Annie, just one of over 200 testers who now appears on the bag!

Two stars are born …

At the same time as the trials were taking place the marketing concept was being worked on internally. Like secret squirrels, the team were involved in several brainstorming sessions and after several name changes, Fit Freddy and Shape-Up™ were born. Once the initial idea was decided upon the 5-a-day weight wise programme began to take shape and from there on the overall concept went from an initial idea to reality. “It is always hard coming up with a name as you have to ensure there are no negative connotations attached to it and this can be a very lengthy process,” says Jim. “Fit Freddy and Shape-Up™ was instantly a hit amongst everyone and once this concept was decided on the packaging and promotional material was obvious.”

Fit Freddy’s 5-a-day concept was loosely based on the well known approach we see in supermarkets but includes feed, exercise, health check, forage and water – the necessities that Saracen believe is imperative to keep a healthy, balanced lifestyle for your horse. It was something that the majority of horse owners would recognise and the mascot was an instant hit from the launch at Your Horse Live when one of the team (we are yet to find out who, although our suspicions are on Jim!) dressed up in a Fit Freddy costume! Due to a comprehensive advertising and promotional campaign ‘Fit Freddy the in shape neddy’ is now reaching far afield and he even has his own website! www.fitfreddy.org. “People are buying in to the Fit Freddy way of life for their horses,” states Jim. “We are unique in that educational message and the fact that it is primarily about a programme rather than just the feed.”

It’s not always a bed of roses …

As with all industries there are always obstacles to overcome. “Sourcing EU approved ingredients is a constant challenge,” explains Jim. “For example, a product used in the majority of horse feeds was taken off the list a few years ago because it didn’t have a tick against it, which meant that overnight we were not allowed to use it so an alternative had to be found until it became approved. You also have to consider ‘food miles’ and source ingredients locally whenever possible, but to get the most bio-available ingredients this is not always possible. There are of course the more practical problems such as mechanical problems in the factory – the machines run every day so there are undoubtedly technical hiccups at times but you just have to work through them.

From a nutritional point of view educating people about the true levels of exercise their horses are doing is an uphill struggle. Most people overestimate whether their horse is in light, medium or hard work, which means they are often receiving more calories than what is required to reach the required energy levels for their workload. You might be amazed to learn that exercising your horse or pony 3 to 4 times a week between 1 and 2 hours a time, would barely be considered light work! In an ideal world owners would call the nutritionists, whose advice is both the most up-to-date available and not to mention free, regularly to confirm the workload and amount of feed required.

If passion were an ingredient, Shape-Up™ has oodles …

Having spent the afternoon at Saracen, it was clearly obvious that passion is the driving force firmly behind this innovative team of people; who are striving to provide the best nutrition and advice to horse owners. We learnt about the ‘taste trial’ horses and how in all cases (without exception, once the ‘recipe’ was finalised) the feed has worked to improve their overall health and well-being - how laminitic horses haven’t had a ‘set back’ since, how lethargic horses now have a new lease of life, how fat ponies are now slim and, importantly, how owners have changed their entire horse management and are now far better educated, having changed habits formed over a lifetime – in essence the team have achieved exactly what they had set out to do and are rightly incredibly proud of Shape-Up™. Jim sums it up, “My motto is that innovation separates the imitator from the innovator and Saracen will always work to this ethos.”

In addition we also learnt an enormous amount about how horse feed is made – right from the ingredients (no amount of eyelash fluttering would make Jim reveal any of the secret ingredients though!) to the recipe and finally to the ‘precision’ whisking - and whilst it’s been a little like a school trip (project outlines, note pads, rulers and coloured pens), the time flew by and we enjoyed every single minute! We now understand exactly how much expertise has gone into every bag of feed we see on the shelf and appreciate far more, the need to ensure we are picking the right feed, for the right reason and not because the glossy bag matches our feed buckets or is the latest trend! 

Lizzie’s top tips:

• Start the 5-a-day programme (regardless of what horse feed you currently use)
• Understand your horses workload and nutritional requirements by calling a nutritionist
• Weigh your horse’s feed, don’t guess!
• Weight tape your horse once a fortnight and keep notes
• Accept if your horse is overweight and make changes, an overweight horse is not a happy one.

For more information and a Fit Freddy T-Shirt ...

The first 20 members to contact the Saracen help line for nutritional help (quoting Shape Up with Manage My Horse) will each receive a limited edition Fit Freddy t-shirt! Telephone - 01622 718487

For further information on Shape-Up™ and Saracen's comprehensive range of horse feeds visit their website: www.saracenhorsefeeds.co.uk

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