Oats as a suppliment?

[Tenltraining]

Oats are good for horses, in most of the premium commercial feeds, oats are the number one ingrediant listed so it is the primary ingrediant which is what you should look for. But they do need more than just oats to have the right balance of vitamins and minerals.

Also the right amount fed to obtain these and good quality hay. Some of the Purina tags will list it a little differently, like grain products as they dont want other people to try and copy their formula, that is what the nutritionalist said when speaking with her. So lots of oats in a feed is what I like to see along with the right quality protein, vitamins and minerals.

I think if the horse is out on heavy grass pasture, or one that is obese, then perhaps a good way to go on that would be the ration balancer and oats added if needed on them. Being out on heavy grass pastures will greatly affect their weight and crests, so we do have mares in a drylot at night so we can manage our horses weight more effectively.

As far as crests go, I have seen an improvement on my show horses and broodmares alike in that area on strategy over Omelene 200 and other sweetfeeds, although Omelene 200 is very similar to Strategy and also a good feed. My babies look better on the strategy too, not too heavy or anything and no pot bellies but I feed them enough along with a good quality mixed alfalfa hay. Babies and growing horses will take more feed per pound of body weight than an adult. Again, each horse is an individual, some take a lot and some take less to look really good.

One thing to look at is overall smoothness of the bodies, over the back and croup without being too fat in those areas.

I also like my horses nice and bright and feeling good so energy levels have been good and about right too.

 

[Minimor]

As I said in a PM to Ellen yesterday, oats is our main grain here. It does help to for weight loss, as it gives more energy & the horses are more active--but to clarify, that doesn't mean it will make the horse lose too much weight! (which seems to be what some are saying--that on oats a horse cannot be kept in show condition)

We use pellets only as an 'extra'--for a young horse that needs a bit of rounding out, or any horse that is down a bit in weight & we want to give him a bit of extra protein--also our nursing mares will get pellets added to their oats if the foal starts pulling them down at all. I don't like using pellets as the regular grain ration--I find that it makes the horses more goofy than oats does, and I find that it tends to add weight to some that don't need any extra weight. So, most of our horses that are on grain get straight oats. For awhile in the fall our weanlings--one Mini, one Shetland--were getting a 500 ml scoop of oats and one 500 mil scoop of pellets twice a day. 1/2 & 1/2 is as much as we would give; once the colts were up to the condition we wanted, we switched to straight oats. Besides, both colts started picking the pellets out & leaving them. Funny how they can do that--we'd mix it all up, then later the oats was gone & just the pellets....rather soggy pellets once the boys got done sorting them out!...were left in the pails.

I would never count on pelleted feed giving all the minerals a horse needs--most people don't feed the recommended amounts, and that alone means the horse isn't getting the required minerals--The pelleted feed I use suggests that horses get .5 to 1.5 lbs per 100 lbs of body weight. So, a 300 lb Mini would get 1.5 to 4.5 lbs of it--that's quite a range. Do they get their full minerals at the 1.5 lbs, or do they need closer to the 4.5 lbs to have sufficient minerals? I know mine would not ever need the 4.5 maximum...they'd be way too goofy and wouldn't keep their feet on the ground--unless of course they were so FAT that they couldn't move

Judging by how many people say their horses get only a 1/4 or 1/2 cup of grain, I suspect there are many people who do not give even the 1.5 lbs that is the minimum recommended amount.

As well, feed doesn't necessarily contain all the trace minerals. I prefer feeding the oats, and the horses get their minerals as a separate supplement. Oats has always worked well for us, and no one can say that our show horses don't have bloom or good condition.

 

[Ellen]

Minimirror,

Thank you for coming on with your post. I truely appreciated all you had to say in your PM. I have some hard keepers, and youngsters, and broodmares. I keep them on the strategy. But for my Chubbo's. That may work.

And minerals, boy you must read my my mind. That is my biggest preach.

Thank you very much!

Ellen

 

[Blue rose]

I have fed oats with a good balanced vit for years and all my horses look great. This is being fed to a range of breeds and ages of horses. For horses that need a little extra, for showing or mares with foals, I add a sweet feed. I live in western washington and where I am we are lucky to have great grass, so I do think that also makes a difference.

The only caution I have about oats is not to feed whole oats only use rolled or crimped. A good friend of mine went all out on a natural feed program and while it had many good factors, she almost lost her older horses when she swiched to whole oats. Ended up with emergency call to the vet, never fun. He said that young and old horses have a hard time digesting the whole oats and rolled or crimped removes the risk completely.

 

[Ellen]

Blue Rose,

Thank you. An er vet call is never fun. So very good to know. We had fed an all natural mix, Oats, corn, soybeans and flax seed with a mineral, until we got it with blue mold. Then we switched back to pellets. All of mine look good now, so I guess I should leave good enough alone and bite the bullet at the feed mill. UGH, so hard to know what to do.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Horses do not grind oats with their teeth, that, and the fact that their digestive system cannot digest the cell wall of the oat, is the reason for rolling, crimping or whatever your mill of choice does to the oats.

Otherwise a lot of it will go to either upset the horses digestion or simply to feed the birds.

I do not feed oats simply because barley is cheaper, so I feed barley.

I use no mixed grain or additives.

I add Soya (micronised) Peas, Beans and BOSS as well as ground flax seed, and soaked Alfalfa cubes, Beet pulp and chopped grass (chaff).

That is it.

It is fed as a "long" feed, taking them over two hours to eat, and some will not be cleared until the night time, so it keeps them going.

Mineral licks are always available.

Hay is fed ad lib to everyone.

They are all fat and hairy!

 

[AJ]

The local university had put out an article on equine nutrition and basically said that a good quality alfalfa/grass hay, supplemented with oats was generally a very adequate diet for the normal horse that was in good health. Oats need not be crimped unless they have a teeth issue that comes with age or otherwise. Actually whole oats was recommended as it requires more chewing/grinding action that is good for the system. The shell of oats provides roughage whether crimped or not. I have over the years bought crimped/rolled oats, and depending time of year or weather , it can go bad quickly due to liquids being added, such as water or molasses. I now buy whole oats, cleaned, by the 45 gallon drum from a farm. Since it significantly cheaper this way, I can feed more to more than compensate for some seeds going through unprocessed and available to the birds.

 

[LaVern]

It is really fun to hear what works for other people with their horses. But, I gotta ask," If horses don't chew oats, what is the sound I hear when they put them in there mouths?" And they look chewed up when they come out the other end. Also, about the barley thing. We raise a lot of barley and it is my biggest fear that the horse get near, barley. Now maybe that is just some old belief that has been handed down from generation to generation and isn't even true. But barley is hot and I have seen so much bloat with sheep and cattle on too much barley.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Sorry, I should have been more explicit...a horse does not have the ability to grind oats down in the way that a mill stone will do...of course they do chew the grain, but the origin of rolling/crimping grain is purely that it makes it more digestible.

I have barley that I am using at the moment that is kept from last year, and it is fine, just keep it dry.

I also have over 300 kgs of micronised, rolled barley, in store for this winter and the summer, also fine.

I am not even, at the moment, losing any to rats!

Which is a wonder!

When you use whole grain a certain amount will be lost as it has not been digested, this is how the prairie grasses were spread in the first place, and a certain amount will be used as "roughage" to take the food through the gut, again, this will be wasted.

By using rolled grain and chaff (roughage) you utilise every single little scrap of the grain.

I can guarantee that, horse for horse, I use far less grain than anyone using unrolled grain and no chaff, and still have fat and healthy animals.

It all depends on your priorities, I have tried whole grain and found that I had very well fed ducks!!