Anyone else found that the soaked oats diet DIDN't work?

[Ginn]

Tried it for a month but Tilly has sucessfully lost weight rather than gained it and spent 3 of the 4 weeks she was on it completely off her breakfast and tea

Mum went out to the feed merchants day before xmas eve as we were running low and as they were out of whole oats got a bag of topspec conditioning flakes and I now have a pony who can't eat her dinner quick enough!! She had her teeth checked last tues and the vets only comments was to expect her caps to start coming off and too keep an eye on one wolf tooth as it had a very slightly sharp edge (though not sharp enough to worry about).

Any ideas???

Ideally I'd have put her on the cool and condition cubes as they worked last year but they were out of those too so mum improvised so I shall see how we go - hopefully they won't be too much for her.

Oh and she was having a double handful of alfalfa and 1/2 a stubbs scoop of speedibeet with 1 stubbs scoop of soaked (not dry) oats twice a day.

 

[nomini]

Haven't tried the soaked oats diet, but Bailey's No4 conditioning cubes really worked for Alisha when she lost a lot of weight, she is now on a small quantity of them to help her keep the weight on

 

[Ginn]

Problem I have with cubes is that Tilly really isn't too keen on them either - last year I had to mix them in with a bog standard high fibre mix (as she only needed about half the rda) as she wouldn't eat them and would eat the other horses feed instead!! However she loves this new stuff but Ive heard it can make them a little stressy ??

 

[nomini]

Oh ok then, alisha doesn't seem fussy with what I feed her so that's good. Not sure if the new stuff can make them stressy, is it non-heating?

 

[Ginn]

Well according to the website info it shouldn't be but then I guess its like most feeds - different horses react differently. Unfortunately the ingredients etc list which was attached to the bag was too faded to read so I have no idea what the start content is.

 

[seabiscuit]

How long were you soaking the oats for? How long were you draining? Were the oats good quality-nice fat, golden oats rather than thin/grey oats? Exactly what kind of alfalfa were you using?

Also would take the speedibeet out- I know that it is reccomended in the fact sheet that they should have sugar beet but in actual fact have found that all of my horses are far better off without the sugar beet, none of them liked it and anyway I am starting to think that sugarbeet is a bit useless really- just gives them a funny tummy.

Would try the oats again without the sugar beet......

 

[flyingfeet]

Soaked oats on their own are not going to really do any good for weight gain.

Oats don't provide enough protein, and the starchy sugar will often add more fizz which is easily burned off rather than helping with weight gain.

However soaking is good, as rolled oats are rarely crushed enough to prevent them passing through whole (and therefore doing nothing!). Micronized oats would be better, but this is hard to find.

 

[Ginn]

Oats were soaked for 24 hours and left to drain while I mucked out etc (so about 30 mins). They were lovely quality and looked gorgeous once soaked - big golden and juicy looking (gave me cravings for porridge!!). She wasn't on the speedibeet to begin with but I introduced it as I know she likes it and she wasn't showing any interest in the feed without. But her interest lasted about 2 days before she went off it again - she did eat her feeds but didn't always come in for it (very odd!!) and when she did she'd decide she'd had enough after a few minutes and walk off. Only way to get it down her throat was to shut her in the yard till she'd finnished and then it would take her a good half an hour as she's wander off around the yard, then come back, then wander off again.....

Was feeding her Feel Good (chaff-alfalfa high fibre mix) as I know she loves the stuff and we also feed it to our laminitic and are very pushed for space for feeds.

To begin with she was also passing a lot of oats in her droppings but quite often the oats had only had 12-14 hours so after about 10 days I started soaking for longer.

Its odd, she's not a fussy eater as such as usually if she's hungry she'll eat anything!! But she's never been that keen on cubes and would just "swop" feeds with the other horses if fed them without disguising them. She's also up to date with all her worming and her droppings, other than containing oats to begin with, have been fine

 

[RunToEarth]

Really wanted to try it, CN sentme some info on it but in the end I really didnt dare to, my coloured drops soo much weight in the winter, I couldnt afford to be trialling him on things, and him perhaps loose more weight, at the moment he is ok. Also my horse is like a ticking time bomb 24/7, too much energy, I was just too scared they would heat him further!

 

[EMZ]

What is this oats diet? oats have very little in them to make the horses fat this is why straights are fed to race horses, try barley as this still has a certain amount of heating qualities but it is fattening as well. em xx

 

[the watcher]

Only been on it for 2 days so will report back after a couple of weeks, impressed that mine don't appear to be hyped up and seem to enjoy it..they are attacking their food with the usual enthusiasm..and no oaty droppings either.

 

[Baggybreeches]

I used the flakes last year and they did get Sov looking fab, but all of a sudden they seem to blow his brains, now he is in better condition I have him on the balancer which is great.

 

[PapaFrita]

[ QUOTE ]
Soaked oats on their own are not going to really do any good for weight gain.

[/ QUOTE ]
They did for PF and she's eating fewer oats now that she was cubes or mixes in the UK and is doing much more work. Perhaps she can just metabolise it better.
She's also much calmer and hasn't had colic once since starting the diet (she had it twice in the space of 2 weeks on cubes)
Best diet she's ever been on!

 

[PapaFrita]

How odd. PF used to be the slowest eater in the world and now really tucks in! AND I don't see any oats in her poo despite only soaking for 12 hrs (and sometimes less if Fabian forgets)
I know someone whose horses won't eat oats at all as are not used to them.
Such a shame your girl isn't keen on them as I really think they're brilliant!

 

[aran]

if i was going to feed any commercial conditioning feed it would be topspec flakes - they are lovely and do a fantastic job. they didnt hyper any of the horses up either. i always fed them with alfa, sugar beet and oil. i dont mix mixes or nuts as you unbalance them.

every horse is different - i hope she continues to enjoy her tea now

 

[Tia]

I am feeding 22 horses on soaked oats and I can say that none of them have gained any weight - they have all remained at a stable weight and look fabulous. I am not feeding this diet for weight-gain but for oats heating properties. I live in a very cold country and oats are by far the best feedstuff to be utilised in this way. I believe 60% of the goodness in oats converts to keeping the horse warm when they are in cold countries.

None of mine poo oats seeds by the way.

 

[ThomasTank]

I have a horse in his 30s and he lost weight in the summer so I completely changed his diet from saracen 16 plus, chaff and sugarbeet to a scoop of crushed oats. scoop of bran, scoop of alfa a and a nice washing powder scoop of steamed linseed and the difference is amazing. He is now a nice calm round happy welsh cob with a lovely black shiny coat.He was having barley and maize to kick start his weight gain regime ( half a scoop ). Now I wont look back and hope never to buy ready made meals again !!