Feed Advice Please- Oats??

checkmate1

checkmate1

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I've just been advised by the Baileys ppl to carry on feeding Indie the Baileys Lo-cal Balancer as normal (and any extras eg chaff etc) and to add Oats when extra energy required. I wanted advice as I feel like she is not getting enough energy from her feed (balencer, chaff, adlib hay, moderate quality grass) but am waiting to see if going on the V.Good quality spring grass makes a difference. Whats people opinions of Oats?? (A few people I have asked have gasped and said don't do that!!!) I was thinking of trying a Mix? Any suggestions welcome! Thanks
Oh, forgot to add-this is my just backed rising 4 year old!
 
i wouldnt oats are high energy feed so feeding this then the spring grass it will blow her brains
you got to be careful not to feed over the recommend dose as someone did this with a tb racehorse at the stud i worked at it nearly killed me
 
We used to feed almost nothing but oats and bran in varying quantities when I was a nipper.

I think it's only recently that oats have been seen as the root of all evil. All the same, I would try phoning another helpline to compare advice I think. How about Dodson & Horrell. See what they say and compare?
 
Yes I have fed oats without any problems to a variety of horses, hunters, natives, usually through winter to keep condition on, but would also add them during summer if there was a high workload. i follow the basic principles of the soaked oats diet, which is quick and easy to do and economical compared to premixed feeds
 
My horse is a typical warmblood one min laidback the next quirky and is on tiger oats - she is no different on this to non-heating mix. ALso with tiger oats you do not have to feed as high a quantity as other oats
 
Well you aint' going to know until you try.

People (usually who don't know much better) usually throw their hands up in horror when you mention the word oats. Amy May could be given a bucket full of them and it never made any difference to her at all - she was not a 'hot' type, so they succeeded in making her fat and shiny (not the aim.....). However, another horse that was hotter in nature couldn't tollerate them - so I stopped feeding them.

If you do go down that route - just add a little and see how you go.
 
Oats have a really bad rep and if they are fed appropriately can work wonders. As many people have said different horses react differently to them. I used to feed oats to my eventer as he was so laid back that when we were competing I liked the extra 'ping' they gave him.

I echo everyone here, start with a little and see how you go.
 
Baileys are a professional commercial feed manufacturer who employ highly qualified staff to research feeding, assist in the manufacture of feed & also provide quality informed advice to customers. Dodson & Horrell, Spillers etc do the same. They have given you advice based on their massive amount of knowledge & you are going against what they have advised based on :
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(A few people I have asked have gasped and said don't do that!!!)

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Are they more knowledgable? Why did you bother going for quality advice when you are just ignoring it & taking pot luck from people who have no qualifications or established knowledge on the subject?
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I would stick with what they have told you assuming they were in full possession of the circumstances surrounding your horse. If it doesn't work given time then return to them & they will be able to assist you further.
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We used to give our tb/conn oats before a competition and they worked well, they didn't make her any more excitable than she was already
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and just gave that extra bit of energy.
 
Have I missed something here? Is Lunar simply asking for advise and comments?

I dont think that she is going "Against" any advise, she is simply seeing what other people think (quite sensible if you ask me!) Before she does any changes in her horse diet.

How many people do ask the "Proffesionals" for advise on feed.

Good for you Lunar- Taking the sensible approach. Do let us all know what you decide to do and how you get on

Isnt this what this forum is for? To share peoples views, and not judge?
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My Welsh Cob is fed nothing but oats and chaff and she certainly never hots up on them. I think they've been given a bad reputation in recent years but I'm really not sure why, back in the day horses were only fed on oats/barley/bran and proper hand cut chaff. I think I recall from an ancient pony club handbook that oats have the most ideal balance of minerals and nutrients for horses out of any of the grains.

Try a small amount to begin with and see how it goes.
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I feed my mare baileys lo-cal and tiger oats, the oats seem to give her just enough energy, she doesn't get silly and i feed them to her according to how hard she has worked, she usually never gets the recommended amount. I put her on competition mix before trying the oats and that did blow her brains!!! She's a t.b x cob
 
I agree with Samp here. I fed my TB eventer tiger oats which were brilliant. No stupidness but provided enough energy to BE event. Admittedly I fed them with equilibra so not sure if they're ok to mix with other feeds but maybe worth looking into.
 
My native x thoroughbred gets tiger oats too according to work done. It doesn't take a lot to give him an extra bit of oomph and they don't send him nuts. If he is in a nuts mood he will be it with or without the oats!!

he gets a small handfull all the time when he is in work to keep the bugs in his guts accustomed to them and i increase it when he is working harder, ie has a competition or a hard training session. The most he ever gets is a tea-cup twice a day. But it works.

If you are worried introduce it a handful at a time and then you won't get a sudden reaction. Oats are less fizzing than barley and Maize, which you will get in competition feeds etc.
Try it you will be delighted
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