Feeding naked (groat) oats....... How much to feed?

[{108361}]

Ive started feeding my mare on naked oats, just a couple of handfuls (soaked) a day to slowly introduce them.

Ive not managed to find a feeding guide online anywhere and Im not sure how much I should increase this to?

She's on a balancer and supplements so the oats are just to 'rev her up'. She's in hard work so Im not concerned the oats will be too much.

She's a 15'3" Irish draught weighs about 560kg at present and her weight is spot on. Anyone have ideas how much to feed or should I just keep increasing by a handful a day?

Thanks for any advice!

 

[Shay]

You won't find a feed guide because the product is not standardized - as most straights are not. Over 50% of horses don't react to oats so you can more or less keep increasing it. But oats have an inverse calcium / phosphorous balance so just be aware that as you increase the oats you may need to supplement - over and above the balancer - with calcium. Or you can get oatfeed specific balencers. But is she is in the majority of horses who simply do not react to oats as a "pep me up" you are pretty much wasting time.

You say you have a horse in hard work but only feed balencer and supplements? What do you consider to be hard work?

 

[planete]

Naked oats are not groats. Groats are crushed grain, naked oats are a special variety of oat mostly used in wild bird mixes and are used whole. I feed naked oats in Winter to keep weight on my field kept retired horse. They should not need soaking as they are softer than ordinary oats. I am afraid I feed by eye, guides do not take into account the individual horse anyway.

 

[Red-1]

I have fed naked oats to a horse who used to lose condition in hard work. He did not find them heating at all. They did put weight on him. I just increased until he looked the weight I wanted, then decreased rather rapidly in spring!

I don't know why you would soak naked oats, they were more digestible than normal rolled oats IMO.

I have never heard of Groats.

 

[Leandy]

What do you mean by hard work?

 

[{108361}]

Naked oats are not groats. Groats are crushed grain, naked oats are a special variety of oat mostly used in wild bird mixes and are used whole. I feed naked oats in Winter to keep weight on my field kept retired horse. They should not need soaking as they are softer than ordinary oats. I am afraid I feed by eye, guides do not take into account the individual horse anyway.

Thank you - I soak because there is a mash mixed in with the feed which is soaked and I thought it wouldn't do any harm to soak the whole feed. I have been very confused as to what is a groat and what is a naked oat! Its a naked oat I think which is whole, not rolled, and has no husk.

 

[{108361}]

I have fed naked oats to a horse who used to lose condition in hard work. He did not find them heating at all. They did put weight on him. I just increased until he looked the weight I wanted, then decreased rather rapidly in spring!

I don't know why you would soak naked oats, they were more digestible than normal rolled oats IMO.

I have never heard of Groats.

Thank you - my mare is the same and loses condition as her work increases. I was going to do the same - increasing by a handful a day. Im hoping they will be heating but interesting that you didn't find them heating.

 

[{108361}]

What do you mean by hard work?

Roughly 2-3 hours hacking x 5 days week, plus 1 hour jumping/schooling per week, though this varies depending on the weather/ how she is and what we are doing (ie: cross country schooling or a clinic or flatwork etc). She always has a day off.

 

[SpringArising]

Roughly 2-3 hours hacking x 5 days week, plus 1 hour jumping/schooling per week, though this varies depending on the weather/ how she is and what we are doing (ie: cross country schooling or a clinic or flatwork etc). She always has a day off.

I'd consider that rather light work, TBH

 

[ester]

I'd say that depends how fast you are hacking

 

[{108361}]

I'd consider that rather light work, TBH

I'd say that depends how fast you are hacking

We don't do much walking - lots of canter and trot work.

 

[Leandy]

I was taught that a horse should be fed between 2 and 2.5% of its bodyweight in total (dry weight) of feed per day. Then you adjust the concentrate v. forage proportion of that depending on work. So a horse in light work would have up to 25% of the total in concentrates, up to an absolute max of 70% for a horse in very hard fast work (eg racing, 3 day eventing etc). I'd say 50/50 for a horse in usual medium/hard work (ie normal affiliated competition fit). Depending what your hacking is like (walking with a bit of trotting/cantering sometimes - I'd have on medium work on this scale rather than hard), I'd say you should feed no more than 40% as concentrates. So personally, yes I'd increase by a bit a day until you get the desired result or reach about 5kg. And of course you will need to adjust the rest of the ration down accordingly and, most important, trust your eye and adapt if he is putting on weight or losing it or goes bananas!

 

[{108361}]

I was taught that a horse should be fed between 2 and 2.5% of its bodyweight in total (dry weight) of feed per day. Then you adjust the concentrate v. forage proportion of that depending on work. So a horse in light work would have up to 25% of the total in concentrates, up to an absolute max of 70% for a horse in very hard fast work (eg racing, 3 day eventing etc). I'd say 50/50 for a horse in usual medium/hard work (ie normal affiliated competition fit). Depending what your hacking is like (walking with a bit of trotting/cantering sometimes - I'd have on medium work on this scale rather than hard), I'd say you should feed no more than 40% as concentrates. So personally, yes I'd increase by a bit a day until you get the desired result or reach about 5kg. And of course you will need to adjust the rest of the ration down accordingly and, most important, trust your eye and adapt if he is putting on weight or losing it or goes bananas!

Thank you this is very helpful, I knew about the 2-2.5% rule but hadn't really known the % calculation on hard feed/work. I compare my riding to those at my yard who are happy hackers with very unfit (fat) horses so Im probably overestimating the amount of work we do compared to people competing/eventing etc..

 

[Leandy]

Thank you this is very helpful, I knew about the 2-2.5% rule but hadn't really known the % calculation on hard feed/work. I compare my riding to those at my yard who are happy hackers with very unfit (fat) horses so Im probably overestimating the amount of work we do compared to people competing/eventing etc..

You are welcome! I should say this is probably regarded as a bit "old school" and the trend these days is to feed less concentrates, but this also coincides with horses doing much less work than they once did. You also need to consider the quality of your forage, new spring grass being much higher in nutritional content than old meadow hay for example but it should give an idea.

 

[ihatework]

Thank you this is very helpful, I knew about the 2-2.5% rule but hadn't really known the % calculation on hard feed/work. I compare my riding to those at my yard who are happy hackers with very unfit (fat) horses so Im probably overestimating the amount of work we do compared to people competing/eventing etc..

I think you just have to take into account the horse in front of you - their weight, muscling and energy levels.

In this day and age 5 days of 2-3 hours hacking I wouldn’t consider light work (btw how do you find the time????) but it is a slightly different type of work to other horses you might consider in medium/hard work. I’m on a yard full of very fit horses competing at a high and they don’t hack for 2-3 hours I can tell you that 😉

Personally I think that 5kg of hard feed is excessive for a very active leisure horse, I’d imagine a Stubbs scoop a day of oats is more than sufficient alongside their fibre source.

 

[hopscotch bandit]

Ive started feeding my mare on naked oats, just a couple of handfuls (soaked) a day to slowly introduce them.

Ive not managed to find a feeding guide online anywhere and Im not sure how much I should increase this to?

She's on a balancer and supplements so the oats are just to 'rev her up'. She's in hard work so Im not concerned the oats will be too much.

She's a 15'3" Irish draught weighs about 560kg at present and her weight is spot on. Anyone have ideas how much to feed or should I just keep increasing by a handful a day?

Thanks for any advice!

Instead of going for oats why don't you try something like Spillers Instant Energy Response mix? They do one for laid back horses. It doesn't jazz them up, but it gives them a controlled energy. I used to find it very effective when I fed it to my horse as she used to practically fall asleep between dressage classes on the lorry, it gave her stamina which I think is the best way of explaining it. Some horses will never 'rev up' despite what you feed them. Some are just laid back in nature and will put in the minimal effort required with everything which can become quite frustrating.

If its the 'impulsion' that you are looking for and your horse isn't forward going in the school for example there may be a slight chance it could have some kind of physical issue, and again no amount of food will make any difference. I'm not suggesting that this is the case but it could be something you might want to consider.

 

[{108361}]

Instead of going for oats why don't you try something like Spillers Instant Energy Response mix? They do one for laid back horses. It doesn't jazz them up, but it gives them a controlled energy. I used to find it very effective when I fed it to my horse as she used to practically fall asleep between dressage classes on the lorry, it gave her stamina which I think is the best way of explaining it. Some horses will never 'rev up' despite what you feed them. Some are just laid back in nature and will put in the minimal effort required with everything which can become quite frustrating.

If its the 'impulsion' that you are looking for and your horse isn't forward going in the school for example there may be a slight chance it could have some kind of physical issue, and again no amount of food will make any difference. I'm not suggesting that this is the case but it could be something you might want to consider.

Thank you - Ill have to look up the Spillers feed. She is prone to laminitis so I have to be very careful about sugars.

 

[TGM]

Thank you - Ill have to look up the Spillers feed. She is prone to laminitis so I have to be very careful about sugars.

If she is prone to laminitis it is not just sugars you need to be wary about but also starches which are generally found in cereals such as wheat, barley, maize, oats etc.....

 

[hopscotch bandit]

Thank you - Ill have to look up the Spillers feed. She is prone to laminitis so I have to be very careful about sugars.

Maybe not the food of choice then lol

 

[Leandy]

She is prone to laminitis

Mmm, this is material information. I don't have personal experience of laminitis but I would be wary of feeding up a laminitis prone horse which is already the right weight just for oomph. I suspect that if you feed enough concentrates to make it livelier you are increasing laminitis risk. I'd be particularly careful to cut out all hard feed on a rest day in particular.

 

[Leo Walker]

You are welcome! I should say this is probably regarded as a bit "old school" and the trend these days is to feed less concentrates, but this also coincides with horses doing much less work than they once did. You also need to consider the quality of your forage, new spring grass being much higher in nutritional content than old meadow hay for example but it should give an idea.

It is indeed very old fashioned and outdated advice. Even horses in hard work do not need 70% of their feed intake being concentrates. With something prone to laminitis you need to be even more careful. When mine was in similar work and not keeping condition I added rice bran oil pellets. It didnt take very much, but it definitely added condition.

The things that tend to rev horses up will almost always tend to be not suitable for anything lammi prone If shes fit and still laid back then I think you probably need to accept that its just her, or decide you are prepared to run the risk of laminitis and feed something that might spark her up. You might find that it just makes her fat rather than anything else though anyway!

 

[Bellaboo18]

I was taught that a horse should be fed between 2 and 2.5% of its bodyweight in total (dry weight) of feed per day. Then you adjust the concentrate v. forage proportion of that depending on work. So a horse in light work would have up to 25% of the total in concentrates, up to an absolute max of 70% for a horse in very hard fast work (eg racing, 3 day eventing etc). I'd say 50/50 for a horse in usual medium/hard work (ie normal affiliated competition fit). Depending what your hacking is like (walking with a bit of trotting/cantering sometimes - I'd have on medium work on this scale rather than hard), I'd say you should feed no more than 40% as concentrates. So personally, yes I'd increase by a bit a day until you get the desired result or reach about 5kg. And of course you will need to adjust the rest of the ration down accordingly and, most important, trust your eye and adapt if he is putting on weight or losing it or goes bananas!

I'd say those percentages of concentrates are way too high!

 

[{108361}]

It is indeed very old fashioned and outdated advice. Even horses in hard work do not need 70% of their feed intake being concentrates. With something prone to laminitis you need to be even more careful. When mine was in similar work and not keeping condition I added rice bran oil pellets. It didnt take very much, but it definitely added condition.

The things that tend to rev horses up will almost always tend to be not suitable for anything lammi prone If shes fit and still laid back then I think you probably need to accept that its just her, or decide you are prepared to run the risk of laminitis and feed something that might spark her up. You might find that it just makes her fat rather than anything else though anyway!

Thank yes I think I need to accept that she is just a slow coach though a lovely one and she never spooks/naps. Too much risk involved with the oats.

 

[Upthecreek]

Fed oats to my boy for a very short while last year. Didn’t give him more energy, just a bad attitude! His lovely temperament completely changed. He is now on Pure Working from Pure Feeds, which gives him more stamina, but doesn’t change his lovely nature 😊

 

[{108361}]

Quick update: I slowly increased the oats and have found the desired affect. No signs of laminitis either (been closely monitored). She goes into a gallop for the first time and is generally much more forward, though a little more 'spooky'. Will def be using oats when we start hunting this season.

 

[Mule]

Quick update: I slowly increased the oats and have found the desired affect. No signs of laminitis either (been closely monitored). She goes into a gallop for the first time and is generally much more forward, though a little more 'spooky'. Will def be using oats when we start hunting this season.

Good result.