Feeding oats

Birker2020

Birker2020

Well-Known Member
Joined
29 October 2008
Messages
23,597
Visit site
Hi my 17.1hh 14 year old horse pictured in siggy appears to tire quite quickly after exercise and a lot of the time seems very quiet following exercise, and doesn't seem to have much 'sparkle'.

I've been looking at his feed and a way to increase the energy levels without piling tons of feed into him and have been giving him bruised oats for the last fortnight (will be three weeks this saturday). He is now on 8 mugs a day which equates to a slightly rounded stubbs scoop and some. This is split between two feeds. He is also fed Rowan & Barbarry's Ready Mash but not at the recommeded feed rate as it would make him fat as he's a good doer. He was on the extra mash until last week when they'd run out of it so is on the normal mash. Competition feeds dictate feeding huge quantities which is not feasible or cost effective, and would just make him the size of a house.

To the oats he has added a handfull of alfa a, one to two scoops of pink powder (depending on climatic changes which equal grass quality and gassy colic syptoms) and a bute supplement and about five medium sized carrots.

I don't feel I can really give him anymore than a scoop of oats as I am concerned about his potential for laminitis if too much protein is fed. I'd say he is light to medium work (being more on the light side) and competed once a week normally (either showjumping, unaff dressage) or fun rides and ridden about four out of the five weekday nights for between 20-45 minutes schooling or 20 mins lunging. He goes out for between 7 - 12 hours a day/night on good grass (ex dairy farm) and has soaked hay (yard ran out of haylage three days ago).

How much do you feed your horses oats and is there a risk of laminitis if you feed too much?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I feed a handful of oats to a scoop of Hi-fi lite and a quarter of a scoop hi-fibre nuts, twice a day, plus Joint FX, Bute, Biotin, and Rosehips ( he has navicular)

Oats should be fed fibre in equal parts, you will waste the energy if you don't as it goes straight through them.

Oats are fattening!

Most horses at this time, are bouncing off the walls as its spring, if mine was not as jolly as I would expect, I'd get a blood test done to see if there was not some underlying problem.
 
snopuma said:
I feed a handful of oats to a scoop of Hi-fi lite and a quarter of a scoop hi-fibre nuts, twice a day, plus Joint FX, Bute, Biotin, and Rosehips ( he has navicular)

Oats should be fed fibre in equal parts, you will waste the energy if you don't as it goes straight through them.

Oats are fattening!

Most horses at this time, are bouncing off the walls as its spring, if mine was not as jolly as I would expect, I'd get a blood test done to see if there was not some underlying problem.
Click to expand...


Thanks for your reply, wasn't aware about the fibre issue. Yes I am wondering if I need to get bloods done, did wonder if it could be a virus of sorts. He is having a joint injection first week in May as he has spavin. I'm wondering if that is nagging him a little but he is sound at present. He seems fine in hand, just a bit lethargic during/after exercise.
 
I feed oats, but oats that have been rolled hard (farmer I buy them from describes them as 'flat') as they seem to be digested better, ie, I don't see whole oats in their droppings!

I agree with snopuma, I would be worried if mine were quiet at this time of year, unless he still has a lot of coat and the heat is affecting him.
 
I have fed oates in the past and been advised to feed a supplement or balancer along side. However I didnt get any results when I fed oates and I did try them for a few months, I gave given red cell in the past which was very effective, now on top spec comprehensive balancer and would highly recommend it, my horse has never looked or worked better. From a very lazy horse with no energy to having sparkle and motivation all day long!
 
snopuma said:
I feed a handful of oats to a scoop of Hi-fi lite and a quarter of a scoop hi-fibre nuts, twice a day, plus Joint FX, Bute, Biotin, and Rosehips ( he has navicular)

Oats should be fed fibre in equal parts, you will waste the energy if you don't as it goes straight through them.

Oats are fattening!

Most horses at this time, are bouncing off the walls as its spring, if mine was not as jolly as I would expect, I'd get a blood test done to see if there was not some underlying problem.
Click to expand...

Oats are naturally high fibre and don't need anything else added to them. That is why they are the ideal for racehorses. They are not as fattening as barley.
 
Yup, oats are the most fibrous of grains. They are high in energy, but not as fattening as barley. You aren't feeding him a lot at all. A litre of whole oats weighs roughly 0.6kg, when rolled, it goes to about 300g, so a stubbs scoop of rolled/crushed oats will be about 0.5-0.6kg. As a comparison, my 15.3 AA, so-so doer in light work gets 2.5kg of oats and at the heights of her jumping career she was going through up to 10kg a day.
You can feed whole oats, but it's better to either bruise it, roll it or soak it thoroughly to break up the husk a bit and improve digestibility.
 
Evelyn said:
Oats are naturally high fibre and don't need anything else added to them. That is why they are the ideal for racehorses. They are not as fattening as barley.
Click to expand...


Actually they are a starchy feed and need a readily available digestible fibre added to them to allow the system time to digest them fully as they will be passed through the gut too quickly for digestion to take place. Yes they have a fibrous hull but it is not as easily digested as Alfa etc.

OP if he is in light work yet competing is he actually fit enough? When feeding straights (which we run our racing yard on) it is important to balance the diet with a fibrous base - Alfa A, Beet Pulp, Starch as your energy feed - Flaked Maize, Oats, Barley and a mineral/vit balancer eg Blue Grass' Stamm 30. TBH I feel protein is a misconception in all farm feeds. Energy is vital for work, starch provides energy!! Protein is required for growth and tissue repair. It is needed for some energy but is basically useless without starch (can you tell at this stage animal nutrition is my job!!). Hope that is of some help
 
Yes, but dont forget that your hay /grazing may be high in Calcium and must be taken into account. There are a lot of feeds now with high levels of alfalfa/Lucerne. The problem is that it is also possible to have too much Calcium. This can have a number of undesirable effects. My own experience is that once one has taken into account the fact that about half the Phosphorous is "Phytic Phosphorous",an awfull lot of horses are borderline deficient in Phosphorous and getting way too much Calcium , also causing lack of Magnesium as well.
 
Personally I wouldn't be feeding oats to a good doer in light work that is also getting good quality graziing.

I often find that when some horses get too much of a good thing it can make them a bit lethargic, and if your horse has suffered fromn gassy colic type symptoms in the past it points to digestive disturbances which can be pretty draining for the horse. I think that if you can restrict grazing you might well see a difference in energy levels, although I realise it sounds counter productive but it has worked on horses I've worked with in the past.

Upping the exercise to increase fitness should help too. The other consideration would be is he simply getting too hot? It is unseasonably warm and if some horses still have a bit of winter coat hanging on it could affect their energy levels, ans some horses are just a bit off anyway when changing coats.

Anyway, hope he gets his sparkle back soon!
 
Mike007 said:
Yes, but dont forget that your hay /grazing may be high in Calcium and must be taken into account. There are a lot of feeds now with high levels of alfalfa/Lucerne. The problem is that it is also possible to have too much Calcium. This can have a number of undesirable effects. My own experience is that once one has taken into account the fact that about half the Phosphorous is "Phytic Phosphorous",an awfull lot of horses are borderline deficient in Phosphorous and getting way too much Calcium , also causing lack of Magnesium as well.
Click to expand...

I'm sure an entire book could be devoted to this and there would still be room for more research.
I think, unless you have analysed your pasture and hay, the best thing to do is feed as balanced a diet as possible including reasonable amounts of all required minerals and hope that in there you have provided for all needs.
 
amage said:
Actually they are a starchy feed and need a readily available digestible fibre added to them to allow the system time to digest them fully as they will be passed through the gut too quickly for digestion to take place. Yes they have a fibrous hull but it is not as easily digested as Alfa etc.
Click to expand...

Yes they are a starchy grain but they have additional fibre in the husk which enables them to be fed as straight oats and were at one time the only way they were fed. The racing stables I've worked in in NZ have all fed oats straight with nothing added.

Have fed them myself for 45yrs more often than not on their own. HAving worked in large yards both in UK & NZ have had no problems with digestability at any time. Chaff at one time was not available for many years unless you owned a chaff cutter.

Quantitiy fed is more the key to digestibility as these were the times when horses were fed up to six times a day when stabled. These days its more like twice a day in many yards.

We did feed limestone flour with all feeds to balance the Calcium Phosphorous ratio.
 
I would be concerned in case you are giving your horse too much competition type fast work and not enough walking to build muscles, he is in regular light work and has soundness issues, I think you need to feed a well balanced diet, no one feeds 10kg of oats, that is madness, use a conditioning feed and give him a rest for a week or so, if no better get the vet in.
When in full work, use a competition mix if you are still not getting the sparkle, I like to see a shiny coat, and find Alfa Oil does the trick.
If you feel you need oats instead then try one Kg of Mare and Youngstock which is a balanced feed based on oats.
PS are you sure he is 14, he was born before passports were
introduced.
PPS you should be aware that dairy farmers sow ryegrasses, green and lush not that we want for horses, old pastures with a mix of species are what is wanted, he may be ovedoing the high sugars rygrass and this affects his digestive system.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top