Feeding Oats?

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Toby_Zaphod

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Which oats is it best to feed, rolled oats or whole oats? Is there any difference regarding energy content & which oats are more readly digestable by the horse?

Please, only those who know the answer respond, conjecture & logic I already have, fact is what I aint got. Cheers ;)
 
Whole oats can be tricky for young or older horses to chew. They're straight from the field pretty much and have a high level of fibre.

Rolled or bruised oats have a shorter shelf life, as the grain is broken. However, they're easier to digest making the benefits easier for the horse to obtain.

I would say rolled oats, but only if you're using them in a way in which the remainder of the bag won't go off.
 
If you're horse is hunting 3 days a week or you are eventing, then you can feed rolled oats providing the amount of work you are giving the horse warrants it. The husk from whole oats will not be broken down by the horses gut and will be passed through, so you are wasting your time feeding them. High starch foods such as oats will affect the ph of the horses hind gut in a negative way if they are not metabolised, which means all the good stuff in your horses stomach that processes the food correctly will die because of the ph it causes, so only use if the work your horse gets warrants it!
 
If you want to feed whole oats to a horse that has problem chewing, then you can soak them over night. Works a treat (cover the container, other wise rodents will go swimming), and you then don't have the problems of storing/using the rolled version if you are not using them fast enough.
 
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