Old fashioned feed??

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I now feed my boy oats with his mix. I wanted something to give him a bit more of a boost without gaining lots of weight!

The oats have worked a treat, they have not sent him off the rails but have given him that extra bit of energy we/he needed. He has them, in his evening feed only, along with D&H Pasture Mix and loves it. Now we are into the cold weather he sometimes has a warm tea with the kettle tipped over his feed rather than the hose! :)

I dont know if they are deemed as an 'old fashioned' feed or not but u dont hear of them being used often, more so in the professional world maybe, racing etc?

Anyone feed their trusty steed a good old hot bran mash after a days hunting? I am taking the boy out on Boxing Day and thought i may treat him to one. They were always known as a fab 'pick me up' back in the day ;-)
 
I've never done bran mash, as I don't really see the benefit in it other than possibly flushing the system a bit.

However, always feed straights, oats and barley mostly. :)


ETA - never been one for warm feeds either as don't really believe it does much for them in the long term...other than warms my own hands up ;) If it's absolutely frozen water, then I'll make it luke warm/tepid to add to it but that's about it.
 
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Yes, barley does work for weight gain, we have it mainly for the studs and hunters, we have a mix varying of barley, oats, sugar beet and chaff and a general vit/min supplement, plus linseed if needed on some. Oats are less fattening.


ETA - forgot maize...though not all are fed that as quite starchy. We have some who thrive on it, so stay on it. :)
 
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I find barley more fattening, but less heating than oats. Oats have more fibre too. I use bran daily but don't see the point in an unaccustomed bran mash as its a sudden change in diet and therefore not good for the digestive system.
 
Oooohhhhh....I love warm bran mashes.....although i havent fed for many many years!We always fed after hunting and the horses loved it especially with a few chopped carrots added a special treat for a hard days work! .xx
 
I am lucky to have a horse with a less sensitive gut. Ive changed his feed in the past and hay, haylage etc straight off in one hit and never had a problem. I know many friends that have to introduce things slowly but thankfully ive never had to worry ;-)

Nice to hear of people still using straights as opposed to the many different mixes on the market these days :)
 
I don't feed bran any more as it doesn't sit well with our forage's quirks.

But I have used oats and they are much loved :D.

I think people who feed straights tend to put a lot of thought into why and what they are feeding which can only ever be a good thing :D.
 
Ooh, lovely, just my kind of thread :)
Yes, when we were hunting I'd be using oats, maize (decent flaked maize) boiled barley (nothing like that for going in the bran mash after hunting) even for daughters smaller ponies, with fresh chopped chaff added (none of this moli stuff ;) )

Linseed - added this around 4-6 weeks before the start of the show season with Caronjoy in March and by the time Windsor arrived they were looking pretty good.

Keeping the barley boiler from boiling over was an art tho ;)

The introduction of 'mix' took time to get used to, but this was added to the above tho only in small quantities, I much prefer to feed straights where possible.

:)
 
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I feed oats and beet. Unmolassed beet and rinsed. I pour boiling kettles over the oats and let them steep. It's a nice warm feed. Mixed with salt, mag, flax, and a vit min supp.

Terri
 
Love beet, the good old proper one, the pellets u soak overnight - none of this speedi-beet stuff ! :)

The boy doesnt have it currently tho as he has a tendancy to easily get a bit porky round the middle - bit like his slave! ;-)
 
What I like about feeding straights is it's very easy to adjust according to whether you need more or less condition, energy etc and if you are having problems you can identify what the issue is easily whereas if you feed a mix then you know it's a problem but you don't know which ingredient is the issue.

I actually got into the habit again when I was having allergy problem and trying to withdraw and eliminate and reintroduce things. Turned out not to be food related but I never went back to mixes or cubes.

Mine get bran because of the phosphorous levels where I am, about half a scoop daily.
 
Another for oats here, also soaked sugar beet pellets. But mine are Highlands and they do not really need hard feed except maybe youngsters or nursing mares. Oats are fed whole as I was advised they stay longer in the stomach being slower to digest. How do you feed barley?
 
If I was feeding barley I'd soak it as you would with regular old fashioned beet. Many people don't but I prefer letting it soak a good bit. Plus I only add at max a pound a meal. But that's only my opinion. Not gospel!

Terri
 
Equilibrium Ireland said:
I feed oats and beet. Unmolassed beet and rinsed. I pour boiling kettles over the oats and let them steep. It's a nice warm feed.

Terri
Click to expand...

Exactly what I feed :) plus 5lb (dry weight) of soaked alfa/timothy cubes. Everything is soaked in hot water and the horses look quite disappointed if it isn't fed still warm :(

I haven't fed mashes for about 20 years, although when I was a child it was the done thing.

One yard I was grooming at had a linseed mash day once a week, boiled in a Burco boiler in the tackroom, smelled great but Oh how I hated cleaning the boiler out afterwards.
 
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I want a bit more energy (horse does too hehe) but have 2 bins of my dengie hi fi lite still (& he has 2 scoops min/supp & 1 mini scoop of garlic) SO can I mix in some oats with this or is overkill?

Good doer with no hard feed. Out 24/7.

Advice appreciated.

Thanks.
 
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