Soaked oat diet for skinny horses???

ajb

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My friend has a TBXWM that is a really fussy feeder and drops condition in a blink of an eye. Hes not overly stressy but conventional high energy feeds heat him up too much. I recal reading about a "soaked oat" diet and mentioned this to my friend. Can anyone give me details of it and better still has it worked for people. At the moment he picks at feeds but doesnt eat well. Hes been vet checked and nothing wrong just doenst seem to have the interest or capicity to eat lots!!!...
 

JenHunt

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never heard of it i'm afraid.
I would suggest geting as much fibre and oil and good quality protein into his as you can. An ideal diet would be something like baileys endurance mix (number 6) as it is high oil and protein low starchat up to 2kg in each feed. If you still need more energy to put weight on add full fat soya or baileys outshine. (both at up to 1kg per day)

as for fibre go with alfabeet or fibre beet (soaked) and plenty of alfa a or hifi senior.

don't worry if he doesn't eat quickly, you can feed the mix and some of the fibre in his trough and leave a bucket (with no handles) full of the alfabeet in his stable overnight and he can then pick at it all night the same as he would with hay.

also, make sure he's warm enough!
 

PapaFrita

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Go for it. I feed PF straight soaked oats and alfalfa and she's doing very well on it. She used to be the slowest eater in the world and is now just slow
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Also, I don't have to feed her as much as I used to in the UK (when she was eating mixes) to keep the weight on and she's calm too. I love this diet. Will never feed anything else and there are several people on the forum who feed it too and agree with me
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I've got a factsheet I'll post below.
 

PapaFrita

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From Ellen Collinson.
I actually only soak for about 12 hours as it's very hot here at the moment, and I only drain until the oats stop dripping... AND I'm a bit lax with the seaweed...
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And we don't have sugarbeet ...
Still works though
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"This is a diet I reccomend for all horses but especially for horses that are not 'doing well' or showing dietary problems like spots or sweet itch or just simply being 'hyper'. It suits all horses and is much more cost effective as well as healthier.

OATS are classed as both as a herb and a food, they are a strength-giving, low in starch but high in minerals. Also rich in Vitamin B, they contain alkaloids, glycosides and fixed oils which are an important source of vitamine E. They are a nerve tonic and bone building and contrary to modern day thinking, are the best possible feed for horses that are in work. The best way to feed them is soaked as explained here.

Soaked whole oats, soaked for 12-24 hours in cold water, this makes the oat a living enzyme again, which enables the horse to digest them more easily. Because they are now a living enzyme and easier to digested, the energy is released into the system quicker and without any build up of lactic acid, so no tying up, and also the horses hold their weight better, also as the starches are broken down easier it does not affect the temperment, also the benefits of soaking inclunde the fact that any chemical residue from sprays etc...are washed away, but not the goodness of the oat, also as vit E is in the outer husk of the oat, after soaking it becomes absorbable. The oats should be drained if possible overnight or for at least 1 and a half hours before starting to feed, and enough can be put up to last a whole day. If they are put up for example at 5 pm and drained at 5 pm the next evening, once a routine is established it is very simple, all you need is a hessain sack and a spare dustbin.

In light work I would suggest approx 2 to 3 lb of oats twice a day with alfalfa (weigh soaked oats not dry) and of course good hay. The amount can be increased gradually if and when work increases.

Carrots are excellent for the liver and the digestive system and full of calcium. Always make sure they are sliced sideways to avoid choke, another good vegetable that horses like is turnips or swedes, cut half a turnip into the feed trough twice a week to let them play with it, it is very nutritous.

The best supplement to feed in seaweed, one 15ml measure once a day, it is high in minerals and trace elements. It is rich in copper iron magnesium and phosphorus silicon and sulphur. The iodine content, which is a supreme gland builder and conditioner, reduces excess fatty tissue and removes toxic elements, along with iron which of course is premier importance to the blood, promoting oxygen absorbtion and building red corpuscules.

Alfalfa is classed as a herb cos it is very deep rooting, it is a rich source of calcium and also contains chlorine, magnesium, phosph.. potass.. sodium and sulphur..it is also rich in vits. It is high in protein, it is also a diuretic and more importantly it has 8 digestive enzymes in it which stimulate the digestive system, enabling the proper assimilation of the nutrients provided. It is a very good 'balancer' to be fed with oats, although it is a complete feed in its own right. To add to the oat diet add a double handfull mixed in with each feed.

Sugar beet, prefably unmolassed helps to keep condition on, it is also good for keeping bowels working, and is high in calcium.

A bran mash twice a week with a small handfull of epsom salts to keep their system clean, this has become unfashionable due to modern day nutritionists, however it is as good for horses nowadays as it was in the past. Cider vinegar internally, is good for them, an egg cupfull daily, this is also excellent used externally for any sore and inflamed joints.

Salt should be available, the best source is rock salt, not the man made licks but the rock salt that is dug out of the ground and many feed merchants sell it.

For those horses that need to put on weight or hold condition boiled barley linseed and flaked maize are all good fattening foods.

And finally but equally important is good quality hay. If you have to feed haylage for some reason than feed good quality oat straw to bulk them up.

I realise that this diet is 'old fashioned' and that the modern day nutritionists say that it is bad for horses, however, as it was all that horses were fed in the past, and the horses were far fitter, healthier, les colics, ulcers, hardly any sweet itch, fewer cases of tying up, fewer cases of fractures and bursting, far less cases of laminitis, it think the evidence speaks for itself, and I am confident that you will be delighted with the results, apart from the fact that it will save you a lot of money!!

For the best source of unmolassed sugar beet and Alfalfa contact a company called simple systems tel no 01371 870753 Simple systems also provide grass nuts and other beneficial feeds
 

JenHunt

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i disagree with that i'm afraid - i'm not doubting that it suits your horse, just the fact sheet goes against everything I've ever been told about oats and horses in my degree.
Oats are full of starch which is why its fed to racehorses to give them 'quick release' energy for sprinting, and they are one of the major causes of gastric problems in horses in the uk.
Oats are low in calcium compared to phosphorous so its very important to make sure they get enough calcium from the rest of the diet for the ratio to be 2 cal to 1 phos.
Whole oats are not very digestible, they need to have been hulled and cooked to make them digestible. often called naked oats, or rolled oats if they were rolled before cooking. cooking makes them more digestible by breaking down the cell structures, but this makes the starch more available to the horse - so they become even more heating.

i'm sorry if i seem to rant, but this is one of my pet hates.... along with people thinking that protein content equates to energy content in horse food.
 

SpruceRI

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Don't know about the science of it but soaked oats definately works for my Welsh Cob.

I've tried whole, naked, bruised and crushed oats and they all work the same.

Had her 12yrs and tried various feed balancers, weight gain mixes, Blue Chip and the like. Nothing put any weight on her in winter except Saracen Equi Jewel, but at £30 a sack which lasted a month, it was costing me £60 a month in hard feed to feed her alone.

Got the 'soaked oats diet' off here from someone last winter, best info I've ever had.

Only feed it in winter, 1/4 dry scoop a day mixed in with mix and chaff and later on will be SpeediBeet too. She's still looking wonderful.
 

beatrice

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I can second the alfa beet and alfa a, my mare dropped weight quickly a while ago and is looking fantastic now.

I also recently got a horse who was quite lean and he has been put onto alfa a and beet and is slowly but surely putting the weight on.

They also have a vit/min supplement, carrots and other supplements, ie a calmer for my mare etc.
 

Chex

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I wanted to try the soaked oats diet, but it seems that its really good for putting weight on, which is the last thing he needs!
 

the watcher

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You would think so. The Highland (and they tend to hold their weight!) is on speedi beet and an alfalfa based chaff all year round, in winter I add the soaked oats - she holds condition but doesn't get gross on them, and her temperament doesn't change either.
 

Chex

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Ah right thanks, thats good to know. He's on speedi-beet and happyhoof just now, so it wouldn't be that big a change to switch to an alpha and oats. Hmm, its worth a shot I guess!
 

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Sarah Pilliner writes in her book 'Horse Nutrition & Feeding':-

Oats are the traditional grain for horse feeding and can make up all of the concentrate ration. They have a relatively high fibre content and low energy content, which makes them more difficult to overfeed. More oats can be fed before the horse suffers digestive problems such as laminitis. However they are known as being 'heating' and many horse owners are reluctant to feed them. The fibre is due to the outer hull or husk, which maize and wheat lose during harvesting. This makes oats relatively light and bulky. Oats can be fed rolled or crimped; however horses over 12 months old with sound teeth should be able to chew and digest whole oats effectively. Once rolled, oats begin to lose their nutritional value and should be fed as soon as possible.............

Grain is often said to be 'heating', meaning that it results in a horse being overexcited and difficult to control.
Overfeeding energy - many 'hot' horses are simply getting too much energy for the job that they are doing and a reduction in the concentrate ration and an increase in the roughage will solve many problems. The behavioural problems are made worse by confining the horse to its stable 23 hours a day and then working the horse to increase its fitness - a veritable time bomb.


I tried the soaked oats last year and the horses looked very well on it but I have a head like a sieve (I blame my age!) and would either forget to soak them or to drain them in time so I am now feeding plain rolled oats (can't make mistakes with those!) with sugar beet and Alfa A Oil, Bailey's Stud Balancer and brewers yeast - if I say it myself, they've never looked better with great skin and coats, a good covering but not overweight and very easy temprements, not fizzy at all, so I won't be changing in a hurry, plus it's a lot cheaper than manufactured mixes too.
 
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