Those who feed oats

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Jingleballs

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I've just bought some rolled oats to feed my coblet to get a bit of extra sparkle.

Having read a bit about them it seems they are high in phosphorus but low in calcium.

In addition to a handful of oats (most he'll get is a coffe cup full before competitions) he also gets fibre readimash, micronised linseed and equimins advanced.

The advanced is pitched as a complete supplement - will this be enough to counter act the deficiency in the oats or should I add something else?
 
I feed soaked oats, beet pulp and alfa/timothy cubes with seaweed powder, to everything on the farm. My basement smells lovely (:rolleyes:) in the winter :(

This is an informative article and should answer your questions far better than I can.

http://www.equineiridology.eu/oat.php

Her other articles are also very interesting :)
 
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The calcium phosphorus ratio in UK forage is usually unbalanced in favour of calcium. One coffee mug of oats won't be a problem, I wouldn't worry about it.
 
TwoStroke said:
The calcium phosphorus ratio in UK forage is usually unbalanced in favour of calcium. One coffee mug of oats won't be a problem, I wouldn't worry about it.
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This!... although I am possibly going to be removing the oats on a permanent basis as I have the feeling, while they don't make him 'on his toes and stupidly silly' that they are affecting his mummy flinging abilities to my detriment!!... and he's only getting a mugful a day too!! (all 17hh+ of him!)
 
Thanks all!

Enfys - that's very interesting reading - not sure how easy it will be to soak them and then drain them! Might be a bit too much faff.
 
Babybear said:
Thanks all!

Enfys - that's very interesting reading - not sure how easy it will be to soak them and then drain them! Might be a bit too much faff.
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Oh no, not really, I am the Queen of anti Faff.

I just have three buckets in my basement.

Alfa cubes , beet and oats. I put water in all of them. Beet and alfa soak it all up, and I simply scoop the oats out with a colander. I feed 20 horses - minimum.
 
You need to wiegh it , I have seen an effect from as little as 500 grammes of oats but a kilo or a kilo and a half will usually make a difference.
 
Enfys said:
Oh no, not really, I am the Queen of anti Faff.

I just have three buckets in my basement.

Alfa cubes , beet and oats. I put water in all of them. Beet and alfa soak it all up, and I simply scoop the oats out with a colander. I feed 20 horses - minimum.
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Can I ask how long you leave the oats to drain? The suggestion was to soak them for a day then drain them for a day - is this what you do?
 
Babybear said:
Can I ask how long you leave the oats to drain? The suggestion was to soak them for a day then drain them for a day - is this what you do?
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I suppose they soak for about 20hrs, give or take.

Draining, a day? God No!:D As I said, I scoop them out with a colander into another bucket with holes drilled in it and leave it to drain for a while until I need them. Certainly not for a day, that would involve REAL organisation :eek: :)
 
Miss L Toe said:
Racehorses get fed a large scoop of oats per feed, one coffee cup is about the same energy as a bowl of porridge, no effect on a horse!
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No that is not true.If the horse is on a very low level of concentrates ,the addition of even a small amount of high energy concentrate can cause a massive increasein the energy recovered from fibre digestion.It is not the energy in the Oats that causes the problem ,but the extra 25% total energy from the Hay plus oats.(Tisserand/Wolfe)
 
Very interesting - thanks Mike!

I started mine on oats on Sunday.

We started with a handful and have gradually increased it each day. He's now on the equivalent of a coffee cup and I'm just going to play it by ear until I can get the right balance.

He definitely is much more forward and energetic this week however the temperature has dropped significantly so it could be as much to do with that as the oats!
 
Mike007 said:
No that is not true.If the horse is on a very low level of concentrates ,the addition of even a small amount of high energy concentrate can cause a massive increasein the energy recovered from fibre digestion.It is not the energy in the Oats that causes the problem ,but the extra 25% total energy from the Hay plus oats.(Tisserand/Wolfe)
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Thanks for the back up Mike!

I started feeding mine oats a few months back (just a mug full a day, increasing to 2 and then back down to one) and immediately I had the desired results... more energy without stupidity... unfortunately, as time went on I felt they make him a bit more spooky and prone to bucking episodes... I'm trialing him without to compare notes and work out which version of him I prefer!!
 
I am wondering what to give my lack lustre mare who is an extremely good doer, can be cresty although not much overweight for her cobby type. ATM she is on soaked hay overnight, turned out on short but rich pasture (used to be cow pasture) from 8.00am til 4.30 ish. She is also hacked 4/5 times a week now school holidays are over. She is however lacking get up and go.

From reading the posts here, am I right in thinking that oats cause more energy to be extracted from fibre digestion ie would cause more energy to be released from her hay intake? Or have I got the completely wrong end of the stick?

Sugar in her diet causes her to have a brain meltdown, completely loses sense, so was thinking a handful of oats might be enough especially as the grass is beginning to go off.

She is also a multi vit and mineral supplement just to make sure she is getting everything she needs that maybe lacking in the grass and hay.
 
Mike007 said:
No that is not true.If the horse is on a very low level of concentrates ,the addition of even a small amount of high energy concentrate can cause a massive increasein the energy recovered from fibre digestion.It is not the energy in the Oats that causes the problem ,but the extra 25% total energy from the Hay plus oats.(Tisserand/Wolfe)
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Mike007, that is fascinating. Do you have a link to the research, by any chance? I'd love to read more about it.
 
Isn't it the other way round adding fibre to concentrate increases digestion?

Feeding a fat horse won't give it any more energy it will just add to the increasing weight cycle energy in needs to be less than output to loss weight, the only way to increase a fat horses energy is to increase calorie use ie. more work less feed, without restricting fibre to less than 1.5% of body weight.
 
maccachic said:
Isn't it the other way round adding fibre to concentrate increases digestion?

Feeding a fat horse won't give it any more energy it will just add to the increasing weight cycle energy in needs to be less than output to loss weight, the only way to increase a fat horses energy is to increase calorie use ie. more work less feed, without restricting fibre to less than 1.5% of body weight.
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Completely correct! It's such a myth that feeding more will create more energy. More feed = more weight, not energy!

Here some notes from my degree........

feed4.jpg


feed3.jpg


feed2.jpg


feed1.jpg
 
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