Feeding Barley

[Rae89]

I am curious what people have found feeding barley to horses, do you feed it, how much and what kind you feed?

We live in a large barley area, and therefore is very easy to get. But it is whole barley straight from the combine. Do I need to cook it down? I have read I should cook it first if it isn’t rolled or crimped. Last winter at a friends barn they bedded on barley straw that was full of whole barley. The horses were always pushing the straw around to clean up the bits of barley they could find and every horse in that barn look phenomenal. I realize it has a poor phos/calcium ratio and lacking in other things but it wouldn’t be feed alone.

I live in a remote area so I am limited to the variety of feeds I can get. Barley is very accessible, and from what I seen last winter helps put a great coat and condition on horses.

[beowulf]

Barley is used quite regularly in AU and NZ. It is also a significant component in many fortified feeds.

I would have no issue feeding it if I was in an area with limited options – it used to be “COB” made up the staple of the working horse’s horse’s diet… Corn, Oats, Barley. :winkgrin:

It doesn’t have to be cooked, but they will digest it better if it is + rolled or crimped. It can’t be fed as a complete feed, it does need forage + V/M supplement depending on your area.

[Xanthoria]

We used to feed it boiled in a pressure cooker to add condition to horses (less carbs), or micronized (an infra-red cooking process) for energy (lots of carbs). You can expect rocket rides if you feed a lot - good for very hard working horses, when balanced as beowulf says.

How to cook: https://rosehillsporthorses.wordpress.com/2012/01/11/how-to-boil-barley/

[Calvincrowe]

I’ve fed rolled barley and my horses looked great on it. If you balance it, it is a great replacement for rolled oats. If your horses need the calories and aren’t like my old, retired, Cushings/IR horses it’s a wonderful unprocessed grain–especially if you can get if for a good price. Locally,it was always more expensive than oats.

[JB]

The issue is that barley is really hard, so really should be processed to some extent

https://ker.com/equinews/using-barley-horse-feeds/

Not suitable for EMS horses, definitely lots of processing needed for horse with dental issues.