Oats are good for energy. When I was a child all of us horse people fed oats because our horses worked hard.
Now my horses eat diet pellets.
I was hoping you would weigh in on this, but was actually hoping you would write in English for those of us too dumb [aka moi] to really understand this like you do… ?? 
That’s interesting cause I would guess that my Yo, a TB, would not do well. My one lament is not knowing about NASC earlier in the 20+ years I had him… I imagine many issues we had with him could have been solved had I known to have him on a much lower NASC diet.
Well, it’s just a guess based on how they react to grass. She can be turned out 24/7 and not really gain too much weight, never had any foot soreness from grass, looks best in summer and drops weight in winter. My APHA mare had some laminitis symptoms from spring grass once, so I moderate her intake, especially early in the season. But again, I would hate to feed a lot of anything that is that high in NSC and just hope for no issues.
That basically describes Yo who did so much better in later life [after 20] on low NASC.
I think oats and NSC are given a very bad rap in some parts of the US, partially because feed companies want you to think oats are bad so you buy their (much more expensive) product. Oats are cheap, readily available, easy to source, and like other posters said, many horses do fine on them. Many feeds are made with oats as a major component - and in European countries, like Manni01 said, oats are used frequently.
When I fed oats, I fed 1lb with 2c alfalfa pellets (soaked), flax, and 1c of Exceed 6-Way - this was for a recently retired from racing TB that was huge and needed groceries. The Exceed was expensive and I dropped it, but kept the horse on oats/alfalfa + unlimited hay/grass for a while before switching him to hay stretcher for reasons unrelated to nutrition needs. The oats did a great job (he was sleek, shiny, and in good condition) but he was on lay-up and the birds kept destroying his manure before I could get it out of the paddock. I wanted to keep him on oats but the logistics of the situation were complicated and it was easier to just switch him to a feed that the other horses were on as well.
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That’s interesting that your horses were calmer once off commercial feeds. Oats have been fed and used for years before all the commercial feeds came out. Horses did just fine then and at least you know what your feeding. I feed a 12% sweet feed with lots of oats in it,that and alfalfa pellets ,Tc senior and safe choice senior,plus calfmanna. Only way to get mr picky to eat ,has to have a variety of feeds to keep his interest.
we feed soaked oats, dried grass(not alfalfa) chaff and linseed to a metabolic older draft X and a small pony stallion (2yo so neither in work or covering yet)…both do really well on it and the older guy looks better on that than on commercial feds designed for metabolic horses. they have a nice topline, nice bloom and excellent feet (barefoot).
Horses “did just fine then” because they were working hard. They were labor animals, more or less, not pets like they mostly are today. Feed most of today’s “couch potato” horses like the hard working farm horses were, and there would be problems. There ARE problems. Horses then moved more and ate less (they had less time to graze because of their hours working), and today they move less and eat more. People too 
So back to the ratio thing - yes, that particular example does start to bring things closer to 1:1, which is still not ideal or “corrected”, but definitely not inverted anymore, and more correct. 4lb of oats isn’t insignificant. 1-2lb, assuming a forage that is at least somewhat higher in ca than phos, isn’t going to make anything come unglued either 
But get a forage that is too low in Ca, like many grasses, add in 4lb of oats, and a ration balancer isn’t going to correct things, just make the oats less of an issue. So yes, I see where you are coming from.
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To solve that you feed less give less time on pasture,they don’t need to eat hay/grass 24/7 if not working. Depends on who it is on if you consider horse’s pets. Give them room to move and they move like they should. Not an issue for my horse, but then again he works hard daily not a pasture puff and over fed.
And what do you do with the metabolic ones? Let’s be realistic - in the “good old days”, the metabolic ones were put down.
My pony with Cushings can’t eat grass and nearly died when I got him - before we knew he had Cushings and we gave him Empower Boost because he was so skinny. Like 1 cup/day at 26% NSC…foundered nearly immediately.
It’s not just about “hard work” - it’s the fact that the ones that couldn’t work and/or needed a special diet in order to work were eliminated.
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Well that’s why I asked “how much are we talking?” 1lb of oats mixed with alfalfa is not the same a 3lbs of oats 2x a day. I don’t think oats are inherently bad, but if I fed 6lbs of oats instead of 6lbs of Senior Feed like I do now, it sure would be different.
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That’s true… but I wouldn’t have made the assumption you needed to feed pound per pound with oats. Even 6lb of oats isn’t “bad” for a horse in moderate/heavy work that has no IR or metabolic sensitivities.
In my experience, you don’t need to feed the same weight of oats as you did commercial feed. The same TB I mentioned above needed 2.5lb 2x a day of Poulin Fibremax just to keep a little over his ribs.
6lb of Senior, I’m assuming the horse does not get roughage? I wouldn’t be giving oats only to a horse that was previously on a complete feed, but I do think oats are great for horses that have the unique ‘problem’ of being in hard work and needing extra calories and slow-burning energy.
Of course you modify the diet to fit the caloric and nutritional needs. I don’t believe in giving less time on pasture, which means less movement, if the problem can be solved with a muzzle.
No horse needs to be eating, or will eat, 24x7. They are designed to, and given the option will, graze (grass, hay, whatever) for about 16-18 hours a day. That is the healthiest for them for a lot of reasons. That is regardless of work. And free choice good grass has done wonders for the health of many horses, working or not.
Of course “it depends” when it comes to a pet. Many people don’t ride. Or ride 30 minutes w/t a few times a week. Or the horse’s are lame but living life outside. Those are pets. They are not working horses. The majority of horses in this country are no longer work animals. They are light pleasure “pets”. Some - a small percentage - work hard.
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Cereal grains are nutritionally very unbalanced and incomplete. That’s different from calorie content. 5lb of a fortified feed is not a lot at all. But it also doesn’t mean there’s not a better way to feed that particular horse. It may be that that particular feed did not work well for him, but another one of similar fortification would. It happens frequently - 5lb of Purina Strategy and a horse looks like crap, but 5lb of TC Sr and he looks wonderful. OR, 5lb of TC Sr and the horse loses weight, but 5lb of Nutrena Sr and he blossoms.
6lb of Senior, I’m assuming the horse does not get roughage?
I would not assume that at all. 6lb is not a lot for a horse in work, or even an older horse who isn’t as efficient in nutrient or calorie digestion. 4-6lb of most fortified feeds - complete or not - is the minimal feeding recommendation for the 1100lb horse, give or take, and that’s from a nutritional perspective. Some need more if they work hard, or play hard, or just have a higher metabolism, and some need less.
Complete feeds, which is the case for most Sr feeds and even a lot of Jr/Growth feeds, are typically fed in much higher amounts than 6lb for a horse who doesn’t get any roughage. 15-20lb in many cases. That’s just for comparison to see where 6lb lies on the spectrum.
I know they are different. I was just pointing out that from a calorie standpoint my gelding did better with oats than fortified feeds/grain. I mentioned up-thread what he gets, it isn’t just oats… He has gone through several different complete and fortified feeds (BS Sentinel, Poulin Fibremax, TC Senior, Ultium…) so it is not just that “that particular feed didn’t work for him”. I had a very tough time keeping him in good condition with Ultium and TC, and with BS Sentinel he was the skinniest he had ever been. So far the best thing for him has been either RB/hay pellets or oats/alfalfa pellets. YMMV. Oats are not the answer for every horse. Same as any other grain, cereal or fortified.
If it were my pony I would think 6lb is a lot if it was not on a complete feed, which is why I asked. Not all horses need 10-20lb when on complete feed… and many owners supplement with other feeds. Sometimes there are better answers, as you said, to what we pick for feed for our horses/ponies. Sometimes looking at how much you’re feeding vs how much the horse is actually working vs how much weight they need/keep is enough to make people try something else.
It has been my experience that some owners continue to up the grain amount on a feed that is not ideal for the horse to the point where they feed an exorbitant amount of grain just to keep the horse in good condition… and they think that 6-10lb of feed is normal to keep a horse in light work in good weight… when as you said, it very well may be a simple explanation of that not being the right feed for that particular horse. (not saying this is the case with the poster above). It’s happened to me and I’ve seen it happen to other people.
I don’t feed my metabolic pony 6lbs of senior feed - that’s my 22 year old TB that might be ok with oats. I don’t think that’s very much at all when she’s not on pasture 12 hours a day. And she’s retired.
I think I’d kill my pony die if I gave him any oats.
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Yes, crimped oats are my go-to for allergy horses. Crimped oats with a vitamin/mineral supplement. Past horse with a corn allergy did extremely well on this diet, and current horse (with ulcers and an alfalfa allergy) is as well. My non-allergy ones eat regular grain though.
I know they were calmer because I normally feed a molasses based feed. They never get much per feeding as they just don’t need it for weight maintenance, just to bring them up and get their supplement every evening.
Feeding an alfalfa mix hay years ago had the same result. Once on pasture and mixed grass hay when we moved south, I noticed they were both calmer. At least with these 2 what they eat does affect their behavior.
If metabolic you do what needs done for that horse. If it means no grass no cereal grains no high nsc feeds then that’s what you do. I totally get some horses aren’t able to be worked, or owners don’t care to ride work them daily,and that is just fine.
I’ve got an oldie who’s past his riding years his only job is to eat ,and be cute and keep my pally company.
I feed a high NSC diet to my horse 34 to 36 percent. Will it cause issues in the long run IDK hoping he works hard enough to burn off the excess sugars. But the sweet feed gives him the energy i like,just a tad hot but controllable.
Feeding oats with no molasses is probably better than sweet feed,if no metabolic issues of course.
Back in the day i don’t think metabolic issues in horses was really known of ,or was it?
