Oats - The good, the bad and the ugly

[Alterration]

@Lost_Shoe

I feed whole, triple-cleaned “race horse” oats with Life Data’s ration balancer designed to be fed with oats and forage. I fed a similar diet 20 years ago, then fed processed safe choice grain for years, then returned to oats a few years ago. The horses look great! One in particular has never looked or behaved better; I had suspected that one or more ingredients, perhaps soy, in the safe choice grain he was on did not suit him, and the evidence appears to bear that out.

I was wondering if anyone fed that RB - it looked nice (and palatable).

As an update to the oats experiment here…

I started giving some oats mixed with alf pellets last week to all but my hard keeper (just started giving him some yesterday afternoon - he was on 6 lbs of strategy and some alf pellets, so I just added a cup of oats to his ration).

One of my horses (not the hard keeper) is normally a zingy dingbat, but this morning he came out of the stall just as sedate as could be - and it was a little chilly this morning, which normally would cause weird jumpy behavior. Even the bus coming by didn’t set him off quite like it normally does.

The hard keeper cleaned up his ration which honestly was delightful. Normally he leaves mouthfuls of strategy in his bucket. While he still attempted to crib on his feed pan (he is a hard core cribber) he didnt really crib but rather just mouthed it a bit. That was encouraging. When he went out he did the same thing on his favorite board.

The other two in my barn eat anything - so they aren’t good experiments except that it did seem to slow them down a bit. I have whole oats, and I notice it takes a lot of chewing to eat them. They still have their alfalfa pellets, so it’s a cup of oats and a cup of alf pellets.

They normally get mag, E, vitamins, a coat supplement, feed through fly control and white salt added, so I’m continuing to add those.

[Alterration]

@Bonnie2

When you buy a bag of whole oats you do not know what is in the bag. Different varieties from different soils in different climates with different fertilizing and weed control produce different fiber protein and mineral content. My biggest hesitation with feeding whole oats is that their nutritional value is affected by the horse that is consuming them. Both dental issues and bolting feed will leave you with whole oats in manure which the birds love to pick out.

You make a good point that if you have untested oats you don’t know what’s in the bag, but mine still have a feed tag with data on it. It may vary, sure, but I can’t imagine it would vary enough that the other things that they are fed (vitamins, alfalfa, grass hay) wouldn’t cover it.

@Bonnie2

I knew a guy who worked at a commercial bakery and his horses ate past sell by bread and poor pasture grass.

That’s amazing! We had neighbors bringing their refrigerator veggies to my horses (before we caught them, and I asked politely for them NOT to feed them, because I so carefully balance their diets LOL). They were certainly happy to have the veggies and leftover bread, and I never found evidence in their paddocks. It wasn’t until one of my staff happened to be out and saw them doing it that we even knew it was happening.

@Bonnie2

You have been wise to consider the source when reading articles, and I am a great believer that knowledge is power, but don’t over think it.

Usually there’s more of a consensus in articles so I can feel reasonably comfortable on my path. What confused me about oats was that it was ALL over the map!

[2DogsFarm]

I fed oats when I brought my horses home.
Based on a barn I boarded where Trainer/Mgr was German-educated & barn was literally built to his specs (by wealthy BO/patron).
He fed a mix of steam-rolled/crimped oats & my horses thrived on this -along with good, grass hay - for the 4yrs we boarded there.
This after nearly 10yrs boarding where various mfd pellets were fed.
I switched to whole oats about a year in to save money.
Never looked back & 20yrs later, 3rd trio of geldings, 2 are thriving on oats. #3 is a mini who, after 4yrs of oats, decided founder might be an option.
TG, caught early, so no lasting effects, but he gets TC Sr.
The current other 2 - 24yo Hackney Pony & 20yo TWH - are in great shape on twice daily ration of whole oats & BOSS.
Horse gets ~2 cups oats per feed, pony gets ~1 cup. BOSS is a 2T scoop - heaping for horse, level for pony, scant for mini.
No scientific measure, I eyeball quantity.
I don’t find hulls in manure (nor do I get volunteer sunflowers in my compost pile).
Vet compliments their condition, coats are soft & shiny year-round, good hooves on all.
For me, it’s a matter of KISS.
And, if a supplement or med is needed it can be top-dressed.

ETA:
I had a well-meaning neighbor who was loading feed buckets with assorted fruit/veg she bought for the horses.
Which I’d find as fermenting mess.
I told her to pls stop & that only the occasional single apple or carrot cut up! was allowed.

[RJC]

I decided to start sprouting oats for my boy. This is a bit “extra” but I already have a history of growing fodder for the chickens in winter and much of what the humans eat in this house (beans, nuts, seeds, grains) gets soaked and sometimes sprouted too.

I do 1-2 dry cups of oats sprouted, mixed at feed time with a pound of alfalfa pellets and his vit & min supplements (which stick wonderfully to the damp oats and roots). The whole pile is inhaled and he snuffles around the feed pan looking for dropped oats. I could hardly get him to eat a ration balancer if he suspected something might be added to it. Now he appears over the half door from turnout when he hears his dinner being prepared

It’s been two weeks and he’s doing great. If this is still working in fall, I’ll plan to let his rations grow into fodder so he gets some fresh greens in winter.