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 Expert
Posts: 2335
  
Location: IL | Thinking of switching our horses to oats. What are some things I need to know about the switch? I have ulcer prone horses and I don't want to feed something that might be causing more problems than good. My horses are being fed Safe Choice once a day along with 1/2 cup of flax seed and Forco. 3 are on THE ulcer and joint, and 1 is on Exceed 6-way. Please let me know opinions. I wanted to switch to whole oats, flax, alfalfa cubes, and forco. Along with their supplement. They have free mineral salt blocks and are on pasture 24/7. I also have slow feed hay nets when we are hauling, with some alfalfa. Thanks |
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 Expert
Posts: 1857
 
| I feed only whole oats, alfalfa, rice bran and flax. free choice salt. I know some will say that oats make ulcers worse or even cause them but I have a couple ulcer prone horses and have not had any more trouble than when I was feeding a processed feed. Make sure you always feed whole oats with something that is high in calcium, i.e. Alfalfa, to balance the higher levels of phosphorus in oats. Especially for younger horses. When you start feeding oats you will notice some oats in the manure but that doesn't mean they didn't get any nutrients, if you pick some out it is usually just the hull. |
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 I Prefer to Live in Fantasy Land
Posts: 64864
Location: In the Hills of Texas | Some horses can't handle oats. I've had 3 through out my lifetime.
You can get the big beautiful race horse oats in Illinois. That is what I fed when we lived in Illinois.
Introduce them slowly when you are doing a change. I would replace 1/4 of the amount with oats and take about 2 weeks for the complete change over.
Edited by Nevertooold 2015-07-28 12:43 PM
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Expert
Posts: 2335
Location: IL | Nevertooold - 2015-07-27 6:40 PM Some horses can't handle outs. I've had 3 through out my lifetime.
You can get the big beautiful race horse oats in Illinois. That is what I fed when we lived in Illinois.
Introduce them slowly when you are doing a change. I would replace 1/4 of the amount with oats and take about 2 weeks for the complete change over.
Thanks! I was going to transition slowly and see how everyone acts on them. They will have free choice minerals, some alfalfa, flax, forco, and their supplement. I want to get more natural feeding. I just didn't know what it would do with my ulcer prone horse. I have read mainly good things about oats, except that some horses can get hot. |
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I just read the headlines
Posts: 4483
| I quit feeding my horse oats because I thought the oats made him hot, turns out he has digestive issues. Now that I am addressing those, I have found the oats don't make him hot, at least at the amount I am now feeding him. However, I do know some horses can't tolerate them. This has just been my experience with my horse. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 628
Location: Missouri | Use to feed oats to my mare, she tied up BAD! Some horses can handle them and others can't. I had never had a horse tie up before till I put my mare on oats. I unfortunately will not be trying them again. |
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Red Bull Agressive
Posts: 5981
Location: North Dakota | I like oats. They're one of the best grains out there. I was always afraid of them because I heard from people they'd make my horses hot or they had way too much starch, etc. BUT when I looked into actual research, oats are great. They have the highest percentage of digestable starch (about 90% compared to 30-40% for corn and barley) so it is broken down much better in their guts, making them very safe as long as you horse doesn't require a special low starch diet. That's one disadvantage, there are other pellet feeds with lower NSC's than oats. If you're not feeding pounds and pounds (most horses do well with 2 to 6lbs/day depending on activity) and your horse is out with good quality forage, this should not be an issue. The alfalfa cubes will complement the oats nicely by balancing out the calcium:phosphorous ratio. Alfalfa is just great all around because of the protein and it helps keep weight on them. The Flax is a good idea as well since that will provide some of those necessary omega 3's and fat. I think your feeding program sounds very good! If you have issues with them keeping weight on, you can always add a bit of renew gold or rice bran for extra fat. |
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Expert
Posts: 2335
Location: IL | cavyrunsbarrels - 2015-07-28 11:56 AM I like oats. They're one of the best grains out there. I was always afraid of them because I heard from people they'd make my horses hot or they had way too much starch, etc. BUT when I looked into actual research, oats are great. They have the highest percentage of digestable starch (about 90% compared to 30-40% for corn and barley) so it is broken down much better in their guts, making them very safe as long as you horse doesn't require a special low starch diet. That's one disadvantage, there are other pellet feeds with lower NSC's than oats. If you're not feeding pounds and pounds (most horses do well with 2 to 6lbs/day depending on activity) and your horse is out with good quality forage, this should not be an issue. The alfalfa cubes will complement the oats nicely by balancing out the calcium:phosphorous ratio. Alfalfa is just great all around because of the protein and it helps keep weight on them. The Flax is a good idea as well since that will provide some of those necessary omega 3's and fat. I think your feeding program sounds very good! If you have issues with them keeping weight on, you can always add a bit of renew gold or rice bran for extra fat.
Thanks for the input  |
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 Expert
Posts: 2013
Location: Piedmont, OK | I love oats. I feed oats and alfalfa to all the broodmares. |
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 Pork Fat is my Favorite
Posts: 3791
Location: The Oklahoma plains. | We feed oats with a ration mineral balancer and I think our horses look great. |
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Expert
Posts: 2122
Location: The Great Northwest | Oats is a safe and well accepted by the horse. In feeding oats as a rule don't feed over 3 lbs. in one feeding. Oats are high in starch and when too much oats doesn't get digested well before reaching the hind gut you may get a colic. Some horses are sensitive to a lot of starch and may be nervous or over re-active. I suggest Alfalfa it is the best feed for horses. |
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 Go For It!
Location: Texas |
I feed one pound crimped oats 1X daily with 1/3 cup coconut oil, 1tsp salt, a daily probiotic and alfalfa cubes. I just got home from up north, and after 6 weeks on the road my horse came home fat and sassy. Remember that the majority of your horses diet should be in the form of roughage. Mine was not turned out at all during that 6 weeks and we had zero problems. I gave him a little grass hay in a slow feed bag at night to keep him from getting bored. When we were hauling between between barrel races he got some soaked alfalfa cubes in the manger.
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Sparklin Cowgirl
Posts: 4379
| Nevertooold - 2015-07-27 5:40 PM Some horses can't handle oats. I've had 3 through out my lifetime.
You can get the big beautiful race horse oats in Illinois. That is what I fed when we lived in Illinois.
Introduce them slowly when you are doing a change. I would replace 1/4 of the amount with oats and take about 2 weeks for the complete change over.
I think my colt is one that can not handle oats...... Higher than a kit and hot. Took him off oats. Totally back to his normal self. |
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