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Discussion on Oats vs. sweet feed
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Member:
Nadia
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Posted on Tuesday, Nov 30, 2004 - 9:27 am:
I have 2 horses - a TB and a quarter horse. They are turned out daily on a grass pasture. They are fed twice a day-morning and evening.
TB gets about a 1 lb of straight oats with a 1/2 scoop of the Grand Vite vitamin mix, and 2 flakes of alfalfa/grass mix hay for each meal.
The QH gets about 1/2 lb of the oats (no vitamins) with 2 flakes of hay for each meal.
1. Can you think of a reason why I would switch to sweet feed for either of them? (Barn offers it).
2. Could it make them more hot?
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Member:
Annes
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Posted on Tuesday, Nov 30, 2004 - 12:05 pm:
In my experience, oats made my horse hot - not sweet feed. My TB had always been on oats so when I got my walking horse, I put him on oats to avoid buying two feeds. I was only giving the new horse a small amount of oats but he became aggressive and hard to handle. When I changed him to sweet feed which he was used to getting, he was very calm again. Now my 20+ yr. TB is on Golden Years Supreme so I don't have any horses on oats. I don't think changing gradually to sweet feed would do any harm. My horses are out all day on grass pasture with hay at night. Hope this helps.
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Wednesday, Dec 1, 2004 - 7:34 am:
As long as switched out on a calorie for calorie basis there is little difference on the effect of the horses behavior between regular sweet feed and oats. Ann's experiences are interesting and if feed related are because she was feeding less sweet feed on a calorie basis.
If your hay is of good guality with half alfalfa, no I cannot see a reason to switch.
DrO
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Member:
Tlcstabl
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Posted on Monday, Dec 6, 2004 - 3:00 pm:
The experiences that I have had on the sweet feed vs. oats issue has been the opposite of Ann's. I have horses that acted terribly when on sweet feed and calmed right down when they were put on crimped oats. I have a boarding stable and we have seen a lot of different horse (and owner) personalities come and go. The major horses that I have seen the changes in are TB, Walkers, and Warmbloods. A nutritionist suggested that it has to do with the molasses in the mixture.....
Just wanted to let you know what my experience has been.
Sherry
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Member:
Nadia
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Posted on Wednesday, Dec 8, 2004 - 8:57 am:
Thanks everyone for their opinion. I think I'll just stay with the oats. It seems I always hear that everyone wants sweet feed. I've just never got a good answer as to why. I would think it would make the horses more energetic. The TB doesn't need anymore energy. The QH is fine the way he is.
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Wednesday, Dec 8, 2004 - 10:56 pm:
Nadia, we talk about prepared sweet feeds vs straight grains in the article Overview of Concentrates. However the combination of oats and alafalfa is hard to beat if the alfalfa is of good quality.
DrO
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