T
If I remember right, you have to be careful with oats as they can cause calcium deficiancy. Otherwise I used them with my mare over the winter and she's kept weight well but it could well be due to the other feeds
we have always fed all the horses on the yard oats.As already said they don't heat a horse up in a way that other cereals d
urs also have sugarbeet and chaff and in winter if they need it and their bodies can cope with it they also get barley. All of ours have great coats,look well and are well mannered.
urs also have sugarbeet and chaff and in winter if they need it and their bodies can cope with it they also get barley. All of ours have great coats,look well and are well mannered.
Kis Vihar
Nutty Saddlers !
We feed all our horses oats. It's the staple diet in Hungary - along with Lucerne. We feed a mix and 'pellets' (like fibre nuts) too, (because we are mad English people who spoil their horses rotten 
) but most people only feed oats.
None of our horses have any problems on oats. They are not nutty at all! They all have lovely coats and good hooves.
) but most people only feed oats.None of our horses have any problems on oats. They are not nutty at all! They all have lovely coats and good hooves.
old_woman
a VERY senior citizen
My Arab mare gets oats; so do the dairy goats and this year - for the first time - the old pony got them, too.
I feed my sons 13.2hh welsh x mare a scoop of oats a day & she is not fizzy in the slightest & has a lurvley shiney coat!! It is a myth about oats!! 
I used to feed Skippy oats - with no problems. I had problems feeding straight barley though - brought him out in lumps and bumps
I feed a scoop morning and night (with sugar better, chaff and pony nuts). I have an extremely placid cob and I definately notice a difference in her way of going but not in a bad way.
All my local feed stores stock rolled oats.
All my local feed stores stock rolled oats.
after reading a few comments on another thread, and after a lengthy convo today, and after seeing first hand how well horses who are fed them are (not fizzy & looking amazing), then googling it & finding all links relate to praise for oats & all saying its a myth about the hot/fizzy thing, who feeds their horse oats?
i think im gonna bite the bullet, risk the shocked faces & comments from yard, and buy my new horse oats.
he is already fed them & is exceptionally well behaved for his young age, & has a lovely glossy coat & generally looks well. as do all the others who are fed them. so i have seen proof first hand, so im gonna buy them, then mortified liveries can see the results (& lack of racehorse energy/fiz) for themselves!!!!!!
do all tack/feed shops sell them though? i was too embarassed to ask for them the other day when buying feed, because girl look horrifed when i said thats what he's on at the mo (with other stuff, not alone). but im gonna go back & get some! i read somewhere though that cos of bad rep, they're not higely readuly available, and often have to be ordered in especially.
Is it you who's bought the young fresian??
I have to ask why would you want to feed a young horse who isn't in any work,and being a fresian I suspect is a fairly good doer oats??
Would it not be better to feed a high fibre diet which is after all as close to nature as you can get,rather than a lot of cereals??
Sorry for all the questions,and negativity,I know oats *may* have their place with some horses for certain reasons,but I really wouldn't have thought a young horse in no work would need them
It is ALWAYS preferable with an average horse (as in no medical/health issues that require otherwise) to feed high fibre based feeds,and avoid cereals,as horses are designed naturally to have a forage based diet.I realise some people feed oats for a reason,and that of course they have to find things that work for them,but generally and if you're not doing it for any reason,then I would have thought oats would be un-necessary TBH.Only my opinion of course and apologies if you do have your own reasons that I am just not aware of
Hope whatever you decide works for you anyway
T
Tazanne
Guest
I have never really believed they make even tempered horses 'fizzy' anyway,except maybe the odd few that are sensitive to them.
My main question with feeding them would be that they are not something horses would naturally eat,and perhaps aren't very beneficial to them in comparison to other feeds.
I understand what you are saying about the if it ain't broke don't fix it thing,but I think there are times when just because something is working doesn't mean it's necessary or the best thing long term,plus the reasons the current owner feeds him oats (if it's a breeding yard it's probably cost and time),might not actually apply to you??
Anyway I don't know if it will be helpful to you but thought it might as you are un-sure about the ins and outs of oats so to speak (how odd does that sound lol) but will copy and paste a bit of an article from H&H that is specifically about feeding oats.
ETA:Hope you don't mind me replying with so much info BTW,just noticed your title was asking for people who feed it,but in your post thought you wanted the low down on oats (again that sounds very odd lol),so just thought might be helpful for you to have some info,hope that ok??
All about oats
Expert advice from HORSE magazine on feeding traditional oats
A balanced view
Today, very few owners use straight oats, but have oats had their day? Their lack of use may stem from concerns about providing horses with an overall balanced diet - often, it is simply easier to use a ready-produced mix.
Independent equine nutritionist Christine Smy explains: "Alone, oats are an unbalanced feed as they are very low in calcium, but relatively high in phosphorous. The latter effectively prevents what calcium there is from being absorbed.
"In addition, they are very low in macronutrients, in particular zinc and copper. All of these deficiencies will limit good bone formation - as a result, straight oats should never be fed to youngstock or brood mares. Finally, oats do not have a good amino acid profile, which means they are not a sufficient source of protein for horses in hard work or breeding."
However, oats are rarely fed in isolation and when used alongside good quality hay, grass, alfalfa, and a broad-spectrum supplement, many of the potential problemswill be off-set. Additionally, specially formulated oat balancers are now available.
There are practical considerations, too. "Oats are cost-effective, especially if you buy feed as a yard," explains Katie Lugsden, nutritionist for Baileys Horse Feeds. "Because they need no cooking, the production costs are low, making them much cheaper to buy than other cereals."
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My boy was on oats(mixed with his normal feed) last year & tbh his temperament didnt really change, he just kept his condition better on them & looked much better coming out of winter than he did the year before.
I purely use them as heating when it gets really cold for my boy
I purely use them as heating when it gets really cold for my boy
I am the current owner of this youngster - well until tomorrow when we deliver him to Tazanne.
He is currently fed 3/4 scoop of oats in each balanced feed, we don't buy compound feeds as I prefer the 'old fashioned' way which gives us flexibility and the ability to individually tailor feeds.
The oats are currently fed for their carbohydrate and oil properties without them being heating also the protein level, enough for a horse to be getting protein but a lot less than most bales of haylege or average 'mixes' available from a feed shop - as said they are fed alongside other feedstuffs and whilst cooked cereals may not be part of a 'natural' diet which could be found in the wild, oats are not a cooked cereal and given chance a totally natural wild horse would help themselves to either cropped or wild oats. Oats and chop form the basis of my feeds and then other 'ingredients' are added depending on the horse, their condition, excercise levels etc, in addition to his oats and chop he also gets sugar beet and biotin.
We moved off buying mixes and back to individual ingredients about 3 years ago and the neds have never looked back, feet are better, coats are glossy, they have energy without being maniacs and they all have good digestion - we've never had any of them go suddenly loose or get 'rabbit droppings' since changing our feeding system.
I appreciate though that this may not be appropriate for a lot of single horse owners - it becomes very expensive but with 5 for us it was a far better option - plus a lot of the mixes contain things that I would never feed such as maize - as a cooked cereal maize is just pure energy but a lot of the mixes contain it in quite a high proportion.
I would never advocate that oats be fed on their own - as with everything it is a question of striking a balance but I do think it's a shame that oats are so demonised when people will happily go out and buy 'ready made' food which contains all sorts of processed food and a lot of which is exremely high in sugars and preservatives.
He is currently fed 3/4 scoop of oats in each balanced feed, we don't buy compound feeds as I prefer the 'old fashioned' way which gives us flexibility and the ability to individually tailor feeds.
The oats are currently fed for their carbohydrate and oil properties without them being heating also the protein level, enough for a horse to be getting protein but a lot less than most bales of haylege or average 'mixes' available from a feed shop - as said they are fed alongside other feedstuffs and whilst cooked cereals may not be part of a 'natural' diet which could be found in the wild, oats are not a cooked cereal and given chance a totally natural wild horse would help themselves to either cropped or wild oats. Oats and chop form the basis of my feeds and then other 'ingredients' are added depending on the horse, their condition, excercise levels etc, in addition to his oats and chop he also gets sugar beet and biotin.
We moved off buying mixes and back to individual ingredients about 3 years ago and the neds have never looked back, feet are better, coats are glossy, they have energy without being maniacs and they all have good digestion - we've never had any of them go suddenly loose or get 'rabbit droppings' since changing our feeding system.
I appreciate though that this may not be appropriate for a lot of single horse owners - it becomes very expensive but with 5 for us it was a far better option - plus a lot of the mixes contain things that I would never feed such as maize - as a cooked cereal maize is just pure energy but a lot of the mixes contain it in quite a high proportion.
I would never advocate that oats be fed on their own - as with everything it is a question of striking a balance but I do think it's a shame that oats are so demonised when people will happily go out and buy 'ready made' food which contains all sorts of processed food and a lot of which is exremely high in sugars and preservatives.
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