feeding help!

[fleabitten]

If you are making up a feed out of straight grains (oats, barley etc) is it necessary to use a vitamin and mineral supplement alongside? I suppose each grain isnt going to have the necessary amounts in them individually and it would make sense to use a vit and min supplement but what if you were using a combination of straight grains?

But then i suppose the idea is that you are using these grains for energy, rather than to create a balanced diet. But then again, no matter what way you are feeding your horse you need to create a balanced diet.

I know that a supplement which is necessary, is limestone for the bran.

what did they do years ago when there was no vitamin and mineral supplements? i presume they went ahead with feeding their straights on their own and no ill effects?

i have read peoples opinions that feeding their horses straight grains has been beneficial to their health and behaviour - i think some were suggesting that mixes and cubes have too much stuff pumped into them and too much sugar etc which was maybe adversely affecting their behaviour.

obviously its much easier to feed mixes and cubes as all you have to do is read the bag to see how much to feed. and a lot of people dont feed straights any more.

some people dont like bran, some people dont like sugar beet and some people swear by them.

I think the question im really looking to find out is how to prepare a feed of straights. Are you supposed to just use one type of grain, whichever suits your requirements the best or do you use a combination of grains? If so, why not just buy a bag of mix? I think i read somewhere its cheaper to buy straight grains.

And how much do you use of each grain? equal amounts of each?

And do you really need a vit and min supplement?

Thanks for all replies! Hopefully you can follow those ramblings of mine lol!

[scattymare]

The only experience I've had of feeding straights was years back when I was at college. If I remember rightly the horses there were all fed a combination of oats bran sugar beet and barley - the levels of each feed were measured depending on each horses needs so no you don't have to feed just one type at a time.
Re vits and mins, these days you are encouraged to use a supplement or a balancer but as you rightly say, 20 years ago those things didn't exist and yet horses weren't keeling over due to malnourishment!

[racaille]

At the old club we used to feed straight barley but soaking it was a faff. The horses got hay as well and that was it. No supplements.

[fleabitten]

Thanks guys, thats very interesting - some books mention that you need a supplement and some dont mention it so its kind of confusing!

rac - can you not feed barley dry as well (maybe dampened a bit too)?

[racaille]

No Flea. Barley is a very hard grain and is often fed crushed or rolled. But it grows quite well here and is therefore plentiful and it was cheaper to get it as whole grain. So it was soaked for 24 hours before feeding so the horses could digest it.

It's not a complete feed though as the phosphorous/calcium ratio is not great. The only reason it was fed really was so that the livery horses could have something in their bellies that could be eaten fast before the owners arrived for the morning ride - forage would have taken them too long to eat so they had that later.

[fleabitten]

ah right. Thanks rac, thats very interesting.

[horsecare]

Feeding is straights can get quite complicated and end up not being very cost effective. Horses didn't evolve to eat grain and don't find it easily digestible. That's where commercially produced feeds come into their own, they have been developed to be digestible and of course have the added vitamins and minerals. There are all sorts of types available for horses needs eg. senior, calming etc and most manufacturers have a nutrional help line for advice on type and quantity to be fed.