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[RC] Feedin' horses - Bruce Weary

Hey Don--
There is so much anecdotal experience with different feeding practices, that it is difficult at times to really feel like I know what each feed is doing, and how much success the horse is having from it's feed and what other factors might be involved.
To answer your question, I think rolled corn is not the best feed, as it is more prone to mold than cracked corn. Clearly, corn has been fed successfully by itself, and in a mix, such as COB. The old study I referred to found that horses fed only corn did well during the winter, but as the temperature and workload went up, they began to lose weight. Could be because corn is deficient in amino acids, and the horse was unable to rebuild new tissue as well. Alfalfa would help increase the amino acid profile, but has other negative effects if fed as the only roughage. I have found it kind of becomes a "mix and match" game.
Oats consistently outperform any other grain, in terms of digestible starch and fat, higher fiber, less chance of colic, and palatability. Oats' only drawbacks are an inverted calcium:phosphorous ratio, and some amino deficiency, namely in lysine. Another benefit of oats, is they apparently form a looser consistency in the stomach and GI tract, with less chance of impaction. Susan G, who is a very smart girl, can comment here, but I read something interesting that may or may not be true--one author theorized that the structure of the oat hull, being kind of "pointy" on both ends, may actually stimulate the gut wall better than corn or barley, both of which become pasty on digestion. This might help their tummies keep rolling along better. The author also thought this "prickling" of the GI tract might add to the horse's "spirited behavior" that they sometimes exhibit on oats. Dunno if that's true or not.
I will say by far the most dramatic effect I have ever seen from a feed, is after we started adding lysine to our horses' feed. My four year old gelding, who had apparently stopped growing at just over 15 hands, grew to 15'2" in about two months. My wife's nine year old gelding, who finished Tevis this year, and has been fit and lean for over two years, suddenly put on muscle all over his body, and looks very different now. And, my Foxtrotter mare lost her hay belly, and improved her topline. I am astonished at these changes. There are authors who say that many, if not most horse's feeds are deficient in lysine. I believe that now.
I do get long winded, don't I? Dr Q


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