# Are tiger oats better?



## CBFan (7 July 2013)

My big lad really struggles with his energy levels. He is currently on a round stubbs scoop of bog standard feed merchants own crushed oats a day (He is a 6 year old 17.2hh Cleveland bay) together with 2 mug fulls of Soya bean meal (protein) and 1 mugful of micronised linseed. He has more energy / stamina than he did before he was on this feed (been a good 4 months) but is by no means 'wizzy'... I would just prefer him to have a bit more oomph.

I have to be careful what I feed him as he is laminitis prone.

Would tiger oats be a stupid idea?


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## BlackRider (7 July 2013)

Tiger oats have an added balancer, because when you feed oats you need to be careful with the calcium / phosporous ratio.
You could try adding some unmolassed sugar beet to his existing feed, and see if that helps, the beet will also help to balance the calcium levels.


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## TwoStroke (7 July 2013)

Aren't tiger oats molassed? I'd agree with trying unmolassed beet, or you could add a second feed in with more oats.


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## CBFan (7 July 2013)

Thank you! I forgot to say, he is also on a small amount of Fast fibre but if unmollassed beet would be better I could put him on that.

He currently gets this feed split over two feeds:

1 Stubbs scoop oats - I will look at increasing this,
250g Fast fibre
1 Mug Mic Linseed
2 mugs Soya bean Meal
Salt
Brewers yeast 
minerals (at present not balanced due to recently moving yards - using up supplies before changing to pro hoof)

Should I add some limestone flour to balance the calcium: phosperous ratio of the oats? If so how much should I feed?


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## trendybraincell (7 July 2013)

It's like you're typing about Shadow, his feed is very nearly identical 

I found tiger oats really difficult to feed, Shadow just didn't seem to like the taste of them, for a horse who is ruled by his stomach I really struggled to get him to eat them!! I now use whole soaked oats and get the best "omph" result with them, he's still not a hot head but he's never going to be!

I did recently try micronised peas after I read about them being rocket fuel, but found no real difference.

I ditch the beet in summer as I find it just does off to quickly


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## CBFan (7 July 2013)

Haha! Glad I'm not the only one! How long do you soak them for? What does soaking them do? I thought it had the opposite effect, i.e make them less heating?

I realise mine is never going to be a speed daemon but it would be nice to get a little more oomph occasionally!


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## trendybraincell (7 July 2013)

Just soak them in water for 12 hours, it makes the husks softer and I believe more easily digestible...I've found crushed or rolled oats seem to go straight through Shadow with little effect.

My understanding of oats is they being to lose their nutritional value once they have been crushed or rolled, therefore whole oats are potentially better but obviously you then have the husks to contend with.

I did think I might look into Top spec turbo as I've heard people have had success with that as a feed you can just add when you need. The trouble I have is he's such a good doer I can never feed a mix and get the required results without him piling on the pounds.

I'd still like a little bit more oomph!!


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## CBFan (7 July 2013)

Hmmmm looking further into this I can see that crushed or rolled oats are higher in fibre so lower in Digestible energy (I think the high fibre content is the reason I went for them in the first place. I can get my hands on Naked oats, which are obviously less fibrous but are supposed to have 30% more D/E...

Found this too.. V. Interesting!
Types of oat

Whole oats: These are as they come from the field, complete with the husks (or outer casing). This means they have the highest fibre level of all oats and grains. However, very young horses or veterans with teeth problems may have difficulty chewing these, so will not get the full nutritional benefit.
Bruised oats: The husk of the oat is broken to allow access to the nutrients. Bear in mind that this process will shorten the shelf life of the oats to a few weeks.
Rolled oats: Rolling has a similar effect to bruising. Traditionally, horsemen would buy whole oats and roll them on an ad hoc basis to maximise storage time.

Crimped oats: This process damages the husk and increases the surface area, so the digestive juices can get to work more effectively.
Clipped oats: Oats are often clipped alongside bruising. The ends of the grain are trimmed to give a neater final product.

Crushed oats: This is a rougher process, which involves breaking both the husk and the kernel of the oat. This makes them slightly more digestible, but they suffer from an even shorter shelf life.
Naked oats: These are not processed, but are grown to have loose husks that are shed when harvested. This lowers the fibre content and increases digestibility. In addition, they have a third more digestible energy and protein than a standard oat, plus they are high in oil. These elements are the rocket fuel in oats.

Read more at http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/horse-care/feeding/all-about-oats/#2CyQDGUjWPVOXwFc.99


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