Horse feeds?

My horse is on indoor board in winter so she is kept in a stall at night. In the day they have free hay, I don't know what kind, and at night, she was giving about half a can of oats(I think). In the winter when she gets oats every night, she gets really crazy. She has always been a bucker, but this summer she was pretty much out of that. Now she is just absolutly crazy with energy, bucking and taking off running all the time. My friend and I got a bag of fit and fibre to share, and I asked them to give her that at night instead, the same amount that she was getting of oats. I don't think that she will get cold at night without oats because there are many other horses and the stalls a close together, but I want to know what other people think. And I am not sure what kind of hay they get outside but do you think she is getting enough nutrience and stuff for a balanced diet?

My horse is fed Purina Strategy and baled orchard grass.

It's a very simple diet but all of the horses who have come to the barn where I board have become much healthier and better balanced.

One of the largest differences I saw in my horse was the disappearance of his "hay belly." He was on round field bales where he could eat non-stop before and I think getting him back on portioned hay really made a difference.

Consult your vet. They know everything. 8)

It sounds like your horse doesn't need the extra energy provided by oats, but rather something more along the lines of a ration balancer to ensure that the diet is providing adequate nutrition without extra energy. Purina makes a product called Nature's Essentials Born to Win which is fed at a rate of 1-2 lbs per day to provide balanced nutrition when fed with grass hays. Or you may need nothing more than a vitamin/mineral supplement along with the hay that is being fed. Grains contain high amounts of starchs which are quickly turned into sugar and used as fuel--thus all the extra energy. This isn't necessary in a horse that is spending alot of time stalled and not getting ridden alot daily.

Don't worry about your horse getting cold from a lack of the small amount of grain he is getting, forage is actually what provides the most heat from digestion.

I'll second what Tim said.

It's probably a better plan to feed hay in mulitple, smaller servings than to just put out a round bale and let the horse have at it.

As far feeds.....
Basicly, what Tim is talking about is a 14%-protein/6%-fat (pelleted) feed which has a realy good vitamin/mineral package blended-in. If you can't find 'Strategy', there are other brands which offer essentualy the same thing.

As far as oats go, I'm not a big believer in them.
To start with, oats are hard to digest because, "crimped" or not, it is still a seed. In fact, some of it don't digest at all and shows-up later as the little oat-grass shoots that grows in horse manure.
In the second place, it does produce a lot of energy but unless one is working an animal perty-hard, that particular aspect only serves to make them jittery and high-strung.
So in my opinion, everything considered, I just plain don't have much use for it.

Personaly, I'd rather spend $10 for a sack of good feed to start with.
At least that way, I'm perty satisfied that between the grass (or winter hay), the feed and maybe a mineral block to lick-on, mine are getting everything they need.

That's just my 2-cents worth.
Your Vet may say different.

DGW

I give my horse Adavantage Equine I rele like it it made hom gain some weight but ut may deoend on how old she is by whta kind you give her

Ok should I get her a mineral block licky thing?
And I cannot change the way they are fed out there. They are all given a round bale of hay in each paddock, and well I guess I could pay someone to go out there everyday and give her feed at certain times but it's highly unlikely that anyone would do that.

I would feed her just a ration balancer, like Purina's Born or Win or Mare & Maintenence, or Triple Crown's 12% or 30% supplement. You only have to feed 1lb a day for total nutrition with a ration balancer. They are simple too, and shouldn't make a horse hot/hyper.

Another thing to consider is that horses deficient in Magnesium and/or B vitamins can cause an otherwise calm horse to act hyper. If the ration balancer doesn't cool her down, you might add a supplement to her feed for both. http://www.horsetech.com will custom blend you one, so you only have one bucket. They are very nice to work with and their supplements are top of the line. Just give them a call and ask them about a custom blend.

The last thing to consider is that your mare needs more turnout. As long as she has a good winter coat and there is shelter form wind and rain/show in the pasture, then she doesn't have to stay in all night. Just have her stay in to eat her food, and then turn her back out, only keeping her in when the weather is especially bad.

Oops, one more thing to consider! If she's gained or lost any weight since the summer, even just a little, her saddle could be not fitting her properly and causing her discomfort.

Yes, have salt available at all times. If you are unsure of all the minerals and such that your horse is getting just go with a white salt block.
If you do go with a min salt block make sure there is a white also so they have a choice.

We have blue for salt blocks and brown for mineral blocks which on should I get?

Wait... your salt blocks are blue...?
That's really wierd.

I've heard salt in the spring/summer and minerals in autumn/winter.
Although salt is pretty generic.

Whatever you do, don't put one of those giant ones in the field though. All the horses lick on them so there's all kinds of bad germ transfer and such. Plus they always get muddy, and that's not healthy either.