What 'grain' is best?

Definitely agree. My horse only gets grain in the winter time and a very little amount, about a cup. And for sure no sweet feed. I hate that stuff. Way too much sugar, have you ever read the ingredients and fat content in it? No way am I giving that stuff to my horse. He just gets regular pellets. I give him Poulin Mills Endurence its and 11% protein, which is good for his age, 12. Your older horse though I would probably do some kind of senior grain. If you aren't sure go to your local place where you get grain and they should know. I asked the guy at my place and he was really informed about it. Oh, I also like Poulin Mills because it is made locally in Vermont. :)

Thanks! :)
I feed my dogs raw, and it's so much easier to get informed with dog nutrition than horse!

That's the truth! :)

Just to make things clear, Safe Choice is a grain. It is just been pelletized (I am not sure that is a word, but I think you know what I mean). It has been processed more then a whole grain or sweet feed making it easier to digest.

Actually alot of the same principles apply :) You want actual ingredients listed not products for the same reason... you also want to avoid "grains" the difference is that dog foods want meats listed and we want forages listed instead of grains :)

Good info. :)

You are a fan of Safe Choice then, yes?
I am guessing that is what NSC stands for.

I feed my dogs prey model raw...organs, meat and meaty bones. :)

NO I am not a fan of Safe Choice LOL it's not as "safe" as they portray it to be... it also has corn which is a big no no..

I want completely grian free feeds

NSC = sugars + Starches

If they're fat, they don't need grain. You can mix a good vit/min supplement with just a cup or so of SafeChoice and that should be good! SmarkPak has a good vitamin in pelleted form, so you don't have to worry about them sifting it out.
SmartVite Maintenance Grass Pellets - Multi-Vitamin Supplements from SmartPak Equine

Or

SmartVite Senior Grass Pellets - Multi-Vitamin Supplements from SmartPak Equine

If you're a fan of raw, then you need to stop all manufactured horse feeds. They're full of fillers and junk, just like dog food.

I feed my horses a 100% natural diet. I use a custom vit/min blend with added amino acids in a flax base from Uckele Equine. I have my hay analyzed and base my vit/min on that. Uckele can help you build the right vit/min based on your hay, pasture, and water source. (well water often has higher minerals, you'll need to test it if you use a well) horsetech.com also has a great line and will custom blend supplements. Both companies have a good "off the shelf" product if you don't want to analyze your hay. Uckele's is called Equi-Base Grass. Horsetech.com's is called High Point Grass.

I mix my vit/min supplement with 1-4 oz of flax meal, depending on the horse and 1 lb of chopped pre-bloom alfalfa hay. This is the base of my diet.

For my "easy keepers," that's all they get. For my harder working horses or harder keepers, I add 1-3 lbs of Alfalfa pellets and 1-1.5 lbs of plain whole oats. I only have two on oats. Both are hard working horses and a bit too lazy. They need the extra energy and spunk oats has in them. The other 8 horses in my care only get alfalfa products.

This is a very healthy forage based diet that is easily digestible and covers all of my horses' needs. I do not trust what most feed companies put in their feed. "I" don't eat processed food, so I'm not going to feed it to my horses either. My alfalfa pellets have no other ingredients at all. My flax is just plain ground flax. My chopped alfalfa hay has a touch of molasses in it for binding, but very very little. You cannot feel it when you touch it (it feels dry) and you cannot smell it.

Purina is known for having totally different forumals for their feeds depending on where it was milled (they have mills all over the USA) and what ingredients are readily available and cheap (many are imported from overseas!!). There is no fixed formula for all of their feeds (or nearly so). Nutrena isn't any better. I would consider buying Triple Crown's 12% supplement or Progressive's grass supplement, but I don't have any dealers for either company in my area. They use a fixed formula and their supplements are highly concentrated feeds where you need only 1-2 lbs daily for full nutrition.

NSC = Non-Structural Carbohydrates. Horses need LOW NSC for the best health. 12% and below is best. Nutrena SafeChoice is about 23%.

This web site has a lot of the NSC levels for grains and hays, though they're just general numbers.
http://www.equi-analytical.com/CommonFeedProfiles/

Here's a good article on carbs in relation to equine nutrition.
Equus Caballus Magazine