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The question remains, why feed concentrates at all in winter, when one of the 
primary goals is to level out the digestion process and to maximize the hindgut 
fermentation process, which runs on forages?  While oats do have a high fiber 
content, they still are nowhere near like forages.  And when feeding 
concentrates, one messes with the glucose and insulin curves, just like in an 
endurance ride, where in order to best utilize concentrates, one must keep 
feeding small amounts at frequent intervals.  I dunno about you, but when I'm 
snug in my bed at 2 a.m. when it is below zero outside, I have no great desire 
to get up and feed my horse another small concentrate meal to bump up his blood 
sugar.  I'd far rather have fed him a big mess of good hay at sundown, and he 
probably would rather have the "steady state" heat as well.

Keep in mind that one of the big "disadvantages" of alfalfa in the endurance 
horse is the fact that it contains a lot of extra protein, and that the 
chemical bonds in protein contain a lot of energy that is released as heat in 
the digestive process.  This provides extra core body heat that an active 
endurance horse on a hot summer day has to get rid of along with the body heat 
produced by work--not an advantageous scenario.  But this "disadvantage" in 
competition is a HUGE advantage to the horse whose main concern is how to keep 
warm.  And, like general fermentation in the hindgut, this is a "steady state" 
sort of process, kind of like when we used to put the big old green log on the 
fire at bedtime when I was a kid, and it would still be a big hunk of hot coals 
in the morning.  By comparison, feeding concentrates is kind of like burning 
nothing but kindling in the fireplace--it burns real nice, but it is quickly 
burned up, and if you want to heat the whole house with it, you have to sit 
right there by the fire and keep adding it.

Best deal in the winter is to leave the concentrates at the feed store, look at 
the quality of grass and alfalfa hay available to you, have the best possible 
grass hay you can buy in front of them 24/7, and supplement as necessary with 
alfalfa, depending on quality of both the alfalfa and the grass and on the 
ambient temperature.  When the temps go down, the alfalfa goes up.

Heidi

> 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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