Page 17 - The Game August 2006

Your Thoroughbred Racing Community Newspaper The Game, August 2006 17
Hulless Oats:The Rest of the Story
By Dan Irwin
Hulless (naked) oats are selected to be loose-hulled so that the hull falls off at harvest, and have been offered up as an exciting alternative feed for the high-energy demands of the racing Thoroughbred.
To be sure, there are some obvious benefits to removing the largely indigestible hull from regular oats. The digestible energy content of the oat is increased significantly (as much as 25% according to some growers), as are the protein and fat contents.
What this means is that if you are feeding oats as a source of energy, the horse will receive perhaps 25% more useable energy per pound fed than from conventional oats. However, there are some other factors that may negate the benefits of hulless oats, and trainers should be aware of them before dipping too deeply into that bag of naked oats.
First of all, oats in themselves are not nutritionally balanced if you look at recent research. Without additional minerals and vitamins, hulless oats come up short on some important nutrients such as copper, zinc, selenium, sodium, and vitamins A, D, and E. Properly balanced complete feeds will have these nutrients in adequate amounts at reasonable cost without the need for separate supplements.
Secondly, and probably most importantly, performance horses need and receive energy from different sources in properly balanced complete feeds. Balanced feeds such as Phase lll (and others) complement the different muscle types in the horse's propulsion system by supplying digestible energy from starch, but also from soluble fibre and fat. In fact, the trend in many performance rations is to limit the starch content for reasons I will outline. Hulless oats fly right in the face of such sound feeding practices.
The quality of the fibre and fat sources is very important. For example, omega-3 fatty acids found in Flax Appeal have benefits related to circulation, control of inflammation and muscle fatigue. Better quality fibre supplies useable energy in a safe and calm form. Conversely, the energy in hulless oats comes overwhelming- ly from starch with some from fat and a minimal contribution from fibre.
My major concern with hulless oats is that while you do increase the energy and fat content over conventional oats, you also increase the level of dietary starch in the ration dramatically. This can be worrisome in several ways in that it could negatively affect the horse's temperament; make it more prone to laminitis, colic, and tying up; and possibly exacerbate susceptibility to ulcers. To avoid these problems, many feeds to-day have reduced starch levels.
In terms of cost, when you consider that you will need to add a supplement to compensate for the lack of a com- plete balance of minerals and vitamins, there is little incentive from a dollar-saving point of view in favour of hulless oats.
Am I being unfair and overlooking the benefits attributed to hulless oats? Admittedly, those of us who represent feed manufacturers have a built-in bias against simplistic methods of feeding. However, many hours of research have provided guidelines for the formulation of performance horse rations
that simple solutions such as hulless oats overlook.
That being said, I think hulless oats or conventional oats can be part of your ration, but consider the following suggestions.
1/ Do not depend on oats alone as your main concen- trate.
2/ Keep in mind that feeding oats dilutes the balance of minerals and vitamins in complete feeds.
3/ Conventional oats have long been the standard grain in complete feeds for a reason. They're effective, safe and well accepted by horses.
4/ In order to avoid ulcers, feed several times daily and limit concentrate feeds to 5 pounds or less at one feeding. Supply forage as often as possible.
5/ Avoid high-starch rations, particularly hulless oats, for horses that have had problems with tying up.
6/ Avoid hulless oats in rations for growing horses. OCD is directly related to high-starch rations.
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