What feeds make a horse "hot"?

I have heard that protein percentage is what makes horses hot. Also that oats and corn do the same thing. Any insight? I feed Nutrina Complete and Compete pellets, but if I add sweet feed, woo hoo! I'm thinking about whats safe to add in the winter to keep the weight without the wild.

What feeds make a horse "hot"?
My Boss which is a Large animal vet adds a cup of canola oil in with their grain. To put on some nice winter weight.
Reply:Fro what I heard a low forage high sugar pellet type food is was makes horses "hot" never heard anything about excess protien.
Reply:Horses can live on grass and hay. Sweet feed should be about 7 percent and in moderation. The horse could founder on too much food! Never sugar and apples in moderation also. Get some info online. Do you have a pasture or is it in the barn all the time. You need hay. Horses will eat sweet feed till they're sick and then you gotta problem.
Reply:corn oil, alfalfa pellets,
Reply:It sounds like you have a good program going with what you have now. I personally hate to feed sweet feed because no two horses react the same way to it. You also run the risk of having founder issues if they get too much of it. I reccomend that you stick with what you have and add some extra fat to it in the form of oil (canola or corn oil are great for this) If you are worried about winter weight the only other thing I reccomend is beet pulp. I used shredded beet pulp soaked in water mixed in with my grain for my TB mare I had. She was a hard keeper and this was the only way I could get weight on her with out all the hyperness. I found that this works well for older horses as well. Just make sure that you wet it down completely bevcause it swells when it is wet and if you dont it could cause serious problems for your horse.
Reply:If I put my guys on Oats they are pingin' off the walls. Naughty little buggers! They don't get hot like a TB...they don't jig and dance but they do think about how to crowd eachother and bicker...sometimes forgetting I'm there with them. I have to stay alert and keep them in line.


Oats always makes my guys wicked fat too.


Sweet still induces a slight naughtiness but not too bad. They get lots of plaque with the sweet feed and my gelding plumps up severe.





When in NH where it was cold...I fed a sweet mix but added half a bag of rolled oats to every 2 bags of sweet. This kept the sweet from freezing.
Reply:Corn will make a horse hot


But you can feed all the oats that you want all day long every day as much as you want and it will not harm the horse. Oats are a grass, unlike alfalfa(lagume) corn(grain) ect. Oats are a natural feed for horses that they would find in the wild. Now prossessed sugar will make a horse "high". Molsasses will not. I hope I helped. But when you add the sweet feed it is like giving a 6 y/o 15 pixy sticks makes them hyper.
Reply:Now if you mean have a LOT of energy, any feed with OATS will do it. I typically have QHs that are running bred and TBs so I want weight, but not the HEAT of Excess energy, so I feed rolled barley corn. When I have a horse who needs a LOT of weight, I dump a 50 lb bag of ground alfafa and molasses litterally FREE feed the A%26amp;M to them. I also mix into the 3LB coffee can of Barley Corn 1/2 C of corn oil and 1/2 C of apple cider vinegar.
Reply:From what I know/think is anything high in sugar. Its just like a little kid with candy lol
Reply:You're right--oats and corn do have a lot of calories, which will tend to make a horse "hot." How is he normally tempered? Our horses get sweet feed through the winter, but I never notice them being more energetic than normal...however, they are outside most of the time.. It would be obvious that if they are being pumped full of high-calorie feeds and left in a stall all day (or close to all day), then they are going to be waaay more energetic. So, I'd feed whatever you think is going to benefit your horse. If all else fails, ask your vet for his recommendation, or even an equine nutritionist. If he is outside most of the time, then he's going to be able to burn off any of the energy that high-calorie feeds will give him, so you probably won't notice him being "hot."