corn in horse feed?

[finolover]

my feed has cracked corn, sorghum, oats ...biotin, soy oil, blah, ect..
just because it has corn in it the neighbor lady (dressage instructor)
says it's bad for horses...what you guys say....????

[PASOFAN]

No not BAD at all. We have corn in ours too. I cant remember the nutient it gives, energy or fat I cant remember. Sorry I guess I am not much help. But I wouldnt say it is bad..

[SandyMM]

There are too many websites to list, but if you google corn in horse feed - you'll find lots of opinions...

[GeorgeGuns]

My standpoint in general is that cereal grains have little place in a horse's diet HOWEVER:
If a horse is not insulin resistant prone (easy keeper but not given to obesity) or growing, or in harder work, corn is fine. Yes it is higher in simple sugars (bad) but its also a good source of natural vegetable source fat. I'd rather see corn in feed than oats, barley, or wheat. Soy is a legume, higher in protien, does have some natural estrogen - I think this may help some arthritic horses, just a guess, no supportive study. Legumes aren't meant to be a huge part of a horse's diet either, but in general they are not as sugar toxic as cereal grains.

LOL - I got to taste some "toasted" soy beans the other day when a client was showing me her feed room. YUUUUUMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!

[Abejita]

the grocery store (weis) carries them...salted..bbQue and I think spicy...Plus the fancy farm market down the road carries them..

I bet if your fancy dressage lady looks at the ingredients on her pelleted feed it contains corn...

[Candice Burger]

Corn contains fat, carbohydrates and protein. All grains do. How they are categorized is a matter of what is the main nutrient offered. Grains are considered a concentrated source of carbohydrates mainly. Corn has the advantages of providing energy in a more bio-available way than other grains because it contains mostly simple starches.

The disadvantage of corn (and other grains) is overloading the hindgut with partially digested foods. The fermentation process continues in the hindgut causing digestive upset leading to colic, laminitis, etc.

Corn is not "bad". I really hate these faddish diets. We humans are so obsessive with our eating that now our poor animals must follow our lead. Horses with Cushings or Insulin resistant will have problems with corn because corn contains simple starches and simple starches are much easier to digest and get into the bloodstream causing a peaked glycogen response. Other grains do the SAME thing except their digestion is slower and less likely to cause a spike in the blood chemistry. Search for "glycemic index" to see the different responses to grains.

Sorghum is a grain in the millet family and acceptable for horse feed. In the southeastern area, brown top millet, a sorghum, is sometimes grown as a summer annual crop to replace grazing when the grasses become dormant during hot weather. It is not a legume but a cereal plant, soy or soybean is a legume plant that is a good source of high quality protein. You will never find soybean offered to horses because it contains an trypsin inhibitor that inhibits the enzyme trypsin from breaking down proteins in the gut. Soybeans must be "cooked" to destroy the inhibitor. Soy oil and soy bean meal are perfectly safe to feed because the extraction process destroys the enzyme.

For gosh sakes, when someone says something is "bad" or "good" ask them to explain themselves. I don't feed corn to a geriatric mare because she doesn't chew as well as she should and she has foundered. But if I run short of her feed, I will feed her the mix I make that does contain corn for a day or two. I also don't feed more than 3-5 lbs a day and the rest is forage. So, it all told the corn won't hurt any of my horses UNLESS they have a health issue that corn may exasberate.

Feeding corn is like any concentrated feed source. Determine your horse's needs, what his work load is, what your management is and adjust accordingly. Feeding corn can be "good" or "bad" depending on the needs.

Here's a nice article that sums it up
http://animalscience.tamu.edu/ansc/publications/horsepubs/hrg011-feedstuffs.pdf

I agree with Coreen, no grain is the best way to go. If a horse can get all it needs through forage, it is much better for the horse.

[Nito]

Feeding pure corn is bad. Almost lost a horse cause of it. Vet said the corn ferments and causes bunch of bacteria if they are unfortunate they will most likely colic.

[finolover]

my feed
rolled corn
whole oats
soybean meal
cane molasses
soy oil refinery lipid/feed grade
a host of sulfates, phosphates..ect
vitamins/ minerals
and biotin
local MFA feed stores special blend...$11.95 per hundred
the horses have been on it for two months and really let me know when they want fed....if i could just get quito's main and tail growing ...it's short, course, and wiry..ultimo's is long silky and nice...maybe genetics?