I know this subject has been touched on lightly on a few other posts, but I was wondering what grains people feed their horses that are not considered a sweet feed. I would like to get my horses away from high carbs and suguars, but still give them a high quality feed along with their hay/pasture. 

I have heard that beet pult is quite good for them. Do any of you feed it? Anyway, would love to hear some insight on this subject.

Try this site. Alot of info http://ohioline.osu.edu/b762/b762_16.html

On the chart for nutrient contents for feed stuff (table 5), that is dry matter basis only, not as fed.

One thing to remember, all starches and sugars are carbohydrates, but not all carbohydrates are sugars or starches.

Here is an interesting link - it only goes over a couple of brand names, but is useful nonetheless.

How Sweet is your horse feed? http://www.horses-and-horse-information.com/articles/0203_how_sweet.shtml

Interesting link Kickshaw44 brought up. let it be known that i'm not condeming his product, never used it or heard of it before. just a good sales pitch.

nonstructual carbohydrates-aka as simple, soluble,and hydrogonized carbohydrates are broken down in the small intestines by enzymes and absorbed into the blood stream as glucose.

structual carbohydrates-aka as complex, insoluble,and fermented carbohydrates are broken down by fermatation in the large intestines as Voltile Fatty Acids. Of these VFA's only "propionate" is used for glucose.

I find it interesting this was not mentioned

Ditto. I use the same feed.  Low carbs ect.  Good quality food.

I don't believe in giving my horses grain. I give it to my lactating mares. I use a little as a treat once in a great while. For the most part my horses just eat a good hay. I do use beet pulp, I think it broadens the vitamin and mineral intake beyond what hay offers.

Beet pulp is a good product. It contains more calories than hay, yet is very fermentable and highly digestable by horses. It doesn't produce the sugar high of grain product. 10 lbs of beet pulp contains about the same sugar as a couple of apples. Many commercial feed contain beet pulp as a major ingrediant. some horses gobble it right up, others may turn their nose up at first, but will develop a taste for it in a few days.

I feed beet pulp soaked most of the time. It's not neccessary to soak it first. Horses can chew the pellets, and the rumur of it swelling in the stomach and causing problems just isn't true.  My horses won't always drink when I want them to. But they will almost always eat beet pulp. So I use it to add water to my horse prior to long rides. I also soak it in hot water in the the winter and use it to add water to horses that are not drinking much in cold weather. It's also a great way to add other supplements to a horses diet. For example electrolytes before an endurance ride. I just stir them right in.

You didn't say why you wanted to avoid high sugar products. If you are trying to control or maintain weight, then Oils and Fats are not what you want. Oils/Fats are high calories. They help produce sustained energy. Where grains produce a sugar high for 20 minutes and then several hours of lows. Distance riders who are trying to keep a horse going for 6-8-10 hours want to avoid the highs and lows. Oils & fats  work well for this. Providing concentrated calories without producing a Hot Horse.  Gradually add oil to a horses diet. Top dress his hay or add to his beet pulp. Work up to a cup a day. Be careful not to let your oil go rancid.

Some high performance commercial feeds contain fats. Purina Athlete, Nutrena Empower etc. Depending on the makers, the fat often comes from stabilized Rice Bran. Which allows you to store the fat without it going rancid. Especially when stored in a hot shed in the summer.

Here is a great web site about horse nutrition in general and Beet Pulp.

http://shady-acres.com/susan/beetpulp.shtml

She comes from an endurance back ground and teaches equine nutrition.