Equine nutrition?

Appreciate the two answers, here's a little more background, none of the North American grasses are conventional here in Panama, example Timothy, Alfalfa, Brome, Clover. Some grasses are being imported from Africa. As mentioned before we have high heat in 30 celsius range and also high levels of humidity. Also grains such as oats do not grow here, or sugar beets. Of course we have sugar cane,mangos, lots of corn and rice Prepackaged supplements that come out of Europe and North America are far and in between. But the prices on the ones I saw, are dictated by some extent to the oat content. I would like to put on about 100 to 150 pounds on four year old stallion, but safely. It seems that we have high incidences of colic here. Which I would like to investigate a little more closely.

Rice bran is exactly what it says "BRAN" and basically a laxative. For a colic preventative, I feed red wheat flakey bran twice a week and "knock on wood" haven't had a colic issue in nearly 40 years (Last colicy horse I had was in 1970.). I mix about 1.5 LBS of bran with enough hot water to allow it to swell with the barley corn.

Okay, now you've got corn, that is a definate HEAT/weight feed. Can you get it in a rolled corn? I feed barley corn (rolled) so that it's easier to digest for the horse, whole kernels aren't.

I also feed a 1/2 Cup of Corn Oil and Apple cider vinegar. The corn oil for coat and the vinegar to dissolve the minerals that horses pick up in water and I've been told it also helps with flies, but haven't really seen any difference myself.

Oats are for ENERGY, NOT weight. I would start at a pound of rolled corn with the oil and vinegar, then gradually increase it to 3 lbs.

what types of feed are availabe to you? Rice bran, beet pulp, soybean or corn oil, flaxseed (in oil or ground form) are all good weight gainers. you can find a lot of info online about equine nutrition, even on the feed sites (Triplecrown feeds, Purina, Nutrenaworld, etc) & try to work w/what you have available.

Colic is most most often caused by incorrect diet. If a horse is getting proper feed in proper amounts and his system is not shocked by suddenly being on dry hay after green pasture etc then colic is not as likely. The high incidence of colic there is most likely due to the horses not eating properly. If a horse is recieving a good quality grass hay or is on good pasture then he doesn't necessarily need grain. Corn is NOT a good feed for horses, it can be used as a filler in some commercial feed mixes but should not be fed as a complete feed.
Can you get Lucerne hay? It grows in Africa and from what I've heard is a very good hay.

A horses diet should consist of lots of good hay or pasture, good clean water, grain is optional and not 100% necessary.

Can you get your hands on some rice bran? Rice bran is GREAT for putting weight on a horse. It has a higher fat content than any other feed, and you can feed it to them in bulk without having to worry about colic. It is about the only thing I've found that can put and keep weight on my 18 year old TB mare. For weight gain, I have to feed 6lbs of it a day mixed with 6lbs of Senior (a "complete feed" common in the USA).

However, rice bran can have a mineral imbalance, so if you feed more than about 2 pounds of it, you should make sure a horse's diet is supplemented with a mineral block and/or a complete feed (if you can get your hands on one).

I don't think the temperatures or humidity should be an issue when feeding rice bran. Sounds like your only problem could be finding some.

I bet the high colic incidence is from two things: dehydration or feeds. Colic is much more common in the summer when horses don't consume enough water or ample water isn't available to them. Also feeding something iwth too many carbohydrates causes colic. "Hot" feeds like corn and oats will do this, and since that's what you have around there (the corn, anyway), I bet people just overfeed them.

Good luck!