Adding fat to the diet

[Charlotte]

Another good article on thehorse.com

horse diet

Pagan also cautioned that simply adding oil onto a grain mix might imbalance the nutrient:calorie ratio of the ration. He advised getting help from an equine nutritionist on how much oil can be safely added. Or, better yet, he recommended using a commercial feed that has been formulated both for growth and low glycemic response.

I thought this to be an especially interesting statement as we horse owners are constantly being bombarded with advice to add this or that to our horse's diet.

 

[disneyhorse]

Progressive Nutrition offers a high fat feed called Envision Classic that will add fat without diluting the overall nutritional profiles of your feed. Bonus: it smells like brownies.

 

[LindaL]

Purina Equine Senior Active Healthy Edge is a high fat/low carb pellet feed. My horses are doing awesome on it. They get this with soaked beetpulp/alfalfa cubes and hay.

 

[ThreeCFarm]

Progressive Nutrition offers a high fat feed called Envision Classic that will add fat without diluting the overall nutritional profiles of your feed. Bonus: it smells like brownies.

My husband calls Envision chocolate chips because of the way it looks. I never thought of it as smelling like brownies...

 

[Tab]

Just a note of caution in feeding fat to horses. Make sure the fat is plant derived. Feed companies sometimes add fat and protein by using animal byproducts and preserve them using petroleum-based preservatives (BHA/BHT/tBHQ). We were feeding a great pelleted feed at one time and they changed their formula to one with animal fat in it and got many complaints and changed it back. It did have a sweeter scent to it but it also looked like plastic due to the preservatives. Not only is animal fat harmful to an herbivore, the preservatives are probably equally as harmful.

 

[Matt73]

Just a note of caution in feeding fat to horses. Make sure the fat is plant derived. Feed companies sometimes add fat and protein by using animal byproducts and preserve them using petroleum-based preservatives (BHA/BHT/tBHQ). We were feeding a great pelleted feed at one time and they changed their formula to one with animal fat in it and got many complaints and changed it back. It did have a sweeter scent to it but it also looked like plastic due to the preservatives. Not only is animal fat harmful to an herbivore, the preservatives are probably equally as harmful.

That's disgusting. I'd love to know what company that was... I know that the hi fat supplement the company I tout would never do something like that and if they did I'd never buy their products again...EVER!

 

[mydaddysjag]

I know a lot of coat supplements are now using fish oil as a source of fat, as it is very high in omega 3's, which is thought to be the superior omega acid for horses. I would say using animal sources is actually more common than you would think

 

[rubyviewminis]

Not only is added animal fat gross, they cannot digest and absorb it as well as a vegetable oil. Just a side-note, I rescued a beautiful paint mare Thanksgiving weekend, she scored between 1 and 2. Vet had me start her (just for the fat energy) on 2 cups alfalfa pellets, 2 cups stabilized rice bran, and one cup of vegetable oil) after she had gotten used to 6 small grass hay meals a day, and all the water she wanted.F Fed this once a day, and of course she has other feeds and probiotics etc in her diet. Since it is so cold, she is blanketed and has done amazing on this additive.

Forgot to add she is a registered Paint, not a mini. We really didn't think she would survive her first night here, and she is an angel.

 

[Tab]

I know a lot of coat supplements are now using fish oil as a source of fat, as it is very high in omega 3's, which is thought to be the superior omega acid for horses. I would say using animal sources is actually more common than you would think

Exactly, and that is why we should always read labels. I take salmon oil but would I feed it to my horses? Absolutely not. I would consider flax, sunflower, even corn over fish oils and other animal-based products.