One of the simplest and cheapest ways to add fat to your horse's diet is vegetable oil from the grocery store, which can be poured over his regular concentrate ration.
The majority are formulated with high fat content in addition to vitamins, amino acids, minerals and other nutrients that support maintaining and building muscle. Adding vegetable oil purchased from the grocery store is one of the most cost effective and easiest ways to supplement fat in your horse's feed ration.
Almost all performance horses have some type of fat added to their diet, whether it is a slug of corn oil, a scoop of rice bran, a handful of linseed or a commercial high fat feed. Traditionally, fat was added to give the coat a healthy shine.
Speedi-Beet is extremely versatile. Feed it in small amounts to overweight horses as a carrier for a multivitamin and mineral supplement or in larger quantities to a poor doer for weight gain, or to a working horse for energy.
Answer. Adding vegetable oil, such as canola oil, is a useful way to boost the caloric density of your horse's diet without significantly increasing his feed intake. Another fat source to consider is stabilized rice bran, a high-fat supplement that is often pelleted.
Horses are also unique in that they do not have a gall bladder. This makes high fat diets hard to digest and utilize. Horses can digest up to 20 % fat in their diet, but it takes a span of 3 to 4 weeks for them to adjust. Normal horse rations contain only 3 to 4 % fat.
Embrace Animal Fats
So, eat the chicken thighs, eat the bone-in steak, eat the pork shoulder and eat the bacon. Enjoy some chicken skin, slice it into a fatty roast, or perhaps even try some “off” cuts or organ meats.
Fat should make up 2-3% of a horse's daily diet. Fat is an extremely important, safe and efficient energy source for performance horses- without fat in their diet they just will not have the energy to do the job for you.
Feedstuffs high in fat include vegetable oils (100%), rice bran (15-18%), flax seeds (30-40%), and heat-treated soybeans (15-22%). In addition, commercially available fat-added concentrates typically contain 5–14% crude fat.
Building a strong topline requires careful attention to your horse's diet and proper feeding management. Incorporating quality forage, cool energy in the form of protein and fat, and exercises to engage the horse's back muscles are key to getting your horse's topline dialed in.
There is a longstanding unofficial rule of thumb that a horse should bear no more than 20 per cent of its body weight, including rider and equipment.
The quality of the oil fed (it should be human-grade) is more important than type, with corn, rapeseed and linseed all being suitable options. Regardless of the type of oil you choose, speak to a nutritionist before feeding more than 100ml/day to ensure your horse's diet provides a sufficient level of vitamin E.”
Sunflower oil is a calorie-dense fat source with an omega-3 to omega-6 ratio of 1:40. It provides energy for performance horses and hard-keepers to support weight gain.
Benefit 2 – Sugar-Free Calories
Digestion of canola oil yields 2.25 more calories than any other ingredient in the horse's diet. Thus, adding canola oil increases the calorie content of the premium chopped products, resulting in less product required to maintain the desired weight of the horse.
Animal fats can be found in various products such as by-products of meat (carcass fat of cattle and pigs, tallow, lard), by-products of fish caught (fish oil), milk (milk fat, butter fat) and accessorily poultry and eggs.
Oils can be introduced at a rate of 30 ml per day and increased to 100 – 200 ml per day based on caloric need. Fat should not exceed 8% in the total equine diet.
Effects of Fish Oil in Horses
Feeding DHA and EPA can support numerous benefits in horses, including promoting skin and coat health, enhancing joint comfort and improving performance. Fat is a denser energy source compared to carbohydrates and is metabolized more efficiently.
“There are no real negatives to feeding a high-fat diet except the possibility of feeding too many calories,” said Olivia Martin of Performance Feeding. “Feeding a horse to be overweight can trigger other problems such as metabolic disorders and unneeded stress on joints and other structures.
I particularly avoid using wheat oil and oat oil (no matter that some products claim special processing – it's still wheat oil or oat oil), corn oil, hemp oil, rice bran oil, soya oil, olive oil and sunflower oil for horses with or prone to gastric ulcers, loose droppings, colic, respiratory or skin disease.
Improve digestion and balance PH levels in your horse
ACV can work as a natural anti-biotic, and can discourage parasites and water-borne diseases. Apple Cider Vinegar also contains anti-oxidants, which are vital to protect the horse's body from free radicals which can cause a lot of damage.
Sources Of Fat
The use of unsaturated oils (vegetable oil) is the preferred method of fat supplementation. Common vegetable oils fed to horses include corn, soybean, canola, and rice oil. These sources are each 100% fat.
I did some research to help me decide which type of oil is best for them. I was surprised to find many people who say that vegetable oil is bad for horses because it contains high levels of omega-6 fatty acids. Instead, they recommended feeding horses flaxseed or fish oils, which are higher in omega-3s.