{"id":144688,"date":"2010-01-06T10:32:19","date_gmt":"2010-01-06T15:32:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/askthevet.smartpak.com\/?p=697"},"modified":"2010-01-06T10:32:19","modified_gmt":"2010-01-06T15:32:19","slug":"the-truth-about-feeding-horses-corn-oil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/144688","title":{"rendered":"The Truth about Feeding Horses Corn Oil"},"content":{"rendered":"

My horse has a dull coat and could stand to gain some weight, so my trainer suggested adding corn oil to his grain, for extra fat. But I\u2019ve read recently that corn oil actually isn\u2019t that good for horses \u2013 is that true?\u00a0 I\u2019m confused! Thanks for your help, JR, Maine<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dear JR,<\/p>\n

Adding fat to your horse\u2019s diet is a great way to add calories for weight gain and essential fatty acids to improve the coat.\u00a0 But you\u2019re correct that using corn oil isn\u2019t the right way to go about it.\u00a0 In fact, you might be doing more harm than good!<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because all fats are not created equal.\u00a0 Corn oil contains almost all Omega 6 fatty acids\u2014generally pro-inflammatory\u2014and very little of the anti-inflammatory Omega 3 fatty acids that have so many health benefits.\u00a0 While our bodies need both types, keeping the proper balance between the two is important.\u00a0 For horses, experts feel that a ratio somewhere in the range of one part Omega 6 to two parts Omega 3 (a 1:2 ratio) or even a 1:4 ratio is ideal.\u00a0 However, our methods of modern horse keeping have shifted the balance by restricting access to Omega 3-rich fresh grass while providing feed high in Omega 6 fatty acids such as grain-based concentrates.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To help you better understand where these two types of essential fatty acids come from and how the balance easily becomes skewed towards the pro-inflammatory Omega 6 side, here\u2019s a chart of the Omega 6 to Omega 3 ratios in some common horse feeds:
\n\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Feed<\/strong><\/td>\nOmega 6:Omega 3<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Pasture <\/em><\/td>\n1:5, good<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Commercial, fortified grain<\/td>\n8:1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Whole grains: oats, corn, barley, wheat, rice<\/td>\n24:1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Vegetable oils: corn, sunflower<\/td>\n87:1, 199:1!<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Vegetable oils: canola, soybean<\/td>\n3:1, 7:1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Flax seed<\/em><\/td>\n1:4, good<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Fish oil (includes the specific Omega 3s EPA & DHA)<\/em><\/td>\nVirtually all Omega3!<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a perfect world, we\u2019d all keep our horses turned out on green grass for its benefits to the body as well as the mind!\u00a0 But since that\u2019s not realistic for most people, just try to feed as little grain and grain oil as possible to avoid filling your horse with pro-inflammatory Omega 6 fatty acids\u2014instead use a multi-vitamin\/mineral supplement or ration balancer to fill any nutritional gaps from your forage.\u00a0 Then if you want to add fat for extra calories or a shiny coat, use flax seed or fish oil and fill your horse with healthy, anti-inflammatory Omega 3 fatty acids!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My horse has a dull coat and could stand to gain some weight, so my trainer suggested adding corn oil to his grain, for extra fat. But I\u2019ve read recently that corn oil actually isn\u2019t that good for horses \u2013 is that true?\u00a0 I\u2019m confused! Thanks for your help, JR, Maine\u00a0 Dear JR, Adding fat […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":137,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-144688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/137"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144688"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144688\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=144688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=144688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}