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Fats and Oils in the Horses Diet

Fats and Oils in the Diet of Horses

by Robert N. Oglesby DVM

Introduction

Introduction » Fats and Nutrition » Fats and Disease » Indications for Fat » How Much Fat? » Conversion Factors » How to Purchase » More Info & Discussions

Fats are an essential part of the nutrition of horses that have been pretty much ignored until recently. Fats consist of chains of carbon atoms strung together in various ways with two oxygen atom's at one end forming an organic acid, therefore these are called fatty acids. Fatty acids are produced by both plants and animals and they come in a number of configurations that effects the appearance, chemical properties, and nutritional value of the fat.

Depending on the length of these chains, how they are put together, the other atoms present, and most importantly the length of the chain they can be either liquids or solids at room temperature. Often the liquid form of fat is called "oils" and both belong to the larger family of chemicals called "lipids". We will use the term fat in this article to refer to all forms of dietary fatty acids.

Fats have 3 essential functions in the diet or metabolism of equines:
  • Aid in the absorption of the fat soluble vitamins (A,D,E,K) from the gut.
  • Essential fatty acids, the omega-3 and omega-6's, are required for the synthesis of some chemicals that the body needs for normal function.
  • A concentrated source of energy.
Surprisingly fat supplemented diets are also beneficial in several equine disease conditions and well tolerated in relatively high concentrations in the diet. This is surprising because horses have evolved as a grazing animal whose natural foodstuffs are very low in fats. This article discusses fat as a nutrient in the horses diet, diseases that may benefit from fat supplementation, and how to go about buying and supplementing the horses diet with fats.

Fats and Nutrition

Introduction » Fats and Nutrition » Fats and Disease » Indications for Fat » How Much Fat? » Conversion Factors » How to Purchase » More Info & Discussions

As already stated fats have 3 essential functions in the diet or metabolism of equines:
  • Aid in the absorption of the fat soluble vitamins (A,D,E,K) from the gut.
  • Essential fatty acids are required for the synthesis of some chemicals that the body needs for normal function.
  • And a increasingly important role if providing concentrated sources of energy.
The fat soluble vitamins require fats in order to be absorbed. Fortunately the amount of fat required to do this is very small and even grasses provide adequate fat for this job.

Fats as a Energy Source

Fats can be an important source of energy for horses. Historically hard working and/or hard keeping horses had their increased need for energy made up with starches, a rapidly digestible form of complex sugar, from grains like oats and corn. If not managed carefully, and sometimes even if it is, feeding high levels of starches has adverse consequences. Founder can be a consequence of too much starch in the diet as can the gradual development of insulin resistance leading to the condition known as Equine Metabolic Syndrome which predisposes to obesity and founder. There are also some individuals who cannot properly metabolize high levels of sugar in the diet. Fat supplemented diets makes meeting these energy needs easier and healthier.

Fats have roughly 2.5 times the energy content of carbohydrates or protein on a equal weight basis. Surprisingly for an animal that evolved on low fat forages, horses metabolize fats very well. When all other nutritional needs are met fats improve many metabolic functions compared to high starch diets, including digestive and muscle function.

The Essential Fatty Acids (EFA): Omega-3 and Omega-6

EFA's and Nutrition

There are some types of fatty acids that are substrates for producing chemicals in the horses body that have several diverse functions in the body. These fatty acid familys are referred to by the position of atom with the first double bond in the molecule. Both of these types of fatty acids belong to a family with several different fatty acids in each family but usually the two most important EFA are considered to be:
  • alpha-linolenic acid an omega-3 EFA
  • linoleic acid an omega-6 EFA
The reason they are called essential is that the body cannot produce them at least in species other than the horse. However the horse can convert linoleic (omega-6) to linolenic (omega-3) making only the omega 6 an essential fatty acid in the horse. In species other than horses EFA deficiencies are reported and symptoms are dry hair coat, scaly skin, and can effect reproduction and neonatal development adversely. If the deficiency persists hair loss, edema, and serum exudation from the skin may occur. These problems have never been observed in the horse. Attempts at inducing disease by feeding diets very low in linoleic acid for as long as 7 months were unable to induce disease. It is currently hypothesized that horses are able to store linoleic acid for very long periods of time and though a 0.5% concentration by weight is the recommended level in the diet of horses a much lower amount is probably required.

The common foodstuffs of horses contain adequate to large amounts of linoleic acid making symptoms secondary to deficiency very unlikely in the horse. For instance corn and safflower oil both contain over 50% linoleic acid by weight. Grasses provide between 1 and 4% of a combination of linoleic and alpha-linolenic fatty acids. Though you often see recommdations of supplementation of EFA's in horses with poor hair coats, this condition is much more likely to be due to:

Fats and Disease

Introduction » Fats and Nutrition » Fats and Disease » Indications for Fat » How Much Fat? » Conversion Factors » How to Purchase » More Info & Discussions

                       
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