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Fats and Oils in the Diet of Horses
by Robert N. Oglesby DVM
Introduction
Introduction
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Fats and Nutrition
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Fats and Disease
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Indications for Fat
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How Much Fat?
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Conversion Factors
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How to Purchase
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More Info
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.
~Word Count: 3290 words (The average magazine page contains about 600 words);
~Last Updated: May 28, 2008;
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Discussions on Fats and Oils in the Diet of Horses
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Subtopics |
Posts |
Updated |
 | Corn? Canola? Flax? Which is Best? | 1 | 28 | Jun 20, 08 |
 | Research Summary: Dietary Fat and Energy Metabolism | 1 | 2 | Apr 30, 08 |
 | Converting Omega 6 to 3...the story continues | 1 | 7 | Apr 29, 08 |
 | Research Summary: Effects of Fatty Acid supplemention on blood levels | 1 | 1 | Jan 17, 08 |
 | Quanitity of Flax Oil to help with COPD | 1 | 6 | Nov 8, 07 |
 | Black Oil Sunflower Seeds and increase in osteoarthritis | 1 | 17 | Dec 29, 06 |
 | Adding corn oil to feed | 1 | 24 | Apr 5, 06 |
 | Oil for a fat horse? | 1 | 64 | Aug 17, 05 |
 | No Gall Bladder, No Benefit from Fat | 1 | 11 | May 7, 05 |
 | Whole vs. ground flax? | 1 | 2 | Feb 14, 05 |
 | Hemp Seed Oil | 1 | 4 | Sep 21, 04 |
 | BOSS/Flax | 1 | 4 | Apr 13, 04 |
 | Cocoa-soy? | 1 | 3 | Apr 5, 04 |
 | Can horses eat Olive Oil safely? | 1 | 2 | Sep 17, 03 |
 | Supplement for Dry Skin? | 1 | 12 | Jul 27, 03 |
 | Buying dry fat supplements | 1 | 5 | Mar 17, 05 |
 | Whole flax seed fed to pregnant mares? | 1 | 2 | Jan 11, 03 |
 | Sunflower seeds as fat/oil source | 1 | 3 | Sep 11, 02 |
 | EPSM Diet | 1 | 13 | Sep 2, 02 |
 | Corn oil vs. flax | 1 | 4 | Jun 7, 02 |
 | "Stabilized" rice bran vs. regular rice bran | 1 | 4 | Jan 14, 02 |
 | Flax | 1 | 16 | Jan 3, 02 |
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