Nutrition

Nutrition

Fats

Basic Information image

Overview and Goal(s)

• A high-fat diet is a disaster if you are planning your own diet, but potentially beneficial for many types of horses.

• Research has established many benefits of feeding fat.

• Benefits of a high-fat diet include:

image Increasing energy content of the diet
image Enhanced body condition in thin horses
image Diminished excitability, and increased oxidative capacity in performance horses
image As a carrier for the fat-soluble vitamins

• What is fat?

image Fats (lipids) fed to horses are triglycerides.
image Triglycerides consist of three fatty acids and a glycerol molecule.
image Chemical structure of the fatty acids determines if the fat is saturated or unsaturated.
image Saturated fats (tallow/lard) are solids at room temperature.
image Unsaturated fats (vegetable oil) are liquids at room temperature.
image Examples: corn oil, soybean oil, canola oil
image The location of double bonds within the fatty acid is used to identify omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids.
image Omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids have different fates within the body.
image Research is ongoing to determine the proper amount and ratio of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids need to be in the diet.

• Sources of fat

image Saturated animal fat is not typically fed to horses.
image Unsaturated fat (vegetable oil) is primarily supplemented in horse diets.
image Common vegetable oil sources include:
image Corn oil, soybean oil, rice oil, and canola oil
image Vegetable oil is 100% fat.
image Other common fat sources fed to horses include:
image Spray dried vegetable fat (99% fat)
image Stabilized rice bran (20% fat)
image Horse feed supplemented with fat (6%–12% fat)
image Each fat source is palatable given the horse has been slowly adapted to the fat source.
image Fish oil is high in omega-3 fatty acids but is less palatable.
image Fish oils can be more palatable with a slow adaptation period.

• Is fat digestible?

image Unsaturated vegetable oil is highly digestible, in excess of 95% digestible by horses.
image Vegetable oil is digested in the small intestine.
image Horses can digest large amounts of vegetable oil, up to 20% of the diet.

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Jul 24, 2016 | Posted by in SMALL ANIMAL | Comments Off on Nutrition

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