Common oils fed to horses include soybean, corn, rapeseed, fish and flaxseed. The quality of the fat used is important in equine nutrition. Flaxseed oil is high omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and has a good ratio of omega-6 to omega-3. However, excess intake of polyunsaturated fatty acids may increase the risk of oxidation reactions, which can lead to imbalances and oxidative stress, which can be harmful for the horse.

Drs. Iwona Sembratowicz, Grzegorz Zięba, Ewelina Cholewinska and Anna Czech wanted to test if supplementing a horse's diet with flaxseed oil reduced oxidative stress and positively influenced blood biomarkers.

The scientists used 40 healthy horses in the study: 20 mares and 20 stallions. The horses were divided into two similar groups; they were stalled separately and kept in light work. All horses received hay and oats with a ration balancer in their morning feed. Both sets of horses were orally administered oil via a syringe after their morning meal: The control group received soybean oil and the experimental group received the same amount of flaxseed oil.

After 60 days, blood was drawn before the horses ate breakfast. The study team found that the horses fed flaxseed oil had better lipid profiles, improved blood parameters and better antioxidant mechanisms than those horses that were given soybean oil. The flaxseed also significantly lowered plasma glucose levels and increased antioxidant indices and red blood cell indicators.

The scientists concluded that switching a horse from soybean oil to flaxseed oil was beneficial to its health.

Read the study here.

Read more at HorseTalk.

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