Actually, I haven’t, so thank you for that tip. Mine loves apples, but does not like peppermint alone, but perhaps he would eat this. Thank you, again.
@Alibhai_s_Alibar thought you might be interested in this post
Thank you OP for posting this- just ordered some to see if it helps my mare
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Good point! I hadn’t considered how the size of the dose would affect calorie load. I am reassured to see that you and others are feeding these oils to your easy keepers without ill-effects, because I really do think that there’s good evidence out there for the benefits of Omega-3s in Cushings horses. My mare is in full work so perhaps I should just bite the bullet and give it a shot. The Contribute seems good quality and fairly priced.
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The Contribute arrived. If anyone wants it, you may have it for the shipping price to you. It was a GIANT nope for the pony and, to me, it has a “sickly sweet” odor- sort of like Georgio perfume, if anyone remembers that. It was worth a try though.
I may try the EO3 …
My asthma horse eats HorseTech’s Profile, which is flax, chia, and marine DHA with fenugreek flavor. I also wound up making my own when I got a big bag of fishy smelling DHA on its own that he wouldn’t touch, after discovering he would eat Profile. It’s all granulated/ground so easy to feed. Not great for ones they eat a mash as of course all of that turns to goo. Would do ok mixed with not too soupy beet pulp or something of that nature at the last minute.
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Thank you for sharing this.
I was feeding flax for years (I tried freshly ground, Triple Crown Golden Flax and even whole flax all in varying amounts) and for one of my horses it never seemed to make a difference with her flaky skin. A few months ago I switched her to the EO-3 and within weeks her flaky skin was completely cleared up and her coat looks much shinier and softer. She’s a smaller horse and I feed just one ounce once a day.
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I order EO-3 and, despite UPS throwing the package in the ditch in the pouring rain instead of actually delivering it to me grrrr, and started my mare on it this weekend. I’ve been putting it on her Safe Starch chopped hay and she loves it- fingers crossed it helps
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If you still have the Contribute I am interested.
Thanks
I do. I only used 1 dose out of the jug.
Updating this thread to share I tried CocoOmega. My very difficult horse will eat it. The fish oil source says anchovy, as an FYI.
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I have been successfully feeding KER EO3 oil to several of my horses -ranging from picky Tb’s , some wb’s and a Friesian …no problems at all with palatability…,I like it for the concentrated amounts of DHA &EPA and significantly lower volume for feeding rate as low as 30mls(1ounce)
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I’m looking to add fish oil to my horses’ diets for joint support and to help prevent ulcers (vet had recommended corn oil for ulcers but I’m concerned about the Omega 6 levels + Dr. Sykes mentioned on his recent webinar that marine-based oils are better).
Just curious if there’s a reason for not just giving fish oil gel caps? Seems like that would be a safer bet to avoid any funky taste from liquid versions and possibly cheaper (I’m still trying to figure out what the daily dose should be–seems like ~2oz may be the recommendation).
The one study on corn oil and ulcers was very flawed and does not show that corn oil helps ulcers in any way
taste, mostly
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The one study on corn oil and ulcers was very flawed and does not show that corn oil helps ulcers in any way
Oh, that’s good to know. I did a quick google search and found the MadBarn article that said something like corn oil could help, but haven’t had time to dig up the study itself.
Have you seen anything to indicate that marine/fish oils can help with ulcers in addition to inflammation generally?
taste, mostly
I would’ve thought gel caps would be easier taste wise. My horses are good with gel caps but hit or miss with powders and liquids.
this study looked at GLA (an Omega 6 that behaves more like an Omega 3), EPH and DHA (found in marine omega 3) and ulcers
Plant-based Omega 3 is ALA, which is almost all inefficiently broken down into the EPA and DHA the body needs
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Thanks! That’s really helpful.
Would this be the flawed study on corn oil that you referenced: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15320596/ (looks like they only tested 4 ponies and there was no control group)
That’s the one!
4 ponies. No control group. No scoping. No randomized order of treatment. Just overall poor design.
In contrast, this study looked at a larger amount of rice bran oil and corn oil, and found neither had any positive impact on gastric ulcer formation. Worse, they found gastric pH significantly decreased, and squamous ulcers significantly increased in both number and severity
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Well, now that I have confirmation on the efficacy of fish oil vs plant-based options, wanted to share my research around what to buy in case this saves someone else the hassle of doing complicated math:
Looks like there’s no set recommendation on total daily recommended dose of Omega 3/DHA/EPA for horses, so I went based on the research @JB shared which gave the test group 4.4g EPA, 3.8g of DHA and 9.6g Omega 3 per day
Based on those quantities, I could not find a gel cap that was cheaper than liquid. Closest was Viva Naturals triple strength which you can get for $90 for 3 180 capsule bottles at Walmart. Each serving is 1500mg EPA and 568mg DHA, so you’d have to feed 3X servings to reach the study’s EPA total but you’d only be getting half the DHA. That would cost $1/day.
Of the liquid options, EO-3 and Contribute were the only ones with no corn or soybean oils added (Contribute does have flax oil). They both had the highest DHA and EPA. EO-3 does not distinguish between the two and just shows DHA & EPA 5500mg (min), Contribute is 3210 EPA / 2320 DHA. That means 1.5 servings of either would roughly equal study amount.
With Smartpak autoship, USEF, and APR25 discounts + tax 1 gallon of EO-3 is $99.62 or $1.04/day
CircleSupply has Contribute for $76.29 and free shipping or $0.79/day.
TL;DR: Contribute gives the most bang for your buck. (I don’t love that it’s not pure fish oil, but the DHA and EPA levels are there and it’s a significant price difference).
Now fingers crossed my horses will actually consume it… 
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