My understanding is that fish oil is a good source of omega-3, and has some ant-inflammatory properties. It seems weird to feed fish anything to a horse, but I guess people do. What’s a better proper dose for a 1200lb horse?
It seems odd to me too, though there is probably zero reason for it to seem odd. I feed Omega Profile, which gets its DHAs from a source that is not fish oil. https://horsetech.com/profile
I can’t help you with the dose, but Triple crown sells Omega 3 horse cookies made with fish oil and flax seed. There is no sugar in the cookie. Reviews tend to be mixed. My horse adores them, someone else’s did not. https://www.triplecrownfeed.com/products/treats/
I’m feeding TC Lite anyway, so maybe I’ll check those out!
Well Pride used to be pretty darn popular, including getting a lot of discussion here, maybe … geez, ten years ago? Search might turn that up.
It’s still on the market, but expensive. It’s flavored and was reported to be fairly well accepted by most, IIRC.
There are horse populations that eat fish in Iceland, so it’s not so incredibly crazy weird as it may seem at first.
Hmmm but for the other millions of horses around the world…it is weird.
So, here’s my question. Are we sure that horses need a source of Omega 3?
We feed all sorts of weird shit to our horses that they’d never see naturally. Where do you think glucosamine and HA come from? 
Fresh grass is chock full of omega 3. It’s not unreasonable to look to up it, especially for those horses not grazing good pasture 24/7.
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It’s an essential fatty acid so yes, they need a source of O3 (and O6)
Fresh grass has lots. Hay has a good amount when it’s fresh, but the older it is, the less it has. Degredation increases with heat and light, as well as humidity and just “being”.
The problem is that while we know that grass has a 3:6 ratio of 3-4:1 (ish), we don’t now if a horse needs all that. We do know they (and us) need more 3 than 6.
Commercial feeds are almost always higher in 6 than 3, and if you’re feeding cereal grains, way higher.
So if there’s lots of grass, there’s no real need to supplement unless you’re dealing with something “special” - older horse, sick horse, even some studies have shown adding O3 to a nursing mare’s diet may improve the immune system of the foal.
But if you’re feeding yellow hay (may be nutritionally great, but clearly been exposed to light), or last year’s hay, it may be low enough in 3 to warrant adding some, especially if you’re feeding lots of a feed that has more 6 than 3
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I remember Well Pride - the only thing that ever made my lovely bombproof TB completely lose his mind - the slightest thing would spook him straight into the rafters. This is a horse who lived on nearly straight alfalfa free choice and lots of grain with no trouble. So maybe start with a small bottle if you go that route.
I’m in New Mexico, so we feed hay year round. I board, so hay quality can vary, though it’s usually pretty good. I also feed Triple Crown Lite, but not much because both of mine are easy keepers.
So yeah, I think they could use some extra omega 3.
I’m a much bigger fan of flax seed for omega 3 than fish oil. I really like this stuff - https://www.smartpakequine.com/ps/omega-horseshine-182
My horse is somewhat picky but she likes it too. (I’m vegetarian so I don’t even use fish oil for myself - flax is a good source).
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I just want to put it out there that horses don’t have a gall bladder, and therefor have a harder time breaking down oils, as they aren’t designed to ingest oils. to up the Omega-3s and 6s I tend to lean towards flax seed (freshly ground) and black oil sunflower seeds.
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I started feeding ground flax. Beaver Brand. Ground in MacMinneville Oregon. My brown gelding grew amazing dapples. He is (hopefully) recovering from EPM. Icky. But gets 10,000 IU vitamin A. FAT.
My point was why do you think horses need omega 3 in general? What would be the source of omega 3 in a natural diet?
Fresh grass.
OPs horse isn’t getting any.
Omega 3 is essential to life, which is why it’s called an essential fatty acid.
A quick Google turns this up, might be of use to you?
https://thehorse.com/168549/which-om…-for-my-horse/
And this, about people, might help convey why omega 3 supplements are of interest for all animals:
https://www.bioriginal.com/an-introduction-to-essential-fatty-acids-in-health-and-nutrition/
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Yes I actually read this article today as well. It says
Forage (pasture and hay), the foundation of a horse’s diet, is a major source of nutrients, including omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids make up about 55% of the fat in grass and 18-35% of the fat in hay. Granted, forages only contain about 3% total fat. But considering the amount consumed per day, forages will always be the most vital source of omega-3s in the diet purely by volume.
So a hay only diet might be short on Omega 3 but it doesn’t quite say that you need to supplement. I suppose it cany hurt, and might have benefits.
I would think that a commercial feed may also have supplemental fat (3 and 6). I will need more convincing that fish oil is especially beneficial.
Commercial feed is always omega 6 heavy, which is one reason supplementing omega 3 has value.
Table with 3:6 mix of various things here.
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Also, @S1969, sourcing for some other stuff we commonly feed
Glucosamine: shellfish shells
Chondroitin: cow cartilage
HA: rooster combs
MSM: the lab, a oxidation reaction from DMSO. DMSO is a byproduct of paper milling.
Fish oil for omega 3 really isn’t that weird.
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Grass.
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Because horses are trickle-feeders, they are constantly secreting bile from the liver, which makes them well-equipped to digest fats and oil. They’re pretty efficient at it, actually, once given time to adjust to higher fat.
Fat is fat, whether it comes from oil or seeds. Oil comes from the suggested seeds 
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