Hello. I currently have a mare with pretty dry skin around the mane and tail. The vet recommended corn or coconut oil, but shes a fat lil pony and doesnt need all that fat. I’ve been researching and found that Omega-3’s provide nourishment for dry skin. Any recommendations for an easy keeper? I’ve thought about flaxseed. Also, maybe I’m wrong and she doesn’t need Omega 3, anything you reccomend for dry skin? Thanks!!
Bless your vet’s heart but corn oil is o-u-t - out, lollol. Way too high in Omega-6 which exacerbates any sort of inflammation:)
One of my horses has environmental sensitivity, which means dry and itchy skin, everywhere.
I feed him two things to help with his issues.
- Omega-3 Horseshine by Omega Fields. I know everyone will say how expensive it is but that’s what I’ve been feeding for 17 years and it works for him:)
https://www.omegafields.com/product-category/horse/
I do not feed their “Omega-3 Complete” as my horses get a condensed complete vit/min supplement from Horse Tech.
- I also feed him an extra 3,000 IU of Natural Vitamin E-5000, from Horse Tech. When I added the Natural vitamin E, he stopped rubbing the top of his off in mid summer:)
FWIW, my easy keepers (one is IR) have not eaten any sort of grain or anything with soy as the protein source since 2007:)
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I would suggest Camelina Oil. Has a properly balanced ratio of Omega 3 to 6. Really helps with skin, hoof and coat. And very palatable. We use it for all our horses, from mares and foals, retirees, to the racehorses. They all look great.
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Corn oil is definitely an old school recommendation. Not really something most people feed anymore.
I’d start by making sure the rest of the diet is high quality and meets nutritional needs. If it does check out Smartpak’s Omega 3 + E Ultra.
I get mine through Smart Earth Camelina. Canadian company, but I think they will ship to the U.S. It is, of course, more expensive that vegetable oil, but well worth the price.
$60. Can., for a 3.78 litre jug, which is a US gallon. You feed 1 to 2 ounces per day.
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Second the Omega Horseshine. My horse was having issues with his face a few summers ago. He was getting crusty and losing hair, and I tried every topical under the sun. I was about to call the vet because I was at a loss for what to do, and then it occurred to me to treat from the inside, not the outside. I put him on Omega Horseshine, and his skin has been perfect ever since.
I’m not sure who says it’s expensive? I pay about $47/bag and I buy maybe, MAYBE, two bags per year. I guess if you have a lot of horses that cost adds up quickly, but for just one horse it’s really affordable. It also has biotin added. I feed 1/4 cup per day.
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^^^^I have been feeding it since it was $19.99/bag, lollollol.
I feed it to one horse, yes, two bags yearly sounds about right:)
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They claim to have a properly balanced omega 3 to 6 ratio, but no studies have been done to establish what the ideal ratio is… Camelina ratio is about 2:1, which I would only consider a good ratio if the horse is on no grain, as grain has a higher omega 6 to 3, so to counter balance that, you need a much higher omega 3 ratio.
If you want higher omega 3s, then flax is a better source as it has a ratio of 4:1 and also has natural vitamin E. Chia seeds are slightly lower in ratio at 3:1 but do not require either grinding, or stabilizer like flax, and they also have a higher mucilage content than flax, making them helpful for ulcers. Fish oil is one of the best sources of omega 3 at 12:1 and the body doesn’t have to break down ALAs into EPAs and DHAs like it does with other omega 3 sources, plus its fairly cheap, but not many horses will eat it unless it’s been unscented, which then makes it less cost effective. In this situation, where you are worried about weight, I would try just a vitamin E supplement first, as it’s less likely to have calories in it.
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IMHO, Omega Horseshine is an over-priced, lightly fortified flax supplement
There’s no reason you can’t feed cheap, whole flax. It’s got a better omega 3:6 ratio than chia, despite what chia lovers love to claim :winkgrin:
D-equine is right on the ratio - there is no “properly balanced” ratio. The best we have is going off what’s in fresh grass, which is about 4:1 (which is what flax is, compared to 3:1 for chia)
Flax does have E in it, but at about 60IU/100gm, it’s not terribly significant.
Fish oil IS “better” if you want efficiency, for the reason D-equine stated - there’s no conversion process to through the ALA. KER makes one that isn’t fishy.
But if you straight up want Omega 3, whole flax is cheapest. Triple Crown makes a milled flax if you want to get past whole flax without grinding at feeding
What is the whole diet? If it’s all hay, or mostly hay, and you’re not adding Vit E from anything else, that’s where I’d start first. A diet like that is deficient in E, so I would be adding around 2IU/lb. That alone might do what you want. If not, then add maybe 1/2c flax and see what happens. But the E is a necessity if there’s not enough fresh grass.
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Coconut oil is great. Warm it up and rub it into the top of the tail where she is itching and on other dry spots. No calories that way!
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I really like healthy coat. They sell it at tractor supply but I buy the huge 2.5 gallon containers from farmvet for around 50 bucks and that lasts for almost 3 months. It’s soybean/ flaxseed oil based and my mare loves the stuff.
If she’s on fresh green grass, she doesn’t need any oil supplement. There’s plenty of Omega 3 in grass. During the haying process, most of that is lost, and that’s why many people need to supplement oil. Your options for Omega 3 are flax, chia, perilla, algal, or fish oil. Flax is the cheapest of that group and the most practical.
There’s little to no Omega 3 in coconut.
If she is fat now won’t you need a carrier to feed any oil types? My horses will eat whole flax by itself but I do add it to a RB I feed.
