I told the Omega Fields rep at Horse World Expo that I did not think his product was so superior over regular ground flax so he put his money where his mouth was and gave me a 5 pound bag of Horseshine. So now I get to conduct my own little experiment. I have my two horses on Equipride, which is a similar but fermented product with some added vitamins and minerals. My two horses are fat and shiny on orchard grass hay, and one horse gets 1 lb of TC 30% as well. So I’m also scratching my head and thinking if I should just go back to regular flax seed, either whole or getting the coffee grinder back out and grinding it myself. It’s so cheap.
I feed ground flax seed (only seven on the farm right now, so grinding enough for everyone isn’t terribly time-consuming) and I love it. It’s cheap and they definitely have a shine on it…in fact, overall skin and coat health seems much better, even the dark bay who normally gets super bleached out in the summer. I have never used either of those supplements you mentioned, but I’d be curious as to the results of your experiment!
All my horses get omega shine and I can’t really complain… They look gorgeous 
I did feed whole flax for some time too, but I don’t really want to grow flax in my pastures, so I switched back to the Omega shine. I got one old TB mare last year who had a horrible skin. Whenever I tried to ride her she was open everywhere leather touched her skin. It was horrible. I got lambskin covers for everything but still sensitive. Now she has a beautiful shiny coat and a soft skin. Don’t know what caused this but I guess it was the Omega shine… So I am quite thankful
I’m a big fan of Omega Horse Shine. Not only is my mare’s coat super shiny, people who touch it comment she has the softest coat of any horse they know.
The flax is stabilized and it was a Horse Journal Product of the Year and that works for me!
Seems like grinding your own flax would be a pain.
One of the reasons I am hesitant to go back to regular ground flax is because my horses do not get much hard feed, and my hay supply varies, so I feel better if they get some kind of vitamin/mineral supplement.
Are people really seeing flax plants grow from feeding whole flax seeds? I’ve been feeding it for years in both a dry paddock and huge fields- I’ve never seen a one. They’re pretty, I wouldn’t mind lol.
Last year, for various reasons, my horses were fairly neglected, meaning very little in the way of grooming, so I was surprised to get compliments on how shiny and healthy they looked. Then I remembered I had started them on the Omega Horseshine several months back. I’m not sure, either, if that’s what accounts for their shine, but as of now, I’m thinking it ain’t broke, so I ain’t gonna fix it. The rest of their diet is timothy hay, a small amount of soaked alfalfa pellets and about a pound of Triple Crown 30%.
As an aside, I used to feed sunflower seeds, and I loved seeing the sunflowers pop up out of the manure piles in the pasture.
Miss Anne, we feed exactly alike except for the alfalfa, and I will get orchard grass instead of timothy if tim is not available.
For those using Omege Horseshine, are you feeding 2 oz (1/2 cup) or 4 oz (1 cup) per day? The label recommends 1/2 to one cup per 1,000 horse. Thanks.
The alfalfa’s not really part of my feeding program, just a little treat for them, plus because I soak it, it’s good for mixing in powdered supplements so they don’t sneeze it away.
I’ll have to double-check, but I think we use a heaping 1/2 cup, so I guess that would be around 3 oz. I feed it just once a day.
omegahorseshine and ground flax are both good. The equipride just looks so old. Omegahorseshine is worth the price, for the nutritional benefits. As is the stabilized ground flax.
I feed a ground, stabilized flax product from a producer (E&E Newfield) in Manitoba. I love the product - cost effective, and easy to feed. It comes in 25 or 55 lb bags - I only have one horse, and a 25lb bag costs less than $100 and lasts me for 6-8 months. I feed 1 cup (4 oz) a day.
http://www.morrisonagri.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Flax-Product-Info.pdf
Horse Tech’s Nutra-Flax is another excellent stabilized ground flax product. My horses look great on it.
[QUOTE=Flash44;7965535]
Miss Anne, we feed exactly alike except for the alfalfa, and I will get orchard grass instead of timothy if tim is not available.
For those using Omege Horseshine, are you feeding 2 oz (1/2 cup) or 4 oz (1 cup) per day? The label recommends 1/2 to one cup per 1,000 horse. Thanks.[/QUOTE]
My TB mare has done fine on 1/2 cup.
[QUOTE=kasjordan;7965487]
Are people really seeing flax plants grow from feeding whole flax seeds? I’ve been feeding it for years in both a dry paddock and huge fields- I’ve never seen a one. They’re pretty, I wouldn’t mind lol.[/QUOTE]
I’ve been feeding whole flax for at least a decade and never seen flax plants.
I love Omega Horseshine. I can’t recommend it enough. I had my horse on fresh ground flax seed per vet’s orders because of my TB’s sensitive skin. He used to get hives all the time. The vet told us that whole flax seed goes straight through them, and that the shell doesn’t get digested and therefor the horse does not get the nutrients from the seed. They just poop out the whole seed.
If you grind it up, you avoid this problem, but unless refrigerated, and kept fresh (this meant grinding only 3 days worth at a time MAX), the flax goes rancid. I am actually allergic to flax so I had to get someone else to grind it up for me, and it was just a giant pain the you-know-what.
About 7-8 months ago I decided to make the gradual switch to Omega Horseshine, and I haven’t looked back. My TB hasn’t gotten hives at all. And I can’t tell you how many compliments I have gotten in the last few months on his shiny, healthy coat. He gets half a cup, and he looks amazing.
