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User1625311329 posted an update
We are very fortunate to have a 37 year old Fjord mare. She has lost a little weight even though she heartily finishes her 4 daily meals of soaked alfalfa/tim cubes with soybean meal. Our vet (who we like very much) was here to do their shots & he said we should be adding oil to her meals so that she gains weight. I said we could increase her soybean meal. He asked why i don’t want to add oil & I said because its inflammatory. He said he’s more concerned about her weight than inflammation. Thoughts & comments, Doc T? Im afraid she won’t like it & will then eat less. Thank you.
Kayce1 Comment-
Any horse who is 37 years old has earned the right to eat anything they want! In other words, adding sugar (carbs, starch) in excess of their daily needs is the best way to add body fat. Adding oil was discussed in last night’s “Rounds With Doc T” – see the replay listed below in the activity feed, or go to the “Rounds With Doc T” forum.
Basically, any seed oil is inflammatory and this is the oil commonly used for horses. Fruit oil is OK (Olive, coconut, avocado) but it’s too expensive. Shredded coconut meat in “Coolstance” is available as a horse feed and is what I recommend for adding dietary fat for older horses.
The most important thing to measure is her attitude. Her appetite is good and she seems to be enjoying life. However, as horses get closer to their last days on earth, they start to consume body fat AND muscle. When people, like your vet, see this, their reaction is to start adding things to make them look better. In my experience, this approach usually doesn’t add fat or muscle in very old horses, but instead, it causes body inflammation. This may actually cause more mass loss as well as makes them feel and look old fast, with stiff joints and a decreased “joy of life.”
I disagree with adding any oil to your horse as any oil is something any horse anywhere would never be exposed to. On the flip side, every horse with working colon bacteria will be turning cellulose into fat (short chain fatty acids). So, if your horse can eat more pasture, hay, or Coolstance, she will be getting plenty of fat as well as starch without increasing the loss of muscle.
Please feel free to show this response to your vet. If she wants to learn more about feeding horses according to their evolution, have her call or text me and I’ll give her the nutrition course for free. I don’t want to be disrespectful, rather I want to find like-minded veterinarians willing to see things from a different perspective than the one offered by the feed companies. She can also listen to my podcasts starting with some of the earliest ones describing how glucose, fat, protein, and insulin work.
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