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Does good nutrition equal a shiny coat?
I’ve seen on Facebook recently, horse owners asking how to get a shiny coat on their horse. Many people have responded with coconut oil or chia/flaxseed. Some say forage is key. What if your horse is getting all of the necessary nutrients and minerals, but doesn’t have a shiny coat? Does that mean they aren’t healthy? I’m not sure why people attribute shiny coats to a horse being healthy. Is this breed and genetically determined? I attached a photo for reference.
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1 Reply
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I see a lot of horses with poor hair coats and almost all of them have a poor diet. Then I see a lot of horses with a “shiny” hair coat who are also on a poor diet. It is confusing. I then hear all the “remedies” people use to improve the hair coat including a lot of rubbing (no diet supplements). More confusion.
One of the first thing seen in horses that have all inflammatory ingredients removed and have added a high quality protein (soybean meal) is an improved hair coat usually within 2 weeks. This is consistent. Is it from the inflammation being removed or is it from the additional amino acids – or both?
The question here is why is the hair coat looking bad? Is the horse missing something or is there a metabolic reason that needs to be addressed? In my opinion, if a horse doesn’t feel good their hair coat won’t look good. And the most common reason for not feeling good is a poor inflammatory diet. However there are other reasons such as overcrowding, poor environmental sanitation, overwork, abuse from humans, and a host of other things. I do not believe it is genetic.
The FB post refers to “balanced nutrition” which is vague and opens the discussion up to what someone believes is “balanced.” Further, what is balanced for one horse may not be for another. However in my observations, there is a consistency between poor hair coat and not feeling good for whatever reason. Find the reasons and remove them before spending on supplements that only cover up the problem.
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