Enhancing horseproductivity and wellbeing has drawn considerable interest in feeding fat supplemented dietsto horses. Much of this interest has been prompted by a significant amount of research on thesubject over the last ten years. Whilst several unknown aspects of specific fatty acidnutrition in the horse still exist, the caloric and some extra caloric effects of feeding fatto horses are well documented.

Safe Calorie Source For Weight Gain
Vegetable oil such as rice bran oil contains approximately 2.5 times more digestible energythan an equal weight of oats and 2-3 times as much digestible energy as an equal weight ofcracked corn. Importantly this energy is almost exclusively digested in the small intestine.Horses can digest large amounts of oil, up to 20% of the total diet. Feeding rice bran oilsupplemented feeds such as HYGAIN TRU GAIN®? is a safe and effective method to put extracalories in the horse’s diet. The increased calorie content of HYGAIN TRU GAIN®? can boost body condition in thin horses, diminish excitability, increaseoxidative capacity in performance horses and act as a carrier for fat-soluble vitamins.Adding fat to the diet may also decrease the amount of grain in the horse’s diet, providing asafer method of supplying calories. Reducing levels of starch intake may decrease the risk offeed related disorders such as colic, laminitis, acidosis, equine metabolic syndrome andcushings.

Fat in the Breeding industry
Energy balance and body fat are major factors in reproductive performance in mares. Theaddition of dietary fat can help mares maintain energy balance and body fat reservesespecially when feed intake is limited during late pregnancy. HYGAIN TRU GAIN® is also useful with lactating mares to ensure these mares have enough energyfor adequate milk production. Research showed that when lactating broodmares were fed fatsupplemented diets, the concentration of fat in milk increased, and their foals grew fastercompared to their counterparts which were fed conventional, low fat diets.

Effects on Performance/Race Horses
Undoubtedly, the most dramatic effects of feeding fat supplemented diets to horses haveoccurred in the equine athlete. Horses that are adapted to dietary fat have an increasedoxidative capacity and spare muscle and liver glycogen during aerobic exercise. Studies haveshown that fat is a major source of energy when exercise is below 75% of maximum aerobiccapacity (VO2Max). This means a large group of performance horses including endurance horsesand many types of show horses can utilize a large amount of dietary fat. Additionally,supplementing fat to the diet of any equine athlete will result in metabolic advantages suchas reduced feed requirements for a comparable amount of work, reduced heat production,reduced thermal load and maintenance requirements for thermal regulation and increased energyavailable for work. Also, production of power and stamina can be increased for severalseconds in the horse performing short-term, high-velocity exercise by an appropriateadaptation to a fat supplemented diet.

It has been shown that race horses can run faster at a constant heart rate and cutting horsescan stop and turn harder for a longer duration after appropriate adaptation to correctlyformulated fat supplemented diets. Some of these effects are due to the caloric benefitsdescribed earlier, but the primary effect is due to the improvement in glycogen storage andmobilization that results from feeding a fat supplement. It appears that the initial onset ofacute fatigue in the performance horse is the depletion of glycogen stores in the liver andmuscle. Thus, feeding an appropriately balanced fat supplement, such as HYGAIN TRU GAIN® along with a correctly designed training protocol may offer great promise as away to improve performances and perhaps reduce the frequency of injuries to elite equineathletes.

Tying-up syndrome
High grain diets are a potential problem for horses with two forms of exertionalrhabdomyolysis. Unfit horses with polysaccharide storage myopathy (PSSM) benefit from dailyexercise, removal of grain, and the addition of fat to provide the necessary calorie intake.Fit horses with recurrent exertional rhabdomyolysis (RER) can maintain high calorie intake ifthe amount of grain in the diet is reduced and the amount of fat in the diet is significantlyincreased. In both of these forms of tying-up, dietary fat helps to minimize symptoms.Recent research has shown that many such horses improve markedly on a diet in which 20 to 25percent of their energy needs are provided by fat.

Sales Preparation and Show horses
A sleek, shiny hair coat is necessary for both show and sale horses. A quality hair coat ispartially dependent on providing horses with essential fatty acids for healthy skin and hair.Supplementing the diet with HYGAIN TRU GAIN®? is a reliable practice to deliver essentialfatty acids to improve hair and skin condition.

Is Fat Safe To Feed?
Fat should be gradually introduced into a horses’ diet over a 14 day adaptation period. Ifhorses are not properly adapted to fat and too much is fed, the horse may refuse the feed orif the feed is consumed a transient diarrhoea may result. Unlike grain, over supplementationof dietary fat does not result in colic or laminitis.

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