Which Oil to add?

[honeychop]

Hi all - can anyone offer me a advice. I want to give my horse some oil into his short feed, just a splash type of thing. But I can't decide which is best. he has really good legs and joints and I want to keep him that way but which is best to use?
Soya Oil (although I have heard this can liven them up) Cod Liver Oil, Cider Apple Vinegar, Corta Flex. There is loads of stuff out there and I need your advice! :confused:

[StephA]

I use cod liver oil in mine (well Harrys) and it makes his coat really nice and shiny!!

x

[honeychop]

yes i have heard that it makes their coat shiny - but I figure I want it more for his joints than his coat. Or for both would be even better! :)

[StephA]

Oh right...I thought you meant for OTHER than joints. Saying that, cod liver oil is also very good for joints too. Or you can get an actual joint supplement. Things with something called glucosamine are very good for joints.

Soya is more for weight gain that anything really.

I would go for cod liver oil. I give him cod liver oil treats aswell as in his hard feed.

x

[eventerbabe]

Codlevene (i think!) do blended oils for joints and healthy coats, might be worth looking into those? codliver oil is taken by many humans to aid joint mobility, so i suppose it will have a similar effect in horses aswell, not to mention helping put a shine on their coat. cider vinegar is good for mobility/stiffness. my mare gets codliver oil and vinegar.

[Bay Mare]

I used Soya. I wouldn't personally use Cod Liver Oil because it's an animal product and horses aren't carnivores (and don't eat fish). Apparently veg oil is as good though!

[SarahC]

Soya oil can add extra energy if you give them the right amount...I think its about 3 tablespoons per day for that. For shiny coat, its about 1 tablespoon. Wouldn't say its the best one for joints though. Cod liver oil is supposed to be good for joints but I'm afraid I'm with Bay Mare and won't feed it to my horse as its a fish product!
Linseed oil is very good, but its VERY expensive.
Eventerbabe is right that codlivine do a supplement which contains CL oil and is supposed to be very good for joints.

If you really want something just for his joints, I'd recommend anything with glucosamine in it....Gold Labels is very good and not as expensive as cortaflex.

S

[ponylover88]

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[SarahC]

Why do you refuse to feed your horse cod liver oil?
See Bay Mare's post!! I'm in agreement with her! Its an animal product and horses aren't carnivores. Its just a personal thing...I don't refuse to use it as such, but would simply prefer not to if there are good alternatives about ie: soya oil.

S

[Naturally]

I wouldnt' give Cod Liver Oil either.

I do however use Flaxseed Oil. It's magnificent for maintaining a shining coat and is recommended by an Equine Herbalist I use.

[ponylover88]

See Bay Mare's post!! I'm in agreement with her! Its an animal product and horses aren't carnivores. Its just a personal thing...I don't refuse to use it as such, but would simply prefer not to if there are good alternatives about ie: soya oil.

S
...

[kianjoseph]

I don't pretend to be an expert as i just ask my riding teacher and yard owner for advice, but I give mine Cortaflex, and yesterday riding teacher told me to add a cup of sunflower oil to her feed, done that for two days and she certainly seems to like it.

[Naturally]

Ponylover88: Horses are herbavores, and yes they need more than grass. They need a mixture of minerals and herbs which they would find through soil and various plants if they were left to graze in the wild. As we have domesticated the horse, and wrecked our soils with superphosphate and various other synthetic producs, their diets definately need to be supplimented.

HOWEVER, Many hard feeds contain foods to keep horses in heavy work, but that does not mean that it is a natural diet. Horses do not eat meat in their natural environment and to suppliment them with "hard feeds" that contain animal products is purely for the owners/riders gain and nothing to do with the horses natural heatlh.

[SarahC]

Whatever your view point, I'd still prefer not to feed Cod Liver Oil...if you do, then thats up to you! If I KNOW that something contains an animal product, I'd prefer not to feed it to my horse. And I spend hours reading the ingredients of mixes...I work in a saddlery/feed store!!

Personal choice and its up to each individual what they feed their horse.

S

ps. apologies to honeychop for digressing your post onto a separate discussion...hope you find something suitable honey.

[eventerbabe]

people have free choice to feed what they want, but don't vilify those of us who chose to feed a cod liver oil based product. my little mare has been fed on codminavite, then cod liver oil for 14 years and is fit as a flee. i certainly won't stop feeding the stuff and have never had a problem with it. i, personally, think its FAR more unnatural to pump a horse full of grains and hard feed. a small glug of cod liver oil is going to do NO harm WHATSOEVER.

[Naturally]

Sorry to have upset you, but I didn't say it was harmful. I just said it wasn't part of their natural diet.

It is entirely up to the individual human's choice as to what they feed their own horse and nothing to the contrary was suggested.

[honeychop]

Well I can see I have started a heated debate here !!! But it's always a good thing to share our views/experineces of all such things. besides the vegetarian debate is always a landmine when it comes to horse feeds!!! I remember once a friend of mine argued for ages with a feed suppier when she saw the ingredients had "shell" in them as she was saying herbivore and the feedmaker was saying "horses would eat shell debirs in the wold". So hey! the debate goes on.
Well I still haven't decidede which oil to use but I am going to look at the gold label and the cod liver oil/codlivine.

Also - just to be really difficult........
As my horse is turned out all summer and stabled all winter (with me riding him every night though), how about if i fed him a lighter oil such as codlivine/cod liver oil etc and then in the winter, changed to the more pricey but glucosamine stuff like the goldlabel or cortaflex?
Am I fiddling too much here?????????????????

[StephA]

to suppliment them with "hard feeds" that contain animal products is purely for the owners/riders gain and nothing to do with the horses natural heatlh

How is it?? CL is mainly given for the horses joints so I dont see how that is 'purely for the owners/riders gain'

Its not fair to say that in the slightest!!!

[StephA]

I think if you introduce it slowly into the diet its OK. Just dont suddenly switch...

But somebody can second that for me!! :D

[eventerbabe]

any dietry change should be done slowly :) you are right steph. we could argue til the cows come home about whether or not its "natural" to feed animal based products, the whole riding of horses is unnatural!!! in general, i do try to keep my horses on as natural a diet as possible but they absolutely thrive on codliver oil and i've never had any problems feeding it. you could say all these probiotics and electrolytes are "wrong" coz a horse wouldn't eat them naturally, but we feed them to keep our horses in the best possible health.

[MeMe]

For joints as a preventative I would go for Cider Vinegar, its cheaper and effective.

If there is a specific problem then you need specific kind of one.

Codlivine can heat some horses up, I've not seen one it hasent yet, I know all the travellers round here use it to give their trotters stamina, and every horse I've know has shown ridden problems (excitability, bucking etc) after a short period of being fed it.

But horses for courses, it may not have that affect on loads of other horses.

If I feel the need to add oil to any of mines feed, its either Cod Liver Oil, the Naff one, or a bit of pure veggie oil from the supermarket.

[angelfben]

and to suppliment them with "hard feeds" that contain animal products is purely for the owners/riders gain and nothing to do with the horses natural heatlh.

Ok....
I believe we are responsible for providing the best care and environment for any animal under our care, that involves tending to their physical, physcological, health and dietary needs to our best means possible.

Yes it is wrong to disrupt a horse physically or mentally for our own gain or convenience BUT this is very widely different to using our advanced knowledge of sciences and nutrition which enable us to benefit horses further than nature alone can.

My horse lives out 24/7 in the company of other horses but the nutrition he gets from the grass and foliage is NOT sufficient for him to maintain condition and energy with his workload, so he is fed hard-feed and a variety of supplements which all benefit his health, from improving his breathing to helping ease his sweet-itch. Feeding my horse in this way is not for my gain believe me - in fact it is much more expensive and time-consuming for me. But it makes him feel healthy, gives him the energy he needs and makes him comfortable.

I'm sorry but my horses health and wellbeing are more important to me than moralistic theory.

[Trewsers]

We give Joe vegetable oil (Sainsbury's own). - but I think thats just for his coat. :)

[angelfben]

Any oil will give them a nice shiny coat, it's just personal preference really :)

[Stella2]

I have used Codlavine Herbivit for the past year and I've noted a real improvement in the appearance of Flora coat (often commented on by others :) ). It contains powdered oil, but also a broad spectrum multivitamin and a range of beneficial herbs - very good value stuff!

Edited to say - I have just noticed the post that says Codlivine is frequently heating and causes behavioural change. I haven't found this with my mare. I also know 2 others mares who have it, one has always been inclined to be a bit 'lively' and it made no difference, the other has remained placid.

[SarahC]

people have free choice to feed what they want, but don't vilify those of us who chose to feed a cod liver oil based product.
I didn't mean to point fingers at those the do feed CL oil, as I said before...
Personal choice and its up to each individual what they feed their horse.
Neither do I think its harmful. Sorry if it offended anyone.

S

[cvb]

My own choice - rather than the horse - is not to feed cod liver (as is animal byproduct) or soya (as much of soya these days is GM :( and I can't guarantee to get a non-GM source).

Now as it happens we tried ours on Cod Liver and one didn't bother but the other made an enormous fuss like we were trying to poison her :eek:

So I feed maize oil. (I guess this could also be gm - but I don't believe it is as likely as soya ?!)

Yes horses will accept being fed animal by-products. And I remember being told in a feed lecture (when doing my AI) that as the proteins are so close to horse protein, it is a "better" source. But I am not aware of any research on the long term effect of doing this, so make a personal choice not to.

Again - the GM argument is a lively one - and this is just my personal choice - both on principle and due to lack fo research on any impact of feeding it.

This "suck it and see" approach could be said to be what is behind diseases crossing barriers between species - bringing us BSE and all that :(

Just because you CAN do something, and there is no obvious immediate detriment, doesn't mean you SHOULD do it (IMHO).

[SarahC]

or soya (as much of soya these days is GM and I can't guarantee to get a non-GM source).
Now that I didn't know!! Rather surprised...think its worth emailing the feed companies that do soya to ask if its non-GM? I know we sell alot of the soya from Dodson & Horrell.

S

[cvb]

US is the big soya producer, and they (for some reason) don't separate GM from non-GM. So what you get from UA can not be non-GM... :(