How fattening is Flaxseed Oil?

Laura2184

Laura2184

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Mar 1, 2005
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Just wondering as my horse needs to lose weight but I want to keep feeding him this oil.

To help in his weight loss I have stopped carrots in his tea and all he gets is a scoop full of chaff, garlic, seaweed and Flaxseed oil. (gets the oil every 3rd day)

He also has a trace clip at the mo and am now leaving him unrugged at night in his stable with only a lightweight rug on in the field in the day.

I am considering getting him fully clipped as he really needs to lose some before spring comes :o

He has a haynet full of haylage and big armful of haylage on floor at night in the stable and there isn't that much grass in the field.

Going to be ridden at least 3 times a week.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Thanks :)
 
I'm afraid all oil is fattening so it won't help.

Why are you feeding oil? If it's to help joints then maybe you'd be better off changing to a joint supplement. If it's to help coat & skin then a good vit & min supplement or balancer should have a similar effect.
 
If it's any help Hilton Herbs do a herbal (obviously!) skin supplement called Top Coat that I use in the summer for my itchy horse. It seems to help him & it won't pile weight on.
 
Laura2184 said:
I started feeding it as his skin was very itchy and flaky.. the main area was the tail so maybe I'll stop feeding him the oil and put pig oil on there instead.
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Flax has some excellent components. It really has done a lot of good for my horse. But I'd never bother with the oil. Not only is it just the fat part but it also is missing a lot of the things that make flax seed so special and nutritious.
Just like with most things, this food (flax) loses it's value the more you process it. Why not go with freshly ground flax seed?
 
blues mum said:
also if he is itchy cut out the garlic.
garlic can make itchy scurfy horses ten times worse.
dusty has sweet itch and i stop feeding garlic at the end of feb.
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Thanks Blues mum, I did cut out his garlic for 2 weeks but didnt see any difference other than him not wanting to eat his food! So I started him back on it. Not sure if I left it long enough to see a difference?
 
I buy it whole in 25 pound bags at the feed store and then grind it in a coffee grinder. It goes rancid if you pre-grind it and don't refrigerate it. You can also buy it pre-ground and stabilized like Omega Horseshine products. Grinding it yourself is lots cheaper though.
I pre-grind enough for a week and store it in the fridge. You could just keep a coffee grinder at the barn and grind a little at a time, too.
I only buy the pre-ground stuff when I have to pre-package the feed for the petsitter. It's expensive but very convenient.
I just feed half a cup in the morning and half a cup in the evening on top of his feed. It's tasty so they like it anyway.

When I still boarded DJ and didn't feed flax he had terrible rain rot every year. Within a few weeks of bringing him home and starting him on flax he hasn't had any problems any more. It's been 3 years now.
 
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If you do a search for Equimins (I think the website is www.equimins.co.uk), they do a couple of linseed products. I use the ground linseed and fenugreek. You need to be sure you get the right sort of linseed - some types can't be fed raw. I find it easier to buy a pre ground type which is micronised, so you don't have to worry about it going off :)
 
(Flax) Linseed is the highest oil in omega 3 and 6. It is very fatty but these are the 'good' fats (polyunsaturated rather than saturated).

However I recommend an aleternative for your horse's coast and skin, as already suggested.
Clipping him, then rugging him up to the eyeballs when out in the field, won't really make a difference significantly. Perhaps using a l;ighter rug with his current clip - since horses use up to 80% of their feed energy just keeping warm - will help. I definitely wouldn't skimp on the forage. It is essential for healthy gut function and digestion, as well as keeping him psychologically stimulated and keeping him warm.
Instead I recommend feeding a feed balancer - such as Baileys Lo-Cal or Blue Chip Original - which will provide all the vitamins, minerals and nutrients he eneds without the energy! This can be fed alongside a handful of low energy alfalfa chaff (such as Dengie Hi-Fi Lite) whcih si low in energy but low in sugar and more nutririous than a similar, traditional chaff.

Remember than no diet is sufficient withotu some form of exercise - good quality exercise, even for only 10 mins on the lunge or in-hand walking, will do the world of good - every little really does count!

Good luck!

:-)

xx
 
Puzzles do you ever take the trouble to fully read peoples posts?

OP has said the horse is going to be ridden three times a week, which is the most many people can manage in the winter. He's unrugged at night & wearing a LW in the day so she can't put much less on him & I very much doubt she'd plan to fully clip him then heavily rug since she'd obviously only considering clipping to help him lose weight.

All your feed posts seem to recomment Dengie feeds & a balancer - are you on commission or have you seen this work well a few times & now believe it's the answer to everything?
 
:o Well I was a little confused Puzzles and had to go back and read my post incase I'd put something daft but thanks for your suggestions ;)

So do you all think that having him fully clipped and putting him out in a lightweight will help him lose weight? And it's not too harsh? :rolleyes: Or am I too soft?

Heres a pic of him last month just after he'd been clipped so you can see what we are dealing with!! :rolleyes:
 

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OMG he is so cute!!!
He reminds me of Esther's Alfie and Chickflick's Stumpy.
After seeing him I think the answer is obvious: he should spend his winter vacation in Texas where he can sweat off the couple of extra pounds.

Lucky you to have such a beautiful horse! :)
 
Laura2184 said:
Just wondering as my horse needs to lose weight but I want to keep feeding him this oil.

To help in his weight loss I have stopped carrots in his tea and all he gets is a scoop full of chaff, garlic, seaweed and Flaxseed oil. (gets the oil every 3rd day)

He also has a trace clip at the mo and am now leaving him unrugged at night in his stable with only a lightweight rug on in the field in the day.

I am considering getting him fully clipped as he really needs to lose some before spring comes :o

He has a haynet full of haylage and big armful of haylage on floor at night in the stable and there isn't that much grass in the field.

Going to be ridden at least 3 times a week.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Thanks :)
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Mine's also on Flax oil for her skin, similar problem to yoursefl. I stopped garlic and that helped too, although I suspect there were other things going on but that's another post !

How much oil are you feeding? I give 40 mls daily (vets prescription).
Also, might I ask why you're feeding haylage? It has a higher nutritional value than hay (estimated at 10% on average)
and may explain why his weightloss isn't as much as you'd like.

If hay's an acceptable option you could perhaps mix it half and half with the haylage perhaps?
 
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he is lovely !
dont know how long it would take the garlic to get out of the system, I would have left it a few months to see.
I just have never risked it with dusty as he gets so sweet itchy in summer.
Doesnt seem to affect the non sweet itchers at all.
 
carthorse said:
Puzzles do you ever take the trouble to fully read peoples posts?QUOTE]
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carthorse said:
Seemingly not. :o I do tend to repeat myself rather a lot but no it's not a copy-paste sort of thing, I always specify my answers accordingly (however it may seem) but hmm and yes you're totally right and I probably ought to stop saying the same things over and over even if they are relevant. :-/

xx
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If you need the weight off desperately get him fully clipped and work him hard everyday and cut out the feed completely and put him on a balancer like low cal. Itchy skin is nothing compared to the risk of lami :eek:

Change haylage to well soaked hay, about 12 hours is good to get rid of the nutrients.
 
Is that not a little unfair to clip out a horse in this weather tho for the sake of making him feel cold!! I couldnt do it to lol !!
 
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