Bald Pony

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winchester

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My (not currently in foal) Broodmare is completely bald! The vet said its down to dry skin and need to get some oil in to her!!

As she is currently not being fed he said i need to feed her a small amount and add oil in to it!

What oil should i use? (He said to get it from a supermarket)

Shall i get something like Alfa-Oil or Something and add oil into it?
 
Corn oil is very good, but is quite expensive but if you go to an indian supermarket type of shop they sometimes sell big drums of it and you get get it cheaper that way. I think it has less saturated fat in it that vegtable oil. I personally wouldn't advise rape seed oil nor nut oil due to possible allergies.
 
Some more help for you of a website :

Sources of Oil

Omega-3 fatty acids are found in the highest concentration in fish oils and in linseed/flax oils.
Other sources that contain omega-3 in varying amounts including canola oil and soyabean oil. Omega-6 is also found in differing amounts in corn oil, cottonseed oil, soyabean oil, sunflower oil.
Although hay and pasture forages are low in total fat content, most of the fat is made up of omega-3 fatty acids. In contrast, cereal grains such as oats and corn offer primarily omega-6 fatty acids.

Which oil?

If your horse is on a forage only diet (supplemented with a general premix or low inclusion balancer) then in all likelihood they do not need any omega-3 supplementation.
If you wanted to add oil to this high forage diet for conditioning purposes, then so long as there were no issues with arthritis, allergies or laminitis, then soya bean oil would be your best choice. This contains an excellent blend of essential fatty acids (albeit slightly higher in omega-6) - but if you were only adding a glug' any vegetable oil would suit the purpose. If your horse's diet contains cereals then there is no point in using an oil that is high in omega-6 as you will just skew the balance towards omega-6 fatty acids even more.
In these instances, the use of linseed, hemp/flax oils is probably best. Fish oil (codliver oil) is the best source of omega-3 although it is limited to the amount that can be fed (always follow feeding instructions when using fish oils) and would need to be used in conjunction with another oil if being used for conditioning purposes.
Studies have shown that fish oil is the best oil of choice for improving fertility in stallions and mares, and only small amounts are required to achieve a response.
Research shows that using fish oil in the diet of stallions improves the function of sperm post cooling or freezing.

Feeding oil

The level of oil that most horse's receive in their concentrate feed (generally a glug' from the bottle!) will have very little impact on the entire diet.
Fed at higher levels for conditioning or performance effects (100 -500ml) it has a significant impact on the diet.
These higher levels of oil should be introduced to the horse's diet gradually over two to three weeks as it takes the horse's body some time to adjust to utilising oil effectively. Immediate effects will not be seen.
Extra vitamin E will have to be supplemented when used at these levels, the general rule of thumb is an extra 100 IU of vitamin E per 100ml of oil fed.
At these higher levels it becomes more important to ensure that the fatty acid profile of the entire diet is balanced.

Speak to a nutritionist if in doubt.
 
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