Linseed / flax oil alternatives - worth using?

[Widgeon]

Just a quick one - I've been feeding my cob half a mug of linseed oil daily and he looks fantastic. However even with my extensive Googling, it's pretty pricey - best I can find is £89 for 25 litres. Does anyone feed their horses other, cheaper oils instead? And if so do they work as well? He looks so lovely and shiny. Although with the price of sunflower oil etc perhaps linseed will become very competitive soon!

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

Micronised linseed will probably work out cheaper I personally think its one of the best oils to feed.

 

[Widgeon]

Micronised linseed will probably work out cheaper I personally think its one of the best oils to feed.

I was feeding that but YO convinced me to switch to the oil and she was right, it does seem to be more effective. I've had a bit of a Google and you're right, there do seem to be a number of reasons why linseed is probably the best one to stick with....cob will just have to do without for a couple of weeks until I get paid and can buy him a new barrel!

 

[Flowerofthefen]

I was feeding that but YO convinced me to switch to the oil and she was right, it does seem to be more effective. I've had a bit of a Google and you're right, there do seem to be a number of reasons why linseed is probably the best one to stick with....cob will just have to do without for a couple of weeks until I get paid and can buy him a new barrel!

I've had the opposite with my boys. The oil was completely ineffective but the micronised linseed was great!

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

One of my horses leaves the husks from the micronised linseed I don't know how he manages to do it but they are all left in his feed bowl strange but true!

So I did start feeding the oil instead but it is more expensive.

 

[PurBee]

All other oils have a very different nutrient profile of fats compared with linseed/flax oil.
All the others are heavy in omega 6 (pro-inflammatory) fats and have very minimal omega 3 (anti-inflammatory) fats. Whereas linseed oil has lots of omega 3, compared to its omega 6 content.

We all need some omega 6, but not a diet where omega 6 dominates (butter/margerines/general oils). Flax and perilla oil are heavy with omega 3.

Linseed is great for horses with inflammatory conditions/arthritis etc.

If your horse doesnt have any inflammatory conditions, you could do a mix of oils to ease your purse, while still keeping omega 3 the predominant ratio.
You could use sunflower or vegetable oil 1/3 mix with your linseed oil.

As oils are prone to rancidity/oxygenation the longer they’re stored, get the freshest linseed oil you can, preferably freshly cold pressed. The same quality would be preferred for the veg oils but you might struggle to find them freshly cold-pressed.

I personally wouldnt mix the oils in a large tub and then use that daily. I’d keep the bottles separate and fill your mug with both oils, eyeing the quantities. That way, you dont have minor possible rancidity of one oil tainting the other.

 

[Widgeon]

All other oils have a very different nutrient profile of fats compared with linseed/flax oil.

Super helpful and informative response - thanks very much PB Mine does have arthritis, so based on what you've said it sounds like linseed is really the only thing that'll do the job. Obviously the shiny coat is great but I am rather hoping it does something for his joints as well.

 

[Widgeon]

One of my horses leaves the husks from the micronised linseed I don't know how he manages to do it but they are all left in his feed bowl strange but true!.

How strange - that's quite an achievement isn't it....thankfully mine has never turned his nose up at anything that arrives in front of him in a bowl

 

[Widgeon]

I've had the opposite with my boys. The oil was completely ineffective but the micronised linseed was great!

Interesting, I wonder why that could be? I can see that they would be different but I'd have expected to see the same result across all horses, i.e. oil is better or micronised is better across the board.

 

[criso]

Interesting, I wonder why that could be? I can see that they would be different but I'd have expected to see the same result across all horses, i.e. oil is better or micronised is better across the board.

Depends why you are feeding, with oil it's just the extracted oil, micronized is the whole plant.

Oil is 100% oil nothing else. Micronized is 35% oil but is also a good source of protein and a source of fibre.

Oil is better for weight gain but I feed micronized as I also want the protein. I feed 150g to get the omegas but more in the winter.

 

[PurBee]

Super helpful and informative response - thanks very much PB Mine does have arthritis, so based on what you've said it sounds like linseed is really the only thing that'll do the job. Obviously the shiny coat is great but I am rather hoping it does something for his joints as well.

I found cold-pressed for £24.50 for 5 litres. https://animalselfheal.co.uk/?product=cold-pressed-linseed-flax-seed-fixed-oil
Grown and made in the uk.

Or £90 for 20ltrs cold pressed uk https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/30267289...55-0&campid=5338560497&customid=&toolid=10050


There's likely a difference between cold-pressed and standard heat extracted oils. Years ago i tried off the shelf bog standard heat extracted flax oil for horses, and was expecting results of shinier coat etc but it didnt materialise. I was confused, as i was feeding recommended amount. Then i tried ground up linseed, and voila, super slick coats!

Many standard oils are commonly extracted using ethanol type liquids, which is then evaporated off using heat, leaving the oil. Fats change their molecular structure when heated, so i suspect the differences in results is due to whether the oil or the whole ground-up seed, is heated, at any point during processing.

Don’t forget, there’s fresh omega 3 fats in fresh grass. So you may find you can get away with reducing your flaxseed oil current dose, if your horse is spending a good handful of hours grazing fresh grass.
(Fresh grass dried with heat or made into pellets with heat would have an altered omega 3 content.)

Or you could try using less flax oil - half a cup, and giving half a cup of micronised linseed, as ground-up linseed is around 1.20 per kilo, much cheaper than the oil. Then he’d be getting the best nutrition of both types of flax.

Here’s a table showing natural grass alpha-lineloic-acid (omega 3 plant based) in different grasses. Fresh grass is a very good anti-inflammatory food due to the fatty acid profile:


https://www.aber.ac.uk/en/media/departmental/ibers/pdf/innovations/98/98ch6.pdf

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

How strange - that's quite an achievement isn't it....thankfully mine has never turned his nose up at anything that arrives in front of him in a bowl

He is such a fussy eater took me years to get him to eat polo's

 

[Cragrat]

So if you boil up whole linseeds (like I used to as a kid, and make an HUGE mess of the cooker), you'd get the fibre and protein.... how much omega 3 would be left? I remember my pony being very shiny

 

[criso]

According to this boiling would destroy the omega 3 which is why micronized is a good option.

https://forageplus.co.uk/omega-3-importance-in-horse-diets/

Lots of useful info about other oils too.

 

[PurBee]

So if you boil up whole linseeds (like I used to as a kid, and make an HUGE mess of the cooker), you'd get the fibre and protein.... how much omega 3 would be left? I remember my pony being very shiny

Ive found somewhat conflicting info - 200 deg. C frying (in oil) omega 3 fish killed all omega 3 content. Study recommended boiling, steaming, grilling fish to preserve omega 3.
Its possible the oxidation of the frying oil caused the fried fish to lose its omega 3 bonds more readily - in comparison to other methods.

1 article said 350 degrees oven for muffin mix for 2 hours doesnt kill the omega 3 — but their reference weren’t showing confirmation of that data. (And who bakes muffins for 2 hours anyway!? ?)

In the old days flaxseed was mostly boiled for horses, wasn’t it? Just 10 mins usually rather than for a long time. So potentially the short boil to make flax jelly didnt destroy all the omega 3 content.

 

[Highmileagecob]

Possibly not helpful, but I use Equilibra balancer which contains the oils in correct balance, and is very palatable.

 

[Cragrat]

Ive found somewhat conflicting info - 200 deg. C frying (in oil) omega 3 fish killed all omega 3 content. Study recommended boiling, steaming, grilling fish to preserve omega 3.
Its possible the oxidation of the frying oil caused the fried fish to lose its omega 3 bonds more readily - in comparison to other methods.

1 article said 350 degrees oven for muffin mix for 2 hours doesnt kill the omega 3 — but their reference weren’t showing confirmation of that data. (And who bakes muffins for 2 hours anyway!? ?)

In the old days flaxseed was mostly boiled for horses, wasn’t it? Just 10 mins usually rather than for a long time. So potentially the short boil to make flax jelly didnt destroy all the omega 3 content.

They would be some VERY well cooked muffins!
i might give boiling a go again ...