Horse Feed Flax

Flax seeds are a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids in your horse’s diet. The only natural source of omega-3 in a horse’s diet typically is fresh grass, something which your horse may not get enough from. As it is found, apart from omega-3 flax seeds provide other necessary supplements to your horse, like it has been found that by feeding flax seeds it can act as a supplement that can improve their hoofs and coats. As flax seeds are a rich source of omega-3. It is very important to add flax seeds to the daily diet of your horse.

There are several benefits associated with flax seeds

• Flax seeds boost the immune system and can regulate thyroid function.
• Helps to reduce the chance of laminitis.
• Flax seed improves digestion.
• It helps to improve coat quality adding softness and shine.
• Flax seeds can reduce inflammation which can help horses with arthritis or joint stiffness.

How to feed flax seeds to the horse

If you go through a Google search about feeding flax seeds, you will see that there are several recommended ways for feeding flax to your horse: soaked, ground, boiled- anything except whole seeds. However, it appears to be a myth. Current research shows that horses can masticate flax seeds just fine and that the nutrients were extracted from the seed’s hulls even if you see a few whole seeds in your manure pile.

The most common way of feeding flax is ground. When you buy ground flax seed it is stabilized. That’s an important point: It is recommended to grind it yourself and grind it fresh for each meal. The nutrients in flax seeds start to decay very quickly if they are not stabilized and when they are exposed to light oxygen or heat. So it is necessary to clean the grinder well after grinding the flax.

People who soak or boil their flax seed often do so, as they believe that the flax might contain a harmful level of cyanide, which is toxic, while the seed does contain the two necessary components to create cyanide. Ironically, it’s the contact with water that brings two components together and causes the formation of cyanide. So soaking is the most dangerous way to feed flax.
Even boiling is not a good idea as while boiling it changes the cyanide to a gas form, removing it from the flax, it also destroys the fatty acid which is why we feed flax! So these are some of the tips which we need to follow while feeding flax to the horse.

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