Benefits of Fat Supplementation in Equine Diets

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Many people avoid dietary fat due to misconceptions about weight gain or fad diets that are low in fat but high in protein. However, is it possible that dietary fat could be beneficial? For horses, anyway, fat is an extremely important nutrient. Fat is a valuable energy source:

• It provides approximately 2.5 times more energy than carbohydrates through anaerobic oxidative processes.
• It provides important substrates for the synthesis of steroid hormones (testosterone and estrogen).
• It acts as a carrier for the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K.
• It provides the essential fatty acids, linoleic and α-linolenic acid, which cannot be synthesized by the body but are necessary for survival.

Because fat is very important for many biological functions, fat supplementation in the equine diet has been shown to provide many additional benefits. Supplemented fat in the form of top-dressed oil supplements is highly digestible by the horse, ranging from 88 to 98 percent. High levels of fat supplementation are greatly tolerated and easily digested and used by the horse.

Horses have exhibited an ability to digest up to 15 percent of the total diet as added fat with no effect on the digestibility of fiber or protein, which is comparatively different from other livestock animals. Cattle, for example, are usually fed a maximum of 6 percent crude fat due to palatability issues and potential disruption of the rumen microbiome. Negative side effects of excess fat supplementation in horses have not been reported when fat inclusion rates are below 15 percent.

For answers to specific questions or to request a hard copy of this publication, please contact your local Extension office.

Publication 3734 (POD-01-25)

By Hannah Valigura, PhD student and assistant coach for the Mississippi State Equestrian Team, and Clay Cavinder, PhD, Professor, Animal and Dairy Sciences.