Ask The Equine Nutritionist

I have heard of using both rice bran and flax seed for putting weight on a horse. Which one has the higher fat content? Which one would do best to put weight on a horse? In which situation would you use one over the other?

Also, I've always been told that one should use ground flax, and that whole flax seed just goes right through the horse's system and they get less benefit from it? I see that you recommend whole flax seed, which is cheaper in my area, but people around here have always used ground. Is there a difference that makes one better than the other?


Flax seed contains
1.54Mcal/Lb, 21% crude Protein and 36% fat

Rice Bran contains
1.19Mcal/lb, 13% crude protein and 13.6% fat.

Thus whole flax has slightly higher feed value. But more importantly flax contains the Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids. It also has a number of other nutrients in it that are beneficial.

Rice bran contains gamma oryzanol which is a very useful nutrient.

I would feed up to 8 oz per day of flax seed which will supply all the essential fatty acids the horse needs plus a good bit of high quality
protein.

I would feed 1-2 lbs of rice bran a day for the calorie content with the Gamma Oryzanol as a bonus.

I would feed both feeds if the horses needed the calories and just the flax if it didn't need both.

The essential fatty acids in flax seed can be damaged by exposure to oxygen and light. So while the ground flax is somewhat easier to digest (since the seed coat is broken) it will not have as many of the desirable fatty acids as the whole seed does.  Horses have good teeth and can digest the bulk of the whole flax seed, the few that get by and in the manure are not enough to worry about. Plus whole flax keeps much better than ground flax.

Whole flax has another advantage it is coated in a mucilage, which when it hits water turns into a slimy mess, this slimy mess is a great GI tract lubricant and can help the feed slip along nicely.

The ground flax does not seem to have this lubricating property for some reason.

Dr. Melyni Worth Ph.D. - 2004 (c)

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