[kahjul]

The vet wants my mare worked up to 3 cups of oil daily with beet pulp as a carrier. I could also use plain hay pellets or even mix some hay in with the beet pulp. 1 cup was fine, she gobbled it up. 1 1/2 cups-she ate slowly and even walked away once, but did clean it up. I started soaking the BP in the oil about an hour before I added water-and only used 1/2 the water and she went back to gobbling. Now at 2 cups-back to the picking at it. Any suggestions for getting that much oil in?

[halo]

Are you trying to put all of that in one feeding?? If she'll eat 1 cup of oil just fine, then feed her 3 times a day.

[Buffyblue]

You didn't say what the oil was for, but I'm assuming it's for added fat and weight gain. Why not use rice bran instead? My horse won't touch anything with oil in it but has no problem with the rice bran - pellets or granules - doesn't matter.

[lizajane09]

My mare also gets 3 cups per day, and when it's given over two feedings (1.5 cups at each), she eats it just fine. I agree with halo that the easiest method is probably just to split up the quantity into multiple feedings... hay pellets might help take up some of the oil though (it will kind of coat them if you mix it around), and that might make it more palatable as well.

[kahjul]

I board her so going out 2 or 3 times a day isn't feasable. If I ask the BO to give her a ration in the evenings I have to pay extra-not really an option for me right now. The rice bran doesn't have the same fat content as oil-thats what she's been on and it's not enough.

[deltawave]

Try a different oil, maybe one that's more palatable? Cocosoya is supposed to be good for picky oil-eaters.

But obviously if she's turning her nose up at the amount you're giving her in one meal, your best bet is to give her as much as she'll eat and work around it some other way, perhaps by offering her another small oil-rich meal every time you go see her.

[ksojerio]

Wow. 3 cups is a lot! Try feeding flax seed. It is high in fat.

[winfieldfarm]

I understand your vet is calling for this but I suggest you review your entire day's fat content before trying to feed her that much concentrated oil

My feed rep helped me with this problem. Long tall lanky 4 year old saddlebred arab cross who was working hard, growing weedy and not filling out like I wanted. After hay analysis and doing this magic formula he showed me, he informed me that the reason she was not eating her pellet and extruded fat chips grain meals was because I had maxed her out on pounds of fat per day. She was feeling gross from it digestively, like askinny guy trying to gain weight from eating mcdonalds everyday. Yea, he can gain weight but will it make him want to puke? We did a grain switch and were able to cut out the fat chips completely and find a textured gain she liked better, one with more calories and only a portion of the extra calories were from fat. Gave her digestive system a break and now she looks great.

Sorry, don't ask me the magic formula, try giving your feed supplier a call for backup advise on your vet's recommendation. I find that sometimes a vet may have and end result of something they want fixed but they aren't as educated on the route to get there, like nutrition. Just not a vet's specialty sometimes....

[kahjul]

Thanks all-she is a tough case food wise with allergies to flax, oats and barley so I don't have alot of options. Her weight is perfect, the oil is for mild epsm, the current info on that is 1 cup per 1000# body weight. Apparently it would take 5# rice bran to equal the fat content of 1 cup oil. I will try a different type of oil-possibly it's the taste. I also can slow down a bit, maybe I increased it too quickly? I did some research and can apparently go up to 3-4# BP. I've only been giving her 1#. Maybe just changing the oil to BP ratio will help.
Thanks again!

[Lulu]

the current info on that is 1 cup per 1000# body weight.

I'm confused on the three cups then... how big of a horse is she?

[Bogie]

I feed 2 cups of oil per day broken into two meals. My horse is good about eating it. I mix it with alfalfa pellets and beet pulp.

I'm not a huge fan of rice bran for weight gain (high in starch, not as concentrated a source of fat, expensive) BUT, most of my horses have loved it. Perhaps mixing some in with what you're feeding will help?

Can your horse eat alfalfa pellets? Mine loves them. Plain hay pellets might help if you mixed them in with the beet pulp.

[eventingismylife]

Have you tried black oil sunflower seeds instead? They are very high in fat, dont make a mess like oil does, horses love them, and are much cheaper!

[Liberty]

Look into dry vegetable oil. I just started my older QH on it as he needs to pick up a little weight, and he LOVES it. Both versions I found online are flavored to make them palatable. Super easy to top dress on feed; no mess, no fuss, and it won't go rancid.

The two I found:

The one I chose is from Horsetech, and it's 99.9% fat (5x the fat of rice bran). It doesn't have a fancy name - simply "FB 100 Dry Vegetable Oil", and it's located on Horsetech's "Custom Products" page (they have free shipping on all products):
http://www.horsetech.com/popular-customs.htm#

The other one I saw is called "Cool Calories 100", and it's available from various suppliers. It's 99.0% fat.

Here's a handy dandy chart I found on SmartPak's website comparing various weight-gain supps; it lists the fat content of each:
http://www.smartpakequine.com/Charts...ppcompare.html

As for dosage, my Horsetech rep suggested I start my 950-lb guy on 1 oz/day and go from there, increasing if necessary. The label on the Horsetech container suggests 2-4 oz/day, up to a max of 8 oz/day. My gelding dug right in to it, right from the start. Horsetech includes a 1 oz. scoop to make it easy to measure.

As with any new supplement, be careful and start out slowly, increasing gradually as/if necessary.

Hope this helps!

[kahjul]

Liberty, thanks-I'm going to look in to these. Lulu-misprint on my part, it's 1 cup per 500# body weight-oopps!!

[M. O'Connor]

3 cups is a lot of oil.

Even for a horse who can benefit from a high fat diet. I would recommend that you look at using a complete feed formulated for such horses; there are many choices available now (click the links below to get information on ReLeve).

When my RER horse was competing I gave him extra oil in addition to feeding him Releve...he wouldn't eat it when it was mixed with his grain though. Diana here suggested putting it on his hay, and that worked well.

[Brooklyn]

Oil isn't the only way to get horses to intake fat, especially when your horse has a problem with metabolizing carbohydrates. I might try Releve, though, metabolically speaking, RER is different from ESPM, or the sunflower seeds.

Why not seek help from a nutritionist? I board at a 100-plus-horse facility. We get a lot of vets through here. Some are stronger on nutrition than others, but, though I have a ton of respect for many of them, none of them have more than a cursory understanding of the diet requirements of horses.

[ChocoMare]

I have a VERY EPSM Percheron that weighs 2,000 pounds and there's no way she needs 3 cups of oil to avoid symptoms. Two cups is fine.

Ditto the Cool Calories. It smells like Fruity Pebbles.

[peskee]

How about Cocosoya by Ukelele it is fantastic and you use less.

[Skip's Rider]

The recommendation for EPSM horses is 1 cup of oil per 500 lbs BW. So, 2 cups of oil for your horse should be fine. We had one horse that WOULD NOT eat his oil in any kind of grain, pellet, or mash carrier. He would, however, eat it if we poured it on his hay. He also wouldn't eat canola oil but would eat corn oil. Picky, picky, picky. We had another horse that would not eat corn oil, but loved canola oil.

These diets are a big adjustment. Take your time and try not to fret. Just accept that there will be bumps in the road and that you will get over them.

[JB]

Actually, I think the revised recommendation is 1lb of fat per 1000lb.

That's in line with the older rec of 1c oil per 500lb. 2 cups is 1lb (roughly).

3c for a "mild epsm" is a LOT of oil. A LOT of fat. I really don't think you need to go there.

Also, consider that some horses (I had 2 of them, both TBs) do better on NO oil, LESS fat, but a different source of fat, such as rice bran and boss.