Comments on: Feeding Flaxseed

By: Debbie

Debbie — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 20:19:53 +0000

I was told by my farrier to feed our 14-year-old reining mare flax seed oil to help with her coat and hooves. She has foundered in the past, so I was skeptical. After discussing with our vet he agreed that it would be safe for her. We were using it religiously twice a day. She had a very good show season with my 11-year-old son. I’m not sure why, but we haven’t been giving it to her for the past couple of months and she seems to be stiff and sore and the trainer suggested having her hocks injected. We’re starting her back on it right now to see if we see any significant improvement before we have her hocks injected. I would prefer NOT to get started on that if the flax seed oil will do the job. It is much less expensive and I would imagine better for her overall health. Puritan’s Pride sells it online and is always running a special such as buy 1 get 2 free. She goes back into hard training in about 4 weeks. We’ll see if the flax seed oil does the trick. I’ll report back with the results.

By: Michael Hughes

Michael Hughes — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 15:55:29 +0000

The Facts:
There are three basic quality standards for flaxseed.
1. Industrial (used for making paint thinner, etc..)
2. Feed , O.K. for feeding to “animals”
3. Human grade , safe for feeding to people

Not a lot of information about this on the internet, but if you can find the “human grade”, it has a lot lower percentage of the bad chemicals in it, and is thus much safer to feed.

The OLD traditional reason for feeding flaxseed was for keeping the intestinal tract clean (colic prevention), and for a nice shiny coat. Unfortunately the “old” tradition of soaking and cooking are a little bit too old. (good mainly only for the soluble fiber)
Flaxseed should not be soaked, contact with water brings together the two elements in flaxseed which produce cianide.
And should not be cooked, it destroys a large percent of the great vitamins and essential fatty acids.
FEED IT FRESH GROUND in order to preserve all the vitamins and fatty acids. Only ONE simple rule, feed in small doses and you have no problems.
Or, if you are still worried, feed flaxseed oil. (only cold-pressed) BEST OIL FOR HORSES, period. (most Omega-3 of any oil -which most horses really need.

By: Sue

Sue — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 00:51:38 +0000

I have been feeding ground flaxseed to 4 of my horses for a year now. I buy a 50 lb. bag and grind it using a Black and Decker Coffee grinder I bought at Fry’s market place. You can fill it with a cup of seed and turn it on and let it grind away. I tried feeding whole seed initially. Found that when I did, my stalls were full of birds eating the seeds that the horses didn’t digest. They made a mess of my stalls, spreding the poop everywhere to get to all the seeds. That is when I turned to grinding it. I grind a 5 lb bucket once a week and keep it in the fridge to prevent it from going rancid. I started this per the recommendation of a vet because I have a tall 4 white socked paint gelding that was getting scratches every summer for the last 4 summers. After salves, medications, steroids and endless days of not riding because his legs hurt so bad he was lame, I was willing to try anything. This summer, NO scratches. All of my horses have amzing coats that shine with minimal grooming! Also found that they rub their manes and tails less during the summer now that I have them on the ground flaxseed. I feed a 4 oz. scoop once a day with their ultium and rice bran lunch bucket.

By: Remona

Remona — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 20:40:37 +0000

I only feed ground whole flaxseed during the summer months. I’ve never soaked it. I start them on it at the beginning of spring to help shed them out because it gets so hot here so fast and it leaves them nice and shiny. I have been doing this for years and have never had any problems. In the 46 years I’ve had horses I have had only 1 mild colic. Knock on wood. Once whole flax is ground it loses 10% of it’s nutritional value. The longer it sits as ground the more it loses. So for those who are buying ground flaxseed you’re wasting your money. get a coffee grinder and grind your own as needed. I use a holistic vet that highly recommends ground flaxseed as part of a horses diet.

By: Hank

Hank — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 00:42:39 +0000

How safe is Distillers grain to feed horse, this is dried varitety??

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 22:00:37 +0000

I havent seen anyone discuss feeding organic flaxseed oil instead of the milled or whole flaxseeds. Is it safe to feed the flaxseed oil and what is the correct dosage for a horse?

By: Savannah

Savannah — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 17:44:45 +0000

I have decided to start feeding my horses flaxseed. I’ve been researching online and it’s a 50/50 on how to feed it. Half the sites say to feed it whole, not boiled, not soaked (for the reason that the 2 components in cyanide are in it and boiling/soaking them will combine the 2 and make cyanide) and not grinded (loss of nutrients when grinded) and they also say that salyva etc. Will break down the 2 components of cyanide before it gets a chance to become cyanide.

What are your thoughts?

By: joannebache

joannebache — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 19:15:46 +0000

When flax is ground it is only good for about 15-20 mins. It makes perfect sense to purchase a small coffee grinder and grind as needed. Keep whole seeds in frig for freshness. Read Dr Budwig’s research on the correct use of flax seed and it does help with many aliments. Going to add to horse and dogs diet!

By: Carol

Carol — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 23:12:11 +0000

My Paint mare had horrible allergic reactions to tick bites. After asking/reading around I decided to add 1/2 cup of ground flax to her morning feed. WOW what an amazing difference! We are dilligent in tick/fly control at our barn, but the occasional bite slips through. My mare doesn’t have any greater reaction to it than any other horse since I added the flax. In the summer I pre-bag her supplements and keep them refrigerated to keep the flax fresh. It works amazingly well!

By: mary adams

mary adams — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 07:00:31 +0000

I was told that feeding flax seed to your horses could cause kidney and liver problems with them, I need to know if this is true because some people tell me that it is not true. Could you please clear this up for me, my friends and I are looking to giving it to them but we want to know if there is any fact in this. Please help us.

By: Jody

Jody — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 14:17:22 +0000

Everyone, thanks for your comments on this post. Because of the popularity of the flaxseed/supplement subject, I’m going to ask Dr. Lenz if he’s willing to do a follow-up article to answer all your questions. I’ll let you know when you can expect it!

Best wishes, and happy riding.

Jody Reynolds
AQHA Internet Editor

By: Kaitlin

Kaitlin — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 02:31:45 +0000

Hello,
So I am kinda confused, Is feeding whole flax seed alright for horses? My horse has a history of collic so she was put on sandclear at a young age. She hasn’t colliced since but someone told me I should start giving her flax seed. They told me it would also be good for her coat. I just don’t want anything to hurt her as she is already 17 almost 18. I have been doing some research and hears MANY different things said about feeding flax… she is 15.1 but is pretty stocky. She is boarded at a friends barn so I dont want to cause her too much pain feeding this but I wouldn’t mind starting her on it. Also, would feeding flax seed from a grocery store for people be aright? I mean is it the same thing? No feed store around me has flax right now so Im trying to figure out something. And would feeding flax hurt her while she is on sandclear? Could I still give her the sandclear? That is the only other suppliment she has besides a splash of corn oil. Any suggestions?!