“Animal fat is commonly used as a fat supplement for horses, cattle,swine, poultry, etc. It’s virtually the same in digestibility as vegetable-derived fats and has about the same energy level.

The advantange to using the crystallized fat is that it’s very often more palatable to the horse, as it doesn’t have the slimy texture to it. It stays fresher much longer than liquid oil and is easy to store as long as it doesn’t go over about a hundred degrees, when it starts to melt.

Some people are horrified over the very idea of feeding an animal fat to horses, that it’s “unnatural”. But, nutritionally, it’s perfectly acceptable, causes no physiological disadvantages and is no more unnatural than most of the other things we ask horses to do for us. It’s okay if someone doesn’t feel comfortable feeding animal fat, but by the same standards, they also shouldn’t use leather tack or bristle brushes or neatsfoot oil. And for that matter, feeding fats of any kind, or large amounts of grain, or even hay at all is a deviation from what the horse would be eating in the wild. Don’t mean this to turn
into a soapbox, but I thought it likely the subject might come up at some point.”

If you want to increase the fat levels in your horse’s diet – try feeding tested-chemical-free whole grains which have not been fractionated to remove the fat for other uses (most corn, soy, rice have been fractionated through petroleum distillation and are NOT good sources of fat once in this form). Other great, and healthy sources of fat are coconut oil, chia seed and fresh ground or cold press flax.

Trust your horse’s innate knowledge – if you put a steak in his feeder he would cringe in disgust – it is not an appropriate food source for herbivores!

Kay Aubrey-Chimene (past endurance enthusiast – never a top 10er)
BioNutritional Consultant
Grand Adventures Ranch
Holistic Equine Wellness Center
Sonoita, Arizona