Fats

1. Fats Kaitlin Gurga Alexis Ravert

2. What is fat? Fat is an energy source, like carbohydrates. The elements found in fat are carbon hydrogen, and oxygen. Fat is a 2.25 times more concentrated energy source than carbohydrates.

3. What are the functions of fat in the horse’s body? • Fats are necessary in a horse's diet in order to absorb fat-soluble vitamins • It also provide linoleic acid, which is the essential fatty acid. • The use of fats also improves hair coat

4. Con’t • It increases the energy of a horse without increasing the amount of feed • Fats have also shown to have an effect on reproduction. • It also provides body heat and carries some vitamins.

5. How can fats be supplemented to horses? • Fats are supplemented as either tallow which is animal fat. • The fat is more commonly supplemented in vegetable fat, like corn oil.

6. How are fats absorbed and excreted? • Fats exist in the triglycerides. • Triglycerides are broken down into three fatty acids and one glycerol molecule. • The fats are then absorbed into the small intestine. • When carbohydrates are not readily avali, the body looks for something else to burn. • The body moves to the energy provided by the fats and burns that off.

7. Examples of fats and how they are fed. • Saturated Fats 2 hydrogen atoms attached to each carbon. • Saturated fat is fat that consists of triglycerides containing only saturated fatty acid radicals • Oxidation or hydrolysis will cause saturated fatty acids to become rancid. • Causing bad flavors and/ or odors in the feed. • The bad flavor and/or odor reduces the value of the feed since it is less palatable.

8. Con’t • Unsaturated FatsAlso known as essential fatty acids (EFA) because they are considered to be necessary for good health. • Rations fed on farms usually have enough EFAs to meet the need of a horse. • Digestion will separate the EFAs from glycerol molecules. • Fatty acids are then absorbed into the bloodstream where it is distributed to parts of the body and combined with glycerol to form fat. • The fat deposits in the muscle tissues, this is called marling. • The fat stored in fatty tissues, or adipose, contains reserved energy that the horse will use to stay alive if the feed supply was cut off.

9. Toxicity • If you feed the horse too much fatty foods, the horse will become overweight and unhealthy. Making death and illness more likely to occur.

10. Deficiency • If the horse is not fed enough fatty foods, the horse will become unhealthy. The horse will be very skinny and make death and illness more likely to occur.