Supplement Hero or Zero: Stride Animal Health Fish Oil Factor

Let me start by saying, I don’t like giving negative reviews but I feel that it is necessary to be honest. If you (like me) research and read reviews before spending your hard earned money than I owe it to you to give my opinion (good or bad). I also never buy a product that I am not sure I will like but sometimes the product proves me wrong and does not live up to my expectations. I also know that supplements can take awhile to show results and I always make sure to give them a fair amount of time to prove if they work.

So, with that disclaimer out of the way, I can jump in and tell you about Stride Animal Health’s Fish Oil Factor. This was a product that I was super excited to try. One of my favorite podcasts is the Feed Room Chemist and the podcast host is an equine nutritionist who talked about Fish Oil Factor. I have a horse who is allergic to fly bites and suffers all summer unless he stays on a flax supplement (you can read the review for my favorite flax supplement here). Fish Oil Factor combines flax seed, fish oil, rice bran and vegetable oil to create the ideal balance of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. This blend is designed to provide a silky, shiny, healthy coat, help support circulation and normal immune response and maintain hoof pliability and moisture.

I like the idea of adding fish oil to the flax seed because flax contains alpha-linolenic acid which must be converted to DHA and EPA in order to be beneficial. This conversion can be inefficient and may not always provide the amount of DHA and EPA needed to provide all the benefits necessary. Feeding your horse fish oil is one way to directly supplement their diet with DHA and EPA. Compared to plant sources which contain minimal or no DHA and EPA, fish oil is rich in these beneficial fatty acids and provides a favourable ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fats. This is a great article that talks about all the benefits of fish oil and DHA/EPA if you want to do a deep dive. It seems like a win-win for me except horses don’t eat fish in the wild and sadly none of mine would eat it either.

I tried off and on for 6 months and even Shooter (who will eat anything) turned his nose up at it. He would eat it for a day or two and then just leave it in his feeder. My other horses just flat out refused to eat it and when I was taking these pictures with Scout she wouldn’t even lick it. They absolutely want nothing to do with it. I suppose if I mixed it in molasses covered sweet feed they might consider eating it but adding all that sugar would definitely outweigh any benefit of the Fish Oil Factor. This supplement is a grainy, oily mix with an unpleasant sweet, fishy odor.

Sadly, even though I like the concept and would like my horses to have the benefits of fish oil, it is a zero for me. It is also quite expensive ($115 for 90 servings) and my horses all look great on a less expensive flax seed supplement (Simply Flax $33). If you are interested in Stride Animal Health’s Fish Oil Factor you can learn more about it and order it here.

“Nope, not going to eat it.”