I ve heard that rice bran is very good for horses; what kind of horses should I feed it to?
Rice bran that is fed to horses is the rice hull leftover after processing rice. It contains about 13 14% protein and 18 20% fat. The fat component is the reason rice bran has become a popular feed. The fat contributes energy to the horse s diet. Rice bran has also some components that have taken on “mythical” properties. Two of these are tocotrienol and gamma oryzanol. Tocotrienol is a form of vitamin E that may be a useful antioxidant. Gamma oryzanol is a substance whose actions are not clearly identified. It is a substance that is purported to “help build muscle” but is also felt to cause ulcers in young horses. Rice bran diets were initially designed to “treat” horses with polysaccharide storage myopathy (seen in some lines of QH, Belgians, Thoroughbreds, Percherons etc) who cannot metabolize carbohydrates. These horses must be fed a high fat diet. Latterly, rice bran has developed a following by many owners of athletic horses. However, the benefits of high fat diets depend entirel
