Hey there! sorry it took so long for me to give you an update! I wanted to let my boy's diet settle before I let you know the results. In case you don't remember I had the buckskin with the coat problem of cronic dry skin, and really bad summer itch. So for about a month now he has been eating natural glo rice bran nuggets and ground flaxseed, topped with grand complete. When his winter coat shed off he had a gleaming gold coin coat underneath. He looks spectacular, even though his minor alergies to flies is still bugging him, but not nearly as much as in the past. Also, he hasn't rubbed his mane at all (usually he would be partially bald by now).

I do have a minor question though. The first week of june he was due for his vaccinations, as usual. I gave the 6 in one and let him have a few days, then gave the west nile. Well, after the west nile he had some mild swelling at the injection site, (a raised area a bit bigger than a fifty cent peice.) It has not gone away yet, I remember you saying omega 6's can excite the inflamatory response, since rice bran is relatively high in omega 6's, do you think it could have caused the swelling? He's never swelled after any vaccination before.

thank you very much!

Where are you from? CA

How did you locate this forum? originally, google

Hello Jamie,

How wonderful to hear that his skin has improved so dramatically! Yes, of course I remember Tequila! Thank you so much for the update.

Now, about the content of rice bran oil…

42% of the fatty acid content is in the form of a monounsaturated fatty acid. This is excellent for the heart and other vital organs. Approximately 39% of the fatty acids are in the form of Omega 6 - Linoleic Acid. Too much of this type of fatty acid can increase the inflammatory response, just as you said. However, this fatty acid is not produced by the body and therefore must be in the diet. The problem arises when horses are fed soybean oil and corn oil, for example, which has nearly 65% of its fatty acid content in the form of Omega 6.

So, I don’t think the rice bran oil contributed to the swelling. What I think happened is the over-exertion of the immune system when he was vaccinated with the 6-in-1 vaccinations. So many vaccinations at one time can be problematic for the immune system of many horses. So, even though it was a few days later, it may not have been long enough to wait before giving the West Nile vaccine.

Or, this may not be the problem at all and it may have something to do with the way the vaccine was administered. Or it may be a stress response if you just exercised him hard. In any case, no real harm was likely done. Of course, if the swelling does not go down, or even gets worse, I would call your vet.

Please keep me posted on how he’d doing. And, thank you again for the wonderful report!

All the best,

Dr. Getty