If you’ve looked at the Omega Fields’ lineup and wondered, “Which one is right for my horse?” You’re not alone.

Omega Horseshine®, Omega Horseshine Complete, and Omega Antioxidant Senior Care all have something important in common: they are built around premium, stabilized ground flaxseed, providing a concentrated source of omega-3 fatty acids.

But they aren’t interchangeable formulas.

Each formula serves a slightly different purpose, but all three start with the nutritional benefits of adding flaxseed to the diet. Complete provides a more comprehensive source of vitamins and minerals, while Antioxidant adds a broader range of plant- and vitamin-based antioxidants.

Here’s how to think about the differences.

Omega Horseshine® Original: A Flax-Focused Omega-3 Supplement

The Original Omega Horseshine® is the simplest place to start if you’re looking to add stabilized ground flaxseed and its naturally occurring fatty acids to your horse’s diet.

Omega Horseshine starts with premium stabilized ground flaxseed and adds biotin, oats, yeast, vitamins, and organic chelated minerals to enhance its nutritional value. These additional ingredients complement the flaxseed base, but Omega Horseshine primarily serves as an omega-3 supplement rather than a complete vitamin and mineral supplement.

The recommended daily maintenance amount is ½ to 1 cup per day, depending on the horse and their individual needs. One cup provides more than 30,000 mg of omega-3 fatty acids.

One of the practical benefits of this formula is its flexibility. Because the added vitamins and minerals do not provide the horse’s full daily requirements at the recommended feeding rate, the serving can be adjusted when additional flaxseed is desired.

Original Horseshine may be a good fit when you want to:

• Add stabilized ground flaxseed to an already-balanced diet
• Provide a concentrated source of omega-3 fatty acids
• Add dietary fat from whole ground flaxseed
• Keep the supplement simple and flexible
• Build flax into a ration that already gets its vitamins and minerals from another source

The Original Omega Horseshine is the flax-focused option, giving you plenty of flexibility with how much you’re feeding.

Omega Horseshine Complete: Flax Plus Comprehensive Nutritional Support

Omega Horseshine Complete starts with the same foundation of stabilized ground flaxseed, but takes the formula further.

Complete adds a much more substantial vitamin/mineral package, including vitamin E, biotin, zinc, iron, copper, niacin, selenium, thiamine, riboflavin, vitamins A, D3, B6, iodine, etc. The feeding rate matters because the formula is designed to provide those nutrients at the recommended serving. This makes it a different type of supplement from Original Horseshine. Rather than simply adding flax to an already-balanced ration, Complete is formulated to provide a broader range of nutritional support at its recommended feeding rate.

That’s an important distinction when it comes to feeding. With Complete, it’s important to follow the recommended feeding rate because the formula is designed to provide vitamins and minerals in the intended serving size. Feeding more isn’t necessarily better when a supplement is formulated to supply specific nutrients at a particular rate.

Complete may be a good fit when you want to:

• Add stabilized ground flaxseed while also providing additional nutrients
• Simplify a ration that needs more comprehensive supplementation
• Use one product to provide a broader range of nutritional support

Think of Complete as the more comprehensive vitamin & mineral option.

Omega Antioxidant: Flax Plus a Broader Antioxidant Blend

Omega Antioxidant is a different step beyond Original Horseshine, combining the nutritional benefits of stabilized ground flaxseed with a broader blend of plant- and vitamin-based antioxidants.

The formula includes six naturally occurring antioxidant compounds:

• Lignans
• Catechins
• Quercetin
• Taxifolin
• Phytosterols
• Tocopherols

It also contains folic acid and vitamin B-12. The flaxseed provides omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, while the antioxidant blend provides a wider range of antioxidant compounds from plant and vitamin sources.

Antioxidants occur naturally as part of normal metabolism, and help the body manage oxidative stress. Providing antioxidants from different sources is one way to broaden the antioxidant compounds available in the diet.

The recommended daily maintenance amount for Omega Antioxidant is ⅔ to 1⅓ cups per day, depending on the horse and their individual needs.

Omega Antioxidant does not provide a horse’s complete vitamin and mineral program at its recommended feeding rate. This gives you flexibility to increase the amount when you want to add more stabilized flax to the diet.

Omega Antioxidant may be a good fit when you want to:

• Add stabilized ground flaxseed to the diet
• Provide omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids
• Add a broader range of plant-based antioxidant compounds
• Include vitamin-based antioxidant support
• Focus on antioxidant support as an additional part of your horse’s nutritional program

Think of Omega Antioxidant as the flax + antioxidant option.

So What’s the Difference?

It can help to think about the three formulas this way:

Original Omega Horseshine:
Stabilized ground flaxseed for omega-3s, with additional nutritional ingredients to assure the proper nutrition is present for maximum omega-3 conversion.

Omega Horseshine Complete:
For adding stabilized ground flaxseed along with a comprehensive package of vitamins and minerals.

Omega Antioxidant Senior Care:
Stabilized ground flaxseed for omega-3s + a broader blend of plant- and vitamin-based antioxidants

All three are worth considering for a horse’s feeding program, the question is what you want the product to contribute to the rest of the ration.

What About Older Horses?

Older horses can have different nutritional considerations, particularly when maintaining body condition becomes more challenging.

Omega Fields has seen higher amounts of Original Horseshine or Omega Antioxidant recommended for senior horses when additional calories from fat and stabilized ground flaxseed are desired. For a 1,000-pound horse, the suggested amounts can reach 2 cups of Original Horseshine or 2⅔ cups of Omega Antioxidant per day, with additional amounts sometimes recommended based on the individual horse. We actually had a customer feeding a mash consisting of 4 cups Omega Horseshine and ground up Senior Formula to her 40+ year old horse. She said she thought that diet helped him live a good long life, even though he was toothless!

However, feeding those higher amounts depends on the individual horse and is not a universal requirement for senior horses.

For an older horse, the entire diet matters. When evaluating an older horse’s diet, consider their dental health, forage quality and availability, protein and calorie intake, vitamins and minerals, and ability to consume and digest their feed.

Which One Should You Choose?

There isn’t a single Horseshine formula that every horse needs.

Instead, start by looking at what your horse is already getting.

When your horse already has a balanced vitamin and mineral program and you’re primarily looking to add stabilized ground flaxseed and omega-3s, Original Horseshine may fit naturally into the ration.

If you want the flaxseed foundation along with a broader combination of vitamins & minerals, Horseshine Complete offers a more comprehensive formula.

If you’re looking for stabilized flaxseed along with a broader blend of plant- and vitamin-based antioxidants, Omega Antioxidant provides that additional focus.

And remember, more isn’t automatically better. Complete is specifically formulated around its recommended serving size, so feeding should stay within the recommended amount unless your equine nutritionist or veterinarian advises otherwise. Original Horseshine and Omega Antioxidant have more flexibility when additional flax is desired, but the horse’s entire diet should still be considered when determining an appropriate amount.

Choose the formula that complements what your horse is already getting from their hay, pasture, or other feed. As with any dietary change, consider working with your equine nutritionist or veterinarian to evaluate your horse’s complete ration and determine what makes sense for their individual needs.