ttt nutrition
Importance of Vitamin E in Horses
Vitamin E is the #1 antioxidant in the body, protecting individual cells every day
by Frank K. Reilly, DVM V
itamin E is in every cell of your horse’s body and unique in being able to cross into spinal
cord, brain, liver, eyes, heart, skin, and joints. In addition to being an antioxidant, Vitamin E is a “potent anti-inflammatory when given in high levels,” according to a University of Florida study.
Your horse does not make Vitamin E. Daily outside sources of Vitamin E are required to maintain the right blood and tissue levels to help protect cells. Nerve tissue especially requires Vitamin E to function properly. Horses quickly get deficient if they engage in moderate to high amounts of physical activity.
VITAMIN E IN GRASS Fresh forage (grass) has a good amount of Vitamin E, but requires about 12
ILLUSTRATION ABOVE: Imagine the outer membrane of cells as a fortress and Vitamin E as the archer on the wall stopping invading free radicals, which are created through normal metabolism.
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hours a day of grazing to get to the needed Vitamin E amounts. If your horse is on grass only a few hours a day, on a dirt lot, or has teeth issues and can’t graze correctly, they will be Vitamin E deficient.
Fresh grass changes throughout the year in its amount of Vitamin E. In October, the amount of Vitamin E in grass is very little. Levels in the winter (November-March) are at zero. Even on 12 hours of grazing April- September, horses will get only an estimated 1500-3000 units a day.
SUPPLEMENTATION IS NEEDED Neurological conditions like EPM require large doses of Vitamin E due to high oxidative stress quickly depleting Vitamin E. The AAEP recommends 10,000 IU a day for several months; in our practice we will have horses go on 20,000 IU a day for 7-10 days and drop back to 10,000 a day in severe neurological/PSSM cases.
In older horses, Vitamin E supplementation has been proven to increase antibody levels which can protect them from sickness and help ward off infections from Cushing’s disease. In broodmares, it is shown that supplemented Vitamin E did pass through to milk and increase Vitamin E levels in foals, and also increased immunity cell levels from the mare to the foal. This can avoid many early- stage infections in foals.
Hay has little to no Vitamin E due to curing and storage losses; most grains have only a very small amount and will not provide enough to maintain your horse.
Holistic Horse™ • August/September 2012 • Vol.19, Issue 80
Patrice Marsaudon
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