Supplement du Jour o Miracle Cure? One horse with puzzling physical problems responds dramatically to this essential vitamin.
Vitamin E By Patti Schofler
When 15-year-old Oldenburg Beltane continually quit under saddle, owner Karen Mountain went through the usual litany of identifying problems and potential solu- tions—saddle, body work, ground work, vet calls. Nothing seemed to solve his problem. It didn’t
help that Beltane’s history was a difficult one. Karen bought him in 2013 as an 11-year-old. His owner had committed suicide, leaving him in her will to an event- ing trainer who then sold him to Karen. After eight months together, they were walking under saddle in the arena with another horse and rider, and the horse unexpectedly doubled barreled them, breaking Karen’s tibia and fibula. Karen hit the ground hard and also ruptured her rotator cuff. Beltane suffered a huge hematoma on his chest. Karen spent nine months in a wheelchair, while Belt-
ane was given the time off. In December of 2014, Karen put Beltane back to work with the help of eventer Kris- ten Orton. Despite their efforts, it was soon apparent the geld-
ing was not thriving. He wasn’t building muscle, he dragged his toes as he moved and, despite seven flakes of hay a day (two of them rich alfalfa), he was skinny and under muscled. “You may find you don’t have a riding horse,” Kristen warned Karen. “Everyone came out to look him over and we couldn’t
find anything wrong with him,” Karen says. “I could get him to go forward to the bit and then I couldn’t get him to go. He would throw his head and neck and spin around. He might start trotting and then stop, and just not move. A big guy at 17.2 hands, he had energy but didn’t want anyone on him.”
HER VETERINARIAN, Sandy Schuler, DVM, tried the classic tail-pull to test for neurological disease, which gave some indication of a problem, and the vet also noted he was abnormally weak in the hindquarters. She recommended a complete workup at the Univer- sity of California Davis Veterinary Hospital. There Belt- ane was run through neurologic testing, x-rays and eventually a nuclear scan that revealed slight arthritis in his neck and hocks. Neither were enough to cause such a resistance, though. As Karen left without a clear diagnosis, UC Davis veterinarians suggested she bring Beltane back when the head neurologist returned from a six- week leave. However, the UC Davis vets did find one thing. Beltane’s blood test showed a low level of vitamin E. Adequate range for
An early photo of Karen and Beltane.
plasma/serum concentrations of vitamin E in a horse is 2 μg/mL (microgram per milliliter) or above. His was 1.6 μg/mL. So Beltane went home to a regimen of 5000 IU (international units) of vitamin E, to be administered daily. “The vets suggested we start with ground work
since he hadn’t really worked in two years. My trainer, Erika Jansson, started him over low cavalletti,” Karen continues. “A friend who had had three neurologic horses, two which she put down, watched him and said her horses couldn’t even walk over the polls.” Beltane’s condition began to improve and soon he
Warmbloods Today 29
Valerie Soldate
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