How Mycotoxins Affect Horses and How Supplements Can Help
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n this issue Alltech’s European Technical Manager, Dr Helen Warren explains the impact of mycotoxins on horses.
Mycotoxins are toxic chemicals produced by some types of mould growth under certain conditions and can occur in growing, harvested or stored cereal and forage crops. One of the key difficulties in identifying risk is that mycotoxins can be present without the presence of mould. Equally, not all mould growth indicates the presence of mycotoxins.
Horses are exposed to mycotoxins via feed materials and grazing, as well as bedding. This latter is an important consideration and one that’s often over-looked. Acute mycotoxicosis (mycotoxin poisoning) is rare in the UK and the more likely scenario is chronic exposure to low levels of multiple mycotoxins presenting an ongoing challenge. Mycotoxicosis has the potential to suppress the immune system and has been associated to a wide range of conditions, from general lack of form, hypersensitivity and loss of well-being, through to colic, liver damage and even death. Horses ingesting mycotoxins run the risk of suffering from poor condition, lethargy, depression and lameness. For horses, important mycotoxins include aflatoxins, zearalenone and fumonisins. High-risk groups include horses whose immune system may already be under pressure: broodmares, youngstock, veterans, performance horses, those in poor condition, poor health or recovering from illness, for example. Mycotoxins have also been mentioned as a possible factor in Grass Sickness.
The concern for horses in relation to mycotoxins is predominantly the effect that consistent, low level exposure may have on athletic performance and breeding capability without the appearance of any specific symptoms. Unlike commercially bred livestock, horses can have a long lifespan and may therefore be expected to reproduce successfully in their later years. For this reason, the relative ‘safe’ level of mycotoxins allowed within the diet is unknown.
More equine specific research is required, but leading figures in the industry agree that it is an area requiring attention. Suffice to say, all horses come into contact with mycotoxins on a daily basis and good management practices, such as using quality feedstuffs, careful production and storage of feedstuffs and ensuring a fully balanced diet, can reduce but never eliminate, exposure. However, as contamination is unavoidable, one option would be to include a mycotoxin adsorbent, such as Alltech’s Forage Guard in the horse’s diet. Forage Guard is a natural feed material produced from yeast cell wall and micro-algae, which specifically binds mycotoxins and removes them from the gut.
The active ingredient in Forage Guard has a substantial and broad-spectrum capacity to rapidly bind multiple mycotoxins. It offers many advantages over the alternative - clay binders - which require high inclusion rates and can also remove key nutrients in the diet.
Horses cannot avoid exposure to mycotoxins but with good management practices and the dietary inclusion of a proven mycotoxin adsorbent it is possible to significantly reduce potentially harmful effects.
A 5kg tub of Forage Guard® retails at £45 and contains a 100 day supply.
For further information please visit
www.lifeforcehose.co.uk or telephone 01780 764512.
FORAGE GUARD®
20
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019
For the latest news visit
www.centralhorsenews.co.uk
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