By Michelle Grimmer & Barbara Noble
First of all, Niko is doing GREAT! Two years after adopting him and starting down the road to
unraveling the puzzle of his various mental
and
physical issues, I can finally say that he is doing well and moving soundly. Time, patience, persistence, a team of caring professionals, therapeutic exercise, hoof trimming, tack fitting, dentistry, structural integration, chiropractic adjustments, the list could go on. While we attacked things on the outside of the horse, and the inside of his brain, we have also addressed what we put into him in terms of the feed and nutrients required for healthy body building and tissue repair. A hay balancing supplement has been introduced to his feeding regimen along with magnesium, a joint supplement (makes me feel good at least, even if the jury is out on its actual benefits), and vitamin E.
First of all, Niko is doing GREAT! Two years after adopting him and starting down the road to
physical issues, I can finally say that he is doing well and moving soundly. Time, patience, persistence, a team of caring professionals, therapeutic exercise, hoof trimming, tack fitting, dentistry, structural integration, chiropractic adjustments, the list could go on. While we attacked things on the outside of the horse, and the inside of his brain, we have also addressed what we put into him in terms of the feed and nutrients required for healthy body building and tissue repair. A hay balancing supplement has been introduced to his feeding regimen along with magnesium, a joint supplement (makes me feel good at least, even if the jury is out on its actual benefits), and vitamin E.
About a year ago, the importance of supplementing Vitamin E
appeared on my radar. A client’s horse who had previously been starved (almost
to death) was having difficulty developing good quality healthy muscle. His
muscles were stiff and tight, and he was having balance issues. A strong pull
of his tail would cause him to stagger sideways. His owner called the
veterinarian, who after a thorough examination prescribed the maximum
therapeutic dose of natural Vitamin E (5000 iu). Studies show that vitamin E
deficiency is fairly common in stabled, hay-fed horses, and is implicated in a
variety of neuromuscular disorders. Within two months, the horse’s condition
dramatically improved. His balance and muscle condition improved significantly,
and I began looking into what supplementation with Vitamin E was all about.
The first thing I learned was that unless our horses have
access to pasture grazing, they need to be on a vitamin E supplement. The main
source of vitamin E for our horses is grass, and studies show that once the
grass is cut and made into hay, the natural vitamin E begins to break down. The
less fresh pasture (and the older the hay) the horse has access to, the more vitamin E needs to come
from other sources. Most processed feeds will contain supplemental vitamin E in
synthetic form, also known as dl-alpha-tocopherol. The synthetic form is less
expensive and more stable, but unfortunately less beneficial to the horse. The
natural form, alpha-tocopherol, is the go-to for supplementation because it is
more bio-available. It must be obtained as a separate supplement (available
online).
I then turned the question about synthetic vs natural
vitamin E over to our local nutrition guru, Barbara Noble, who shared this:
Puzzling about the natural vs synthetic paradigms of
vitamin E, I went looking. After much reading, I want to share with you current
critical thinking regarding vitamin supplementation, specifically, Vitamin E.
There are synthetic and natural vitamin supplements, and in most cases the
difference is price. Synthetic vitamins are cheaper, and all are said to
be identical to natural vitamins, EXCEPT
for vitamin E.
When vitamin E is synthesized it comes out in eight
different forms. Its molecular structure has elements in different
positions from the natural vitamin, with only 12.5% similarity, and the body
recognizes the difference. In humans, all vitamin E forms are absorbed in the
intestine, and then the majority of the absorbed vitamin E is delivered to the
liver. In the liver, a protein preferentially selects the naturally
occurring form to secrete into the circulation for delivery to the
tissues. So we apparently get much less benefit from the synthetic
variety.
Most of us have never had the vitamin E level in either
ourselves or our horses tested, and never will. Anecdotally, equine
veterinarian and nutritionist Dr. Kellon reports that she has had two client
horses who had their vitamin E levels tested and despite being on
supplementation the level was low in each horse.
The take home message here is that when Vitamin E
supplementation is needed, we get the most benefit by feeding natural vitamin E
(look for d-alpha-tocopherol) as opposed to synthetic. One more caveat is that being a fat soluble
vitamin, natural vitamin E is better absorbed if it is fed with an oil.
Flax as a carrier meets that need as flax is 35-40% fat content, Omega 3 and
Omega 6 to be specific, both considered ‘good’ fats.
I would like to encourage everyone to learn more about
supplementation. We feed a lot of things to our horses trying to do the right thing. It can get so confusing!
Some peer-reviewed studies for your reading pleasure:
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