What are the symptoms of selenium deficiency in horses?

What are the symptoms of selenium deficiency in horses?

What are the best sources of selenium in your horse's diet?

It is estimated that over one million horses in the U.S. Are currently suffering from selenium deficiency.

The signs of selenium deficiency include listlessness, weight loss, poor coat and skin, decreased fertility, swollen joints, increased incidence of ulcers, and/or colic. Selenium deficiency is easy to diagnose and inexpensive to treat; however, an accurate diagnosis often takes several weeks, which can severely delay treatment. There are several different treatments available to correct selenium deficiency. All have their place in an integrated care plan, and one or more may need to be used concurrently.

Selenium in Horses. Selenium deficiency has been around for a long time, possibly going back to ancient Egypt and Greece. As early as the 1940s, selenium supplementation was reported to improve horse health and performance, when it was first introduced into the western diet. Since then, it has continued to be added to our horses' diets at very low levels in the belief that it will prevent or delay the onset of disease. However, there are so many conflicting reports regarding the role of selenium in promoting health that one question becomes clearer every day: does selenium play a vital role in promoting good health in the horse, or does it merely provide some benefit to the horse's immune system?

We need just a few grams per day, but humans and other animals generally get much more than that on a daily basis. Selenium is a trace mineral that plays a critical role in the health and wellness of both human beings and animals, including horses. It performs its functions through a family of selenoproteins, some of which are critical components of enzymes that perform crucial functions throughout the body. The most important ones are GPx3 and thioredoxin reductase. These enzymes catalyze reactions in which selenium-containing proteins like glutathione peroxidase reduce the harmful peroxides that result from cellular oxidative metabolism. These are the compounds that lead to DNA and protein damage, inflammation, and tissue injury.

Many things affect selenium metabolism in animals, including genetics, age, stress, environmental factors, and nutritional status. As a trace element, selenium is easily stored in muscle and fat tissues and transported in the bloodstream.

What are vitamin E and selenium good for in horses?

Vitamin E and selenium is an essential vitamin that can be found in all foods, in plant or animal.

The most common form of these vitamins is known as tocopherol or vitamin E. Selenium which is also known as inorganic forms of Se is an essential trace mineral that is found in all foods but mostly in fish, shellfish and whole grains.

Why should horses receive vitamin E and selenium? Both vitamin E and selenium offer horse owners the benefits of protecting their horse's skin from the sun damage, it has been proven that these two nutrients can help with the recovery after a horse's sore or injured joints. It can actually help healing the cartilage damage caused from a joint injury.

It has been proven that both vitamins have good effects on horses. They are not toxic when given in healthy doses of 1.0-2.0 mg/kg bodyweight per day, but the same is true about their toxic dosage limit. The recommended daily amount for adult horses is 40 - 60 IU (International Units) per kg bodyweight per day. Both Vitamin E and selenium are beneficial to a horse, but in different ways.

What is selenium good for in horses? One of the benefits of selenium is as anti-oxidant that helps the horse's immune system, in addition, studies have shown that selenium is very beneficial for treating horses with inflammation, including arthritis and fibrosis and helps prevent hoof cracks and corns. Many people will add selenium to their horse's diet because of its antioxidant effect. It does however tend to be expensive, especially as most people have no idea how much horse they need. What horse needs to be given selenium doses per month per kg?

Well, not as much as humans who must get 70 mcg per day, but horses need 300 mcg per kg of bodyweight. The recommended dose for maintenance of stable horses is 40 - 70 mcg per kg of bodyweight per day.

Selenium is considered to be an 'essential' part of a horse's diet in the same way as Zinc and Copper are.