Nutritional Supplements

From: Susan Marsh

Of all the horse vitamins/nutrients out there, what are a horse's "real" requirements for his/her certain area and how can you be sure he/she is getting enough or not enough? Susan Marsh

Hi Susan -- this is a difficult question to answer, because there will be a different answer for every horse, in every area, and there will be different answers for the SAME horse at different ages, in different phases of life, and depending on its workload, environment, and general health.

I can't give you specific answers, but I can tell you how to find out more about equine nutrition generally, and about your own area and your horse's nutrition in particular.

First, you have human sources of information: your veterinarian and your county extension agent. Talk to them both! These are the people who know your horse, and your part of the country, best. Your veterinarian will know what your horse's situation is, what his nutritional needs are likely to be, and he will also be able to tell you if there is a particular vitamin-mineral supplement formulated just for your area. Your extension agent will be able to tell you what sort of soil is in your area, and what deficiencies there tend to be in locally-produced hay and grain crops.

Don't supplement at random, and don't mix and match. It's expensive and can be dangerous -- overdosing water-soluble vitamins, such as biotin is pointless and costly (the excess is lost in the urine), and overdosing other nutrients such as fat-soluble vitamins (A, for instance) or selenium, can cause severe or even fatal damage to your horse's health. And feeding too much of one vitamin can actually work to create a deficiency in another -- so be sensible. ;-)

If your horse gets good hay, good grain, salt, and fresh water, that may be all he needs! If he is an easy keeper and doesn't do much work, he may not even need the grain -- your vet can advise you. If you want to supplement his diet with ONE supplement formulated for (or appropriate to) your area, your vet can suggest one. If you want to add a special supplement that is advertised as improving horses' hair coats, feet, or bloom, talk to your vet before you buy, and tell him what you are feeding NOW. Many formulated feeds -- pellets and pellet-and-grain mixes -- have been carefully balanced to provide the right nutrients in the correct amounts -- supplementing may unbalance your horse's nutrition.

The NRC has established nutrient requirements for horses, and that information is available on diskette from the NRC.

Another, easily-obtained and excellent printed source of information is FEEDING AND CARE OF THE HORSE (second edition, softbound) by Lon D. Lewis. It's very readable, and offers much more depth and breadth of information than the 'nutrition' chapters in horse-care books. Any bookstore can order this for you -- the ISBN is 0-683-04967-4.

If you want a quick guide to drugs and supplements, there is David W. Ramey's MEDICATIONS AND SUPPLEMENTS FOR THE HORSE (another softbound book). The ISBN is 0-87605-916-7.

Jessica

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