selenium

[mink]

wondering if any of you people use a selenium product for your horses and which seems to be the best for them as all the articles seem to suggest that the north east is very low or non existant levels of it………mink

[jen judkins]

Mink, I would check a selenium level before you consider adding selenium to your horses diet. Most commercial feeds and supplements contain some vit E and selenium, so check your labels also.’

Remember that Polo Pony team that died last spring? Selenium overdose. The compounding pharmacy made a decimal point error (5mg in stead of 0.5mg). Horses were dead in hours.

Here’s what I know about selenium. Its absorption is aided by adequate amounts of vit E, which is why most selenium supplements are a combination of both E and Se. Sulfur in the diet can inhibit its absorption. So if you have a horse on garlic or a joint supplement (some, not all contain MSM which is a sulfur compound) you could be creating a selenium deficiency over time.

You are right, the NE is considered a selenium deficient soil region. So its definately something to consider if your horses are having problems. Just follow label directions when feeding E-Se and don’t overdo it.

I feed a zinc-copper-manganese-selenium product made my Dynamite for 10 days three times a year. They have a teensy bit in their daily supplement (something like 4 ppm). I haven’t tested them for awhile, but they are all doing very well. Good luck. Jennifer

[mink]

my horses are in very nice body condition but i was wondering as the vet came into the neighbors barn and looks at his horses and makes the comment that they all are selenium defficient. his horses all have good body condition also , so it just got me wondering if any of the other draft horse people use something . i guess sometimes like the old saying goes if its not broke dont fix it might apply . thanks for the reply jen

[jen judkins]

Mink, I’m not sure how a vet could pick up selenium deficiency just by looking unless the horse were in bad shape. Selenium has a role in immune function as well as muscle metabolism. So deficient horses show symptoms such as ‘tying up’, muscle spasm, excessive sweating (out of proportion to work load). Most selenium deficient horses are lame and unable to work. Immune dysfunction can be alittle harder to figure out, but still….if your neighbor’s horses look healthy, they are not seriously deficient. Not saying they couldn’t benefit from supplementation, just saying the vet was just guessing;)

[drafthossluvr]

hi, we feed selenium to our horses when we notice shaky legs, or they are “soft” and not “hard” and we are building their muscle. We buy it in a big tub with a scooper. also, if we get a horse that is thin and vitamin/mineral deff. and we know it then we will automatically start give him a scoop at his night time graining.

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