Selenium – When and When Not to Supplement

Selenium, unlike most other minerals, has a very narrow range of safety. Too little, and your horse can develop muscle weakness, difficulty moving, and respiratory distress. If iodine is too high, along with low selenium intake, the thyroid gland can be damaged.

 

If selenium is consumed at a slightly high level for a period of time, the chronic condition known as alkali disease can occur. Alkali disease is characterized by hair loss along the mane and tail and the hooves will crack around the coronary band. This occurs because selenium replaces the naturally existing sulfur found in keratin, resulting in poor hair growth and hoof tissue breakdown.

 In general, the total amount of selenium in the daily diet should be between 1 to 3 mg for the average sized horse at maintenance and up to 5 mg per day for the working horse.

 

The first step in calculating your horse’s intake is to evaluate your pasture and/or hay. In general, low selenium levels exist in the northeast, the Ohio valley, Florida, the northwestern portions of the U.S., and parts of Canada. The illustration below may give you an idea of the selenium concentration in your area. But pockets of high-selenium soils can exist throughout the country’s midsection. Therefore, it is always advisable to have your hay and pasture tested, especially if there is anecdotal evidence of high concentrations in your area. . If at all possible, sending a sample in to a reputable lab such as Equi-Analytical Labs – www.equi-analytical.com will remove any uncertainty.

 

 

Next, examine the amount of selenium in your horse’s feed and supplements. Add up the selenium content from all sources (see the quiz below to learn how to calculate selenium content and the Tip of the Month explains how to interpret a ppm).

 

If, after doing your calculations, you find that supplementation is needed, consider adding selenium to the diet. Selenium supplements are generally packaged with vitamin E. This is because selenium and vitamin E work together as an “antioxidant team.”

 

A word of caution…  if you are trying to increase vitamin E in your horse’s diet, be careful of vitamin E supplements that have added selenium, especially if your horse is already getting enough selenium from other sources. If you want to add more vitamin E to the diet, choose a supplement that only contains vitamin E.

 

The more you know about your horse’s selenium intake, the better able you’ll be to make necessary adjustments and maintain his overall health.

 

 

The above article offers some of the basics on selenium in your horse’s diet. For more details, please refer to Feed Your Horse Like A Horse:

·         Chapter 5 – Fundamentals of Minerals. Pages 75-77.

·         Chapter 13 – Metabolic and Endocrine Disorders. Pages 215-216.

·         Chapter 15 – Joints, Hair, Hooves and Skin. Page 272.

·         Chapter 18 – Breeding, Pregnancy, and Lactation. Pages 332-333.

·         Chapter 19 – Growth and Growing Old. Pages 355-358; 362-363.

·         Chapter 20 – Athletes. Pages 375-386.

·         Appendix – Crunching Numbers. Pages 398; 404-405.

 

 

Helpful supplements

May 2011 Forage for Thought

 

Selenium supplements are generally packaged with vitamin E. There are many from which to choose. Here are a few examples:

 

·         Selen AT (Horsetech): http://gettyequinenutrition.biz/products/selenat.htm  Contains selenium yeast and natural vitamin E.

·         Su-Per E/Se Natural (Gateway): http://gettyequinenutrition.biz/products/superese.htm  Nice way to provide a larger amount of vitamin E without too much selenium. Two scoops provide 2,000 IU of vitamin E and 1.03 mg of Selenium.

·         When only needing vitamin E (if your horse is already receiving enough selenium), consider SuPer E Natural (Gateway): http://gettyequinenutrition.biz/products/superenatural.htm

For permission to reprint this article, in part or in its entirety, arrange for a private consultation or schedule Dr. Getty as a speaker, please contact her directly at drgetty@gettyequinenutrition.biz .