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Hyaluronic acid (HA) is an integral component of synovial fluid and articular cartilage. It is responsible for lubrication of the joint surfaces. While glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate work mainly as the building block for cartilage, HA is more beneficial to the joint fluid, which nourishes the joint and provides shock absorbing properties. Hyaluronic acid has been found to be helpful in controlling joint pain, heat, and swelling. The recommended... Read More »
Category : Tips and Topics | Valuable Nutrients
Vitamin E is essential for the performance horse Vitamin E, the major lipid-soluble antioxidant defense in cells, plays an important role in preserving cell membrane integrity. It also helps maintain normal muscle function, prevent muscular disease, and protect enzymes and other intracellular components from oxidation-induced damage. Vitamin E interrupts the production of harmful free radicals at the initial stage of peroxidative damage. The more... Read More »
Category : Essential Vitamins | Tips and Topics
Packed with energy Fat is an effective energy source for horses. Pound for pound, fats provide 2.25 times more energy than carbohydrates. In a natural state, horses consume only small amounts of fats, but they digest and absorb them well. Fats are broken down into fatty acids in the small intestine and stored as triglycerides in the adipose tissue of the body. Fat is utilized to fuel long-term, slow work. Some fat is necessary Fat is necessary for the... Read More »
Category : Fat & Fiber | Nutritional Minutes | Tips and Topics
In healthy joints, the ends of the bones are coated with a thin layer of friction-reducing tissue known as articular cartilage. The articular cartilage contains synovial fluid, a thick liquid that serves two primary functions: (1) as a source of nutrients for the articular cartilage, and (2) as a lubricant and shock absorber for the bones that form a joint. Lameness can result when damage occurs to any joint tissue, whether it involves the bones,... Read More »
Category : Tips and Topics | Valuable Nutrients
Vitamins are often clumped together as a single entity, and the contributions of individual ones are sometimes overlooked. In recent years, scientists have been taking a closer look at vitamin E. Though the nutrient was first discovered more than 80 years ago, the scientific community continues to find new uses for this much-heralded vitamin. The far-reaching effects of vitamin E in equine nutrition are well known. Vitamin E plays imperative roles in... Read More »
Category : Essential Vitamins | Tips and Topics
MYTH: Fat is an unsuitable ingredient in the diets of endurance horses. FACT: Fat is not only a perfectly acceptable component in the diets of all performance horses, it sometimes proves to be a necessary ingredient. Due to the intense work that endurance horses perform, many are unable to maintain optimal body condition when fed forages (pasture and hay) and traditional concentrates (textured or pelleted sweet feed). Because fats contain more than two... Read More »
Category : Fat & Fiber | Tips and Topics
Horses are managed in varying conditions throughout the world. A vast number of them do not have access to growing pasture year-round due to geographic region, season, training schedules, or specific management routines. Because of their limited intake of fresh forages, these horses do not consume sufficient vitamin E for optimal health. Insufficient vitamin E in the diet can lead to muscle problems and impaired immune function. Canadian researchers... Read More »
Category : Essential Vitamins | Tips and Topics
Selenium is an essential trace mineral. It is necessary to maintain good health but is needed only in small amounts. Selenium naturally occurs in the soil and is absorbed by both the forages and grains we feed to our horses. Since the selenium content of soils varies around the world, feeds grown in different areas will contain different selenium levels. In the U.S., for example, the northwest, southeast and Great Lakes areas are known to be... Read More »
Category : Macro & Micro Minerals | Nutritional Minutes | Tips and Topics
FDA sets safe level for average horse The FDA has set a daily recommended level of selenium for an “average” horse at a total of 3 mg per day. This is a very safe level of selenium consumption and well below the maximum tolerable or poisonous limits. (See Nutritional Minute, Part I – Selenium.) When determining if your horse’s diet contains adequate selenium, you can use this average as a good reference point but since each horse is an... Read More »
Category : Macro & Micro Minerals | Nutritional Minutes | Tips and Topics
Vitamin E is an essential nutrient for horses and is beneficial in combating the many effects of free radical production that can damage membranes and components of cells. As such, vitamin E appears to be most beneficial to young rapidly growing foals, pregnant mares, stallions, and especially equine athletes. Natural and synthetic sources of vitamin E, unlike other vitamins, have different structures, and the natural form is transported quickly and... Read More »
Category : Essential Vitamins | Tips and Topics
