Chromium supplement?

[Nic]

Hi all, I'm looking for recommendations/experiences of using chromium supplements, particularly relating to use in horses suffering from PSSM/ chronic ERS.

Would be grateful of any experiences.

Thanks

 

[khalswitz]

Hi all, I'm looking for recommendations/experiences of using chromium supplements, particularly relating to use in horses suffering from PSSM/ chronic ERS.

Would be grateful of any experiences.

Thanks

My horse has PSSM/Shivers, and I've done a LOT of research on it and as far as I was aware additional chromium was bad... a quick Google reveals this: "Supplementation with oral chromium (5 mg/day) has been suggested to calm horses and improve their responses to exercise possibly by affecting glucose and glycogen metabolism, possibly by potentiating the action of insulin. The purported calming effect of chromium may be beneficial in horses with recurrent exertional rhabdomyolysis because it appears that stress is a critical precipitator of this disorder. However, because PSSM horses display abnormal sensitivity to insulin, chromium supplementation may be counterproductive in these animals." http://www.aaep.org/health_articles_view.php?id=210

Vit E, Selenium, and to a lesser degree Zinc and Magnesium are good to supplement PSSM horses with, as well as making sure you have plenty of lysine - mine doesn't get extra selenium as is on a high selenium feed plus our ground tests well, and gets a vit e and magnesium supp, as well as a high lysine balancer.