Vitamin E

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I have started adding oil to my horses feed to add condition but have heard that vitamin E should also be added to help them digest the oil properly.

Has anyone else heard this? And if so where can you buy vitamin E for horses from, or do you use human supplements?

Thanks
 
If you are only feeding a drop of oil you should be okay but if feeding larger quantities then it is advised to use a Vitamin E supplement. I use the 1000iu human grade gel caps and snip them in half.
 
I have gradually increased the amount up to about half a cup full, and will possibly increase a bit more too.

Do you just use normal human vitamin E capsules or do you get the one that is mixed with Selenium?
 
If you are feeding more than a mugful a day (for a 500g horse) then it will need supplementing, any less and it doesn't :).
 
Selenium you need to be careful with - better to find out the level in your grazing before you feed it.

I feed my old boy Vit E as his dodgy teeth means he may not get enough from the forage like a younger horse would.

You can buy Vit E powder, but I have heard it is better to feed it in oil form for absorption.

I feed 2 of the 1000iu gelcaps, squeezed into each feed.
 
You do need vitamin E when feeding oil - why not 'phone one of the UK companies that makes a Vit E supplement like Equine Products UK - I've asked them about other supplements and they were really helpful. you can find the 'phone number on the web - and they make all their own products int he UK, which I like.
 
Emma13 said:
I have started adding oil to my horses feed to add condition but have heard that vitamin E should also be added to help them digest the oil properly.

Has anyone else heard this? And if so where can you buy vitamin E for horses from, or do you use human supplements?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Found interesting link to vitamin E, http://www.horse-sense.org/archives/2001017.php apparently lack of it in the diet can cause EPSM and EDM which I'd never heard of before despite having owned a wobbler and extensively researching the condition.

I remember the vet saying to me years ago that vitamin E cream/oil from human capsules rubbed into a sarcoid daily for a few weeks will cause the sarcoid to fall off, as was the case with one of my horses sacoids but think that was more the rubbing motion than the vitamin E myself.

Apparently Vitamin E supplements often have selenium included and as Oberon quite rightly says, selenium toxicity is likely unless you exercise extreme caution when feeding.
 
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For those who are currently feeding vitamin e capsules, do you just pop the capsules into the food for your horse to eat or do you cut them and let the gel out into the food?
 
Emma13 said:
For those who are currently feeding vitamin e capsules, do you just pop the capsules into the food for your horse to eat or do you cut them and let the gel out into the food?
Click to expand...

Bite the tip and squeeze them out (then throw the empty capsule on the tack room floor to melt).

Very good for your lips too. I ran of out of Vit E a few days ago and my lips have cracked quite badly...looking back I haven't used a Chapstick for years...now I know why;)
 
You only need to think about adding the vit E once you are feeding 300ml plus of oil, per day.

A good all round supp for high oil diets is Selenevite E.
 
Tr0uble said:
You only need to think about adding the vit E once you are feeding 300ml plus of oil, per day.

A good all round supp for high oil diets is Selenevite E.
Click to expand...

Or if your horse is older and his absorption is crap or his dentition is too poor to eat the appropriate amount of forage to get enough Vit E.
 
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