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  Discussion on Vitamin E
Author Message
New Member:
Carriaco

Posted on Tuesday, Oct 7, 2003 - 10:14 pm:

My mare is four years old and I have owned her since the end of May. During the summer we were doing well together and I upped her lessons to two a week and minimal jumping. She quickly became muscle sore everywhere and unable to be worked. She sweat alot even just being groomed and was in extreme discomfort. After many blood tests she finally showed no sign of Vit. E in her blood at all. She is now on Super E and also continues the smaller supplement of VitE/selenium that she was on prior to her diagnosis. She has been on the Super E now for a week and a half and is showing some signs of improvement. My vet wants me to keep her away from arena work so we are trail riding at a walk only approx. one hour at a time. She actually seems better except that she is unable to go downhill without much discomfort and tries to go side to side to get down the hill. She is also occasionally dragging her left hind hoof. How long should I expect before she is her old self again and just how much exercise do you think is okay in her condition? We had really only done ring work up until now so trail riding is new for us. I am very glad to be out of the arena as that is where I wanted to be in the first place but I am an older rider and it has taken me this long to build my confidence. Is there anything else I should be doing to help her? Should
I expect a full recovery? What makes some horses more susceptible than others even from the same barn? Thanks for your help.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Oct 8, 2003 - 8:02 am:

Hello Jana,
We have an article on vitamin E at » Care for Horses » Nutrition » Vitamin E and Horses which you should review to see if your horse has other signs of vitamin E deficiency. More commonly weight loss and incoordination are seen but the article explains more about this.

Though plasma E concentration is indicative of status, it is difficult to get a reading in the field because of the unstable nature of the E in the sample: it rapidly degrades. It requires freezing during storage and transport in order to prevent breakdown until the test is run. Was this type care taken with your horses blood sample?

You should review the article » Equine Diseases » Lameness » Diseases of the Upper Rear Limb » Tying Up, Rhabdomyolysis, and Shivers (EPSM) for a complete list of causes for genralized muscle stiffness and pain.

The answer to your specific questions about your horse depends on the amount of damage done, which we cannot assess from here, and whether the diagnosis and treatment are correct. If we assume that the diagnosis is correct and not too much damage there should be fairly rapid improvement the first month that will continue for up to 6 months. For more on genetic factors and vitamin E requiremnts see, » Equine Diseases » Nervous System » Equine Degenerative Myeloencephalopathy (EDM). There, that should be enough homework.
DrO
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