Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

I live in SW Ohio and we have very selenium deficient soil in this area 
also.  I got a new horse last summer and was doing conditioning and did 
around 3-4 25's.  My last 2 rides of the year were going to be 50's.  The 
first 50 I attempted, I got pulled at the 38 mile mark.  My horse had 
cramped up so bad in his right hind that he was 3-legged lame.
Got him home, had my vet draw some blood to run some blood panels and sure 
enough, the blood test showed he was Se deficient.  Not just deficient, but 
severely deficient.  My vet said Se levels above 130 are considered ok, 
anything below 70 is deficient and my horse had a Se level of 26.  I thought 
I could get by without supplementing any Se until this year, but I was 
wrong.  Se deficiency in a horse will cause muscle atrophy.  Basically, if 
you are doing hard endurance riding like I was and not supplementing with 
Se, your horse is going to be a lot more likely to cramp up.  The Se will 
help prevent muscle cramping.  My vet gave him an injection of E-Se to help 
get his levels up, and I also started supplementing E-Se in his grain.  2 
weeks later, I took him on a training ride of 30 miles and no cramping, so I 
decided to try that last 50 and he did great, made it all the way through 
without the slightest signs of a cramp.  If you live in an area with Se 
deficient soils, you probably won't be able to get by and compete without 
some sort of supplementation.  You do have to be careful as Se can be toxic. 
 I have had him on an E-Se supplement all winter now and once we start hard 
training, I am going to have my vet come draw some more blood to see if his 
levels are where they are supposed to be before I start any competition this 
year.
I also had my horse on Complete Advatage last year during the race season, 
but just switched over to Race Ready due to it's higher fat content.  It is 
still a beet pulp based feed, but has a higher fat content than the 
Complete.
Hope this helps.

Kelli






> From: "A. Perez" <walkergirl@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Reply-To: <walkergirl@xxxxxxxxxx>
> To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [RC]   selenium in VA: was AERC drug policy
> Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 15:42:26 -0500
>
>   Someone posted about using selenium supplements due to
> deficiencies in MD.VA:  I field-baord my horse in northern VA,
> most of the year all he gets is grass, in the winter gets hay
> (local?): only gets grained if needed to keep his weight up
> when it is cold.  They also get block salt, not sure what type:
> should I be concerned?  What problems would a selenium
> deficiency cause?  My vet has never mentioned it.  Just today I
> started him on Complete Advantage, since this &$(%^# cold spell
> does not seem to be letting up (ummm, what ever happened to
> GLOBAL WARMING?!)
>
> Shivering in Virginia,
> Amanda
> Cyclone ("Hey, this stuff is tasty!
>
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