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Re: [RC] that world's worst selenium levels? - heidiPlease Reply to: Frances gumbootballet@xxxxxxx or ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ========================================I ride a big appendix QH mare who is currently the top QH in British Columbia in CTR and has done half a dozen 50 mile rides, top tenning in 4 of them. She just won a level 2 CTR, taking BC for the ride. A week later I had a blood panel done on her for the first time. Her selenium levels came back at .054!!! I was stunned! Her little Morab barn mate eats the same feed (local grass hay,beet pulp, soaked alfalfa cubes, loose salt, oil and a "good" supplement which provides 3mg of selenium per day)and has a selenium reading of .177. Neither horse has ever shown any sign of crampiness or stiff gaits. Both are "go gettum" types that are always up for a ride. Why is my mare still upright with levels that may be historically low? Surely she should be paralysed with these selenium levels!!! My vet seems to be just as mystified as I am. Anyone...??? Help!!!! -Frances Horses have a TREMENDOUS difference in their ability to absorb selenium, as well as a tremendous difference in their tolerance of a deficiency. That said, the first thing I would suggest is a resampling, making sure that it is a time that she is not at all stressed. There is always the possibility that it isn't always that low, or that there was a lab error, although the chances are very small of the latter. Next, your other horse is also somewhat on the low side, so your entire selenium program may need some beefing up, although it sounds like you are on the right track. In some really deficient areas, we needed to provide the entire daily requirement via supplementation (8-10 mg per day), and where I am now, I still supplement 5 mg per day. Some horses seem to be unable to absorb the oral selenium until their levels are up (kind of a paradox)--my own hypothesis (which is just that--not a proven fact) is that since selenium is so vital to cell wall function, that perhaps the cells in the intestinal tract can't properly absorb the selenium due to the inadequacies of their cell membranes. I've had good luck in such horses raising the selenium level initially with injectable selenium. (And yes, it can be reactive--it has about the same rate of anaphylaxis as vaccines and penicillin, both of which people use without a second thought.) I do think it is worthwhile to pursue this--first to find out if the level is accurate, and second, if it is, to try to get it closer to the normal range, even though the horse appears to be doing well. Heidi ============================================================ There are few places where the horse does not fit in; at least in my world, as delusional as that one may be. ~ Howard Bramhall ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/ ============================================================
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