Green Mountain Vitamin E & Selenium is sourced from all-natural Vitamin E and selenium yeast. Vitamin E is a fat-soluble vitamin which is essential to the reproductive system, the nervous system, immune system, circulatory system, and the muscular system. Vitamin E is an antioxidant that works well with selenium and helps in weight gain, feed efficiency, prevents tissue destruction, makes for improved reproduction, acts to protect Vitamin A against destruction, retards rancidification of fat sources, protects the body against toxic substances, and helps prevent anhidrosis and muscle tie up. Some Vitamin E is found naturally in fresh forage but declines rapidly in storage.
Vitamin E comes in both the synthetic form and the natural form. The natural form is transported more quickly throughout the body and is retained twice as long in the tissues as compared to the synthetic form. Vitamin E is not synthesized by the horse and must be supplemented every day.
Some signs of a Vitamin E deficiency can be muscle wasting, which is similar to a selenium deficiency. EMND (Equine Motor Neuron Disease) and EDM (Myeloencephalopathy) can also be signs of a Vitamin E deficiency and can be observed through a loss of muscle tone, shifting weight on the hind legs, trembling and/or long periods of laying down.
Vitamin E is safe to feed within maximum allowable limits. The maximum total amount should not exceed 1,000 IU per 100 pounds of body weight of your horse from all sources. An 1100-pound horse is 500 kilograms, resulting in a maximum limit of 11,000 IU. The NRC requirement is 0.75-1.0 IU per kilogram of body weight, but the optimum is much higher. The NRC requirement would be 500 IU. Most horses are receiving 1,000 to 3,000 IU per day from all sources.
Selenium is a trace mineral that works well with Vitamin E and helps protect against fat destruction, tissue damage, muscle tie up, muscular dystrophy, helps to protect the sulfur containing amino acids and tissues from poisonous substances such as arsenic and mercury.
The areas of the United States that have little or no selenium in their soil are the Great Lakes, the Pacific Northwest, the Atlantic Coast, and Florida. Areas that have high levels of selenium are Colorado, Wyoming, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Caution should always be used to stay within maximum allowable limits when supplementing additional selenium.
The recommended level of selenium is 0.1 to 0.3 ppm of the dry matter intake. For a 1,000-pound horse this is equal to a range of 1 and 3 milligrams per day and would increase or decrease as the size of the horse increases or decreases.
Some signs of acute selenium poisoning can include: garlicky breath, muscle tremors, trouble breathing, abnormal gait, abscessed coronary bands, and/or laminitis. Toxicity leads to blindness, paralysis, permanent lameness, abdominal pain, respiratory failure, heart failure, teeth grinding, and death.
Caution needs to be taken when feeding Vitamin E and Selenium separately. You should not exceed 0.3 ppm from all sources of Selenium. The NRC recommends 0.1 ppm per pound of Dry Matter Intake (DMI).
Days Supply (Based on 1 horse):
1 lb jar - 16 days
5 lb jar - 80 days
10 lb Pail - 160 days
25 lb Pail - 400 days
