Question

I have a four-year-old Quarter Horse mare. She is in training and was diagnosed with a vitamin E deficiency. The veterinarian put her on a liquid vitamin E supplement. How long does it take for a horse to fully recover from a deficiency once supplementation has begun? I read that most horses recover after several weeks. Thoughts?

Answer

Has your Quarter Horse been diagnosed with a condition associated with vitamin E deficiency, such as vitamin E myopathy (VEM) or equine motor neuron disease (EMND)?

Several factors lead to vitamin E deficiency. The simplest way to correct a deficiency is to provide a diet with adequate levels of vitamin E and selenium. Kentucky Equine Research (KER) offers a complimentary diet-evaluation service to help determine if any dietary changes are necessary to meet vitamin E requirements. In cases like these, as well as in instances in which horses receive forage-only diets, it is recommended that forages be tested to better evaluate their nutritional value.

If other clinical signs are present in addition to low vitamin E blood levels, then providing the most biologically potent vitamin E supplement is important. Natural-source, water-soluble vitamin E supplements, like Nano-E, provided at the appropriate dose offers the best treatment option. Your veterinarian is your best source of advice for determining the appropriate dose amount, and may suggest monitoring serum alpha-tocopherol levels. The recommended treatment dose for horses with VEM and EMND is between 5,000-10,000 IU per day of a natural-source, water-soluble vitamin E.

There is great variation in the response of individual horses to vitamin E supplementation. If there are no clinical signs present, it is reasonable to expect vitamin E levels to be elevated within several days to weeks. Antioxidant supplementation is recommended to last at least 4-8 weeks before assessing its potential efficacy, and some horses may require constant supplementation to satisfy their high vitamin E requirements and maintain optimal health and well-being. Natural vitamin E is recommended for all horses, regardless of age, that have limited access to fresh green forage for a prolonged period of time.

If clinical symptoms are present, the prognosis and recovery time are dependent on the type of disease associated with vitamin E deficiency.