Question
I own a six-year-old barrel-racing mare that’s in moderately thin body condition; she’s a 4 on the scale of 1 to 9. As far as forage, she’s given free-choice brome hay, timothy pellets, and chaff. She’s fed multiple supplements to help with digestive, muscle, and hoof health. While her coat is shiny and her hooves grow great, she’s ribbier than I like. A performance evaluation with a commercial app indicated her lactic acid levels increase after work. That company recommended an increase in vitamin E and selenium, but she is getting at least 10,600 IU of vitamin E a day, and I can’t imagine her selenium levels being low in our area. My vet recommended I add lite salt to her feed daily to help ensure her potassium is adequate and to rule out electrolyte imbalances. What are your thoughts?
Answer
Forage-based diets are typically high in potassium, providing more than enough to meet requirements, but low in sodium. I recommend supplementing with plain white salt and a commercial electrolyte as needed to maintain electrolyte status and balance. Consider a research-based electrolyte.
As antioxidants, vitamin E and selenium support muscle health and recovery. High intakes of vitamin E can be beneficial but more is not always best for performance horses, and the upper intake is considered 10,000 IU per day for a 1,100-lb (500-kg) horse. Depending on the vitamin E product you are using, a lower amount may be just as effective in supporting health and performance. For optimal vitamin E supplementation, choose a natural-source nanodispersed product, like Nano-E.
Kentucky Equine Research focuses on nutrition and exercise physiology research, often conducting tests that measure responses in heart rate, lactic acid production, oxygen consumption, and energy sources used during exercise. High lactic acid levels that decrease quickly after exercise are expected with high-intensity, short-duration exercise, and peak lactic acid levels are often recorded during the first five minutes of cooldown. Conversely, high lactic acid levels that remain elevated for long periods after a work suggest that the exercise test was greater in intensity than the horse’s level of conditioning. Alternatively, elevated lactic acid could be a sign of overtraining. The results from the app may reflect fitness rather than nutrition-related issues.
Some nutritional considerations include:
- Adding a ration balancer will balance the forage-based diet, supplying key amino acids, vitamins, and minerals in one product.
- Augmenting the current diet with a concentrate to increase body condition and support recovery. The full amount of a performance feed—generally about 6 lb (2.7 kg) a day or more—is likely not needed based on the current diet, so a ration balancer is still necessary to provide optimal nutrient levels.
High-performance horses often require targeted supplementation. Triacton provides digestive and bone support specifically for growing and performance horses. EO-3 is a marine-derived oil that is a direct source of the omega-3 fatty acids DHA and EPA. A marine-derived omega-3 fatty acid supplement is highly recommended for performance horses, particularly those with inflammatory conditions.
