Vitamins for My Horse

Horses require water, minerals, fat, carbohydrates, protein and vitamins to maintain health. Vitamins often get overlooked, because minerals in roughage depend on the soil. Essential vitamins include A, B-complex, D, E and K. Forage contains ample amounts of these vitamins already and overfeeding vitamins harms the horse rather than helps it. To determine whether your horse requires vitamin supplementation, analyze the quality and quantity of his feed as well as his workload before adding the supplement.

  1. What Do They Do

    • The five vitamins fulfill direct needs for the horse. Vitamin A keeps the horse's tissues, such as the organs, eyes and respiratory system, healthy. A poor coat can signal a lack of vitamin A in a horse's diet. Vitamin E helps the muscles develop. Grain producers supplement their grain with vitamin E. Vitamin D assists the horse's body in absorbing the minerals phosphorous and calcium, which accounts for 70 percent of mineral requirements.Vitamin K clots the blood. And vitamin B soothes and boosts energy. Stressed and performance horses may lack vitamin B. The horse may display a disinterest in food, poor attitude and anemia.

    Natural Sources

    • Horses eat the vitamins naturally through roughage such as grass and hay. The green stuff contains vitamins E, K, B and A. Hay retains vitamin A for six months after cutting, but your horse stores excess vitamin A in his liver for four to six months. Your horse receives vitamin D from exposure to sunlight. Four to six hours outside will keep your horse sufficiently supplied with vitamin D.

    When to Supplement

    • If the horse receives a high grain diet or poor quality hay, supplement with all-purpose multi-vitamins. Feeding the horse the same multi-vitamin during times of stress and strenuous activity will also help him recover. Other prime times to feed a multi-vitamin include when the horses refuses to eat for several days or after surgery. Otherwise, the horse receives all the vitamins he requires from his forage and time spent in the sun.

    Warnings

    • As sweet clover molds, it produces funguses containing a compound called Dirumeral. Dicumeral causes vitamin K deficiencies. On the other side, too much vitamin K can cause red blood cells to rupture.