Although normally horses will provide themselves with all the vitamins they need if they have a good basic diet (even if its pasture only) and access to daylight etc, Vitamin E
(Alpha Tocopherol) is an essential vitamin – meaning that the horse has to ingest it daily and its source is green feed – i.e. good quality pasture. Therefore levels can become low in winter pasture, or wet trampled pastures. In other words when the green feed intake is reduced, it is likely that Vitamin E intake will be below the required daily intake. Again this applies when horses are deliberately restricted from pasture in the spring in order to keep the hype of spring grass affecting the behaviour. A shortfall can also occur when these low pasture animals or stabled horses are not being given fresh lucerne chaff (storage of fodder will reduce the availability of Vitamin E).
 
Vitamin E is needed for the correct functioning of the nervous system so low levels of Vitamin E in the diet can result in horses being nervy.  It also can affect muscular efficiency  and performance  and has been attributed to creating susceptibility to tye up syndrome.
 
The other specific need is for breeding stock - both mares in foal, weanlings and stallions.  The demand for Vitamin E is higher in breeding stock, necessary for proper function of the reproductive systems.
 
All year round it is required for active horses in work.  This is because of its contribution as an efficient anti-oxidant and therefore supplementation is appropriate for performance horses in full work. The development of free radicals (the result of cellular energy transfer) is of course increased in horses working harder, therefore it is vital to offset these negative effects with good anti-oxidant supplementation in order to maintain the integrity of the muscle structure.
 
Two types of Vitamin E are available - synthetic and natural. It has been put forward that natural vitamin E is better as it has a higher biological activity. The negative is the high cost.  In animals other than horses the dose can be substantially reduced therefore offsetting the cost, however, in horses this does not apply and the slight dose reduction still leaves the cost very high. It is more economic to give a higher synthetic Vitamin E dose.  Synthetic Vitamin E will still provide the daily requirement and optimum levels in the plasma achieved  at a lower overall cost.  At the end of the day it has done the job in lifting the levels to prevent the effects of low consumption from green feed.
 
A 500Kg horse on pasture and resting needs 375 iu per day, a lactating mare or a working horse needs 1200 iu daily.  However when green feed is restricted foals and yearlings need 500-1000 iu, working horses 2000 – 4000 iu, pregnant and lactating mares 2000 – 4000 iu and stallions 1000 – 2000 iu.
 
Vetpro Vitamin E supplement contains 67,000 iu per Kg. Therefore a 15gm scoop will provide 1005 iu and a 30gm 2010 iu.
 
Products containing iron should not be added to the same feed as Vitamin E as the vitamin will be destroyed by the iron. A separate feed at a different time will solve that issue.

Vetpro Vitamin E supplement