Equilibrium Australia - It's all in the Balance
  • Home
  • About
  • Rider Advocates
  • Testimonials
  • Products
    • Australia
      • Equilibrium B1 Cool Mix
        • B1 Cool Mix 5kg
        • B1 Cool Mix 12kg
        • B1 Cool Mix 22kg
      • Equilibrium Mineral Mix
        • Mineral Mix 5kg
        • Mineral Mix 12kg
        • Mineral Mix 22kg
    • New Zealand
      • Equilibrium B1 Cool Mix
        • B1 Cool Mix 5kg
        • B1 Cool Mix 12kg
        • B1 Cool Mix 22kg
      • Equilibrium Mineral Mix
        • Mineral Mix 5kg
        • Mineral Mix 12kg
        • Mineral Mix 22kg
  • Information
    • Fact Sheets
    • 2MR – What Could My Feed Be Telling Me?
  • Find a Stockist
  • Contact
  • Search
  • Menu
  • 0Shopping Cart

SELENIUM

The information contained within each of these PDFs is intended to be general in nature and assist horse owners by providing them with a little more background on various subjects. This information should NEVER be considered to be a replacement for advice received by your equine vet or nutritionist.

Why is selenium important?

Selenium is a trace mineral requirement of horses and its major purpose is to act as an antioxidant agent. It works synergistically with Vitamin E to protect cell membranes from the by-products of energy metabolism. Selenium is also needed to activate thyroid hormones and it is also required for normal muscle integrity. It is also important for the normal function of the immune system.

What is its relationship with Vitamin E?

The functions of both Vitamin E and selenium are intrinsically linked – if there is a deficiency of one adequate amounts of the other can compensate. However, for optimal health and well being both selenium and Vitamin E should be present at the correct level in the body.

Selenium levels in soil

Many soils are deficient in selenium – especially those where horses and livestock are grazed- and the resulting pastures are usually selenium deficient. Crop growing soils generally have higher selenium levels and grains from these areas can have reasonable amounts of selenium.

What are the signs of selenium deficiency?

Horses that are able to graze pastures and horses fed lucerne (alfalfa) hay get an abundant amount of Vitamin E in their diet. Green grass is an excellent source of Vitamin E so horses on selenium deficient soils often show no signs of selenium deficiency. Mild deficiency of selenium could show as poor hair quality, a depressed immune system and decreased fertility in mares. More pronounced deficiencies would show as white muscle disease which is degenerating muscle tissue – poor work tolerance, impaired movement, difficulty swallowing, respiratory difficulties and impaired heart function are all a consequence of degenerating muscle tissue.

What are the signs of toxicity with selenium?

Mild toxic effects would be loss of hair from mane and tail, hoof sloughing, joint erosion and lameness. Acute selenium poisoning will produce staggers, colic, diarrhoea, increased heart and respiratory rates and death.

What are the recommended levels of selenium in the diet?

The minimum required as determined by the NRC is 0.1mg /kg of food ingested per day. For a 500 kg horse that is not in any work this equals 1mg per day. Toxicity starts at around 2mg/kg of food ingested. Sulphur, copper, arsenic, mercury and silver will decrease the toxicity of selenium ingested in the diet as they inhibit absorption or promote excretion from the body.

Selenium is present either as organic selenium in plants or inorganic selenium added to supplements. The absorption of organic selenium is slightly higher, selenium has an absorption of at least 50%.

A 500kg horse in work would require approximately 2.5-3.5 mg /day but a range of 1 to 10 mg per day is generally considered safe and adequate. Toxic effects start to show at 20mg selenium ingested per day.

How do I test for my horse’s selenium levels?

Selenium levels are measured by whole blood and/or plasma and serum samples. Serum or plasma levels can go up and down with changing selenium intake while whole blood levels are more constant. The age of the horse will also affect what is regarded as a normal level with younger horses having less selenium than older horses. Normal values for whole blood are also higher than those for plasma or serum. For a thorough evaluation both whole blood and plasma samples should be taken and repeat sampling done over a period of time.

Australia

Phone: 1300 720 377

Phone (International):
+61 7 3200 4844

Fax: +61 7 3200 4847

Mail:  PO Box 4605
Loganholme DC
QLD 4129 Australia

New Zealand

Horse Owner Enquiries
(Product and Nutrition Advice): 0800 442 450

Placing Orders for
Equilibrium Product: 09 829 0456

Fax: 09 828 1599

Mail: Private Bag 47908
Ponsonby
Auckland

United Kingdom

Phone: 01488 73322

Boomerang Nutrition Ltd
Stance Equitec UK Pty Ltd

Mail: Unit A4, Groundwell Industrial Estate,
Stephenson Road
Swindon
SN25 5AX

www.boomerangnutrition.co.uk 

© Copyright - Equilibrium Australia - It's all in the Balance - Enfold WordPress Theme by Kriesi
Scroll to top

This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies.

OKLearn more

Cookie and Privacy Settings

How we use cookies

We may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.

Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.

Essential Website Cookies

These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.

Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, you cannot refuse them without impacting how our site functions. You can block or delete them by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website.

Google Analytics Cookies

These cookies collect information that is used either in aggregate form to help us understand how our website is being used or how effective our marketing campaigns are, or to help us customize our website and application for you in order to enhance your experience.

If you do not want that we track your visist to our site you can disable tracking in your browser here:

Other external services

We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.

Google Webfont Settings:

Google Map Settings:

Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:

Privacy Policy

You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page.