Young horses require vitamins for growth. Some vitamins must be \nprovided nutritionally, while others can be synthesized by the healthy \nindividual. While vitamin D gets the lion\u2019s share of attention for \nskeletal contributions, other vitamins are just as important, including \nvitamins A, C, and K.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vitamin A has a distinct role in equine growth with both deficiency and toxicity of vitamin A adversely affecting growth, body weight, and rate of gain in young growing horses. \u201cIn the growing horse, vitamin A supports the proper functioning of osteoclasts, or bone-resorbing cells, during bone remodeling,\u201d said Catherine Whitehouse, M.S., a nutrition advisor for Kentucky Equine Research (KER). \u201cThere is limited information on absolute vitamin A requirements for growing horses, but for horses grazing sufficient quantities of green pastures, vitamin A requirement can be met entirely by the carotenes in the forage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In some regions, vitamin A supplementation is particularly important \nbecause of the short growing season of grasses. In one study, weanling \nfoals supplemented with 40,000 IU of vitamin A per day (~160 IU\/kg body \nweight per day) along with hay and oats had improved serum levels during\n winter and spring, but supplementation had no effect during the summer \nwhen the horses were on pasture. Toxicity levels for vitamin A are \nestimated to be around 1000 IU\/kg body weight per day, with excess \nvitamin A being implicated in developmental orthopedic disease (DOD) in \ngrowing horses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vitamin C is important in the growing horse because it plays an \nimportant role in collagen synthesis and repair. \u201cCollagen is protein \nthat provides strength and flexibility to connective tissues, including \nskeletal structures,\u201d explained Whitehouse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vitamin C deficiency is not normally observed in horses because they can synthesize ascorbic acid from glucose in the liver. Production of vitamin C in the liver can be limited, however, and in some circumstances the supply may not be adequate to meet the requirement of the horse. Supplementation of vitamin C may be beneficial during dietary deficiencies of energy (in particular glucose and glucose substrates), protein, vitamin E, selenium, and iron, and in times of rapid growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vitamin D is important in the maintenance of calcium homeostasis in the blood, which is vital for normal mineralization of bone as well as for a host of other body functions. In some horse-production systems, young horses are often kept out of the sunlight to prevent dulling of the coat and to allow for ease of management. For horses not exposed to sunlight or artificial light with an emission spectrum of 280-315 nm, the requirement for dietary vitamin D is 800 IU of vitamin D\/kg of diet dry matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vitamin D should not be given in an effort to treat DOD by increasing\n calcium and phosphorus absorption and bone mineralization. \u201cDOD has not\n been shown to be caused by vitamin D deficiency and supplementation \nwith vitamin D will not make up for diets that are not properly \nfortified with calcium and phosphorus. Over-supplementation of vitamin D\n is toxic and results in extensive mineralization of cardiovascular and \nother soft tissues,\u201d said Whitehouse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vitamin K is necessary for the proper clotting of blood, a process \nthat uses calcium. Another calcium-related function of vitamin K is its \nrole in bone and cartilage metabolism. If vitamin K is in short supply \nin the horse\u2019s body, it is first used to guarantee that the clotting \nfactor is supplied. For this reason, it is thought that any deficiencies\n may shortchange use in bone metabolism. Vitamin K is found in high \nlevels in forages, with cereal grains containing very little vitamin K. \nVitamin K is also produced by intestinal bacteria in a healthy hindgut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Equine dietary vitamin K requirements have not been determined (Nutrient Requirements of Horses<\/em>,\n 2007), but there is some suggestion that vitamin K supplementation \nmight be helpful for young horses that do not have access to fresh \npasture or have less than adequate hindgut health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To optimize bone development in horses, choose a research-proven supplement such as DuraPlex from Kentucky Equine Research. Australian horse owners should choose Bone Food Plus.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Young horses require vitamins for growth. Some vitamins must be provided nutritionally, while others can be synthesized by the healthy individual. While vitamin D gets the lion\u2019s share of attention for skeletal contributions, other vitamins are just as important, including vitamins A, C, and K. Vitamin A has a distinct role in equine growth with …<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":81,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[10],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/articles.brooksfeeds.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/articles.brooksfeeds.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/articles.brooksfeeds.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/articles.brooksfeeds.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/articles.brooksfeeds.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/articles.brooksfeeds.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82,"href":"https:\/\/articles.brooksfeeds.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80\/revisions\/82"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/articles.brooksfeeds.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/articles.brooksfeeds.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/articles.brooksfeeds.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/articles.brooksfeeds.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}