Hi Dr. Getty,

I'm confused. I feed my 13 year old TB mare 2 pounds of Ultium daily. She also gets 6 flakes of timothy grass daily and is on grass pasture.

I read that beet pulp is an agriculture waste product that contains pesticides and herbacides and can cause neurological syndromes with long term exposure. Since the first ingredient in Ultium is beet pulp this concerns me. I have her on Ultium because she has a tendency to get 'hot' on other grains. She is doing really well on the Ultium, keeping weight on and staying sane, so I don't want to change it if I don't have to. Could you please clear this up for me?

Also you mentioned that Ultium is low in Vit E and selenium. How much of these supplements should I give be giving her?

Thank you,
Kelly

Where are you from? Oregon

How did you locate this forum? friend

I wanted to add that she also gets Accel daily and 1/4 cup each of black oil sunflower seeds and flax seed meal.

Where are you from? Oregon

How did you locate this forum? friend

Hi Kelly,

I would not be at all concerned about feeding beet pulp. The chemicals used it beet production are not systemic, meaning they do not get into the flesh of the plant. I recently had a conversation with a beet farmer about this very issue and I am convinced that beet pulp (the "meat" of the beet plant after sugar removal) is perfectly safe to feed.

So, you can safely feed Ultium. By the way, the first ingredient on the list is not necessarily present in the highest concentration. This is true for foods for human consumption, but there is no such regulation for animal feeds. So, Ultium may or may not be mostly beet pulp. Nevertheless, it is not a concern.

Regarding vitamin E and Selenium, there has been much research done on the need for more Vitamin E in horses' diets. For a horse that is only lightly worked, it is best to provide between 1000 and 1500 IU of vitamin E each day. And, selenium works with vitamin E, but you have to be very careful with this mineral. A recommended dosage of Selenium is between 1 and 3 mg per day. The Accel you are feeding provides .25 mg of selenium in one ounce and 250 IU of vitamin E in one ounce.

According to the website for Ultium, there is vitamin E added, but it is not listed in the specifications, so it is likely not more than 200 IU of Vitamin E in the 2 lbs that you are feeding. And, 2 lbs of Ultium would provide approximately .5 mg of selenium (based on .6 ppm).

So, let's add this up... 2 lbs of Ultium plus one ounce of Accel provides 450 IU Vitamin E and .75 mg of Selenium.

I see that you are in Oregon which has very low selenium in the soil, so it would be a good idea to supplement additional vitamin E and Selenium. I would suggest Su-Per E-SE. You can provide one scoop, which would offer 1000 IU of vitamin E and .5 mg of Selenium.

If you added this supplement, the total vitamin E intake would be 1450 IU of vitamin E and 1.25 mg of selenium. Perfect.

Hope all the numbers weren't too confusing.

Happy New Year!

Dr. Getty

Where are you from? Bayfield, CO

Dear Dr. Getty,
Thank you for replying. I'm happy to know that the beet pulp in Ultium will not add any toxins into my mare's diet. She was pretty unhealthy; bad hooves, splotchy balding coat, sore back, ulcers and very bad breath; when I got her and it has taken me three years to get her into the glowing picture of health that she is today.

I ordered vitamin E from you last week, along with Quissence. My equine chiro thought that vit E, coupled with the magnesium would help her with the chronic tight muscles in her back. Now I'm wondering if I should have ordered the vit. E with selenium. I'm always worried about too much selenium, so I tend to avoid any supplements with it added.

Looking at your math I can see that she is a bit shy of the recomended daily intake of this mineral. How important is this for her and is there any other way to incorperate it into her diet? What exactly is selenium?

Yes, I do live in western Oregon and the timothy hay that my mare eats is grown locally and is low in selenium.

Thank you,
Kelly

Where are you from? Oregon

How did you locate this forum? friend

Hi Kelly,

Congratulations on doing such a wonderful job with your horse!

Yes, in your area, you do need to be concerned about getting enough selenium. Selenium is a mineral that works with vitamin E to promote vitamin E's antioxidant potential. It is part of a very important enzyme called glutathione peroxidase.

You could add some selenium to the diet by feeding 2 scoops of Accel or another way, which I prefer, would be to discontinue Accel and switch to Glanzen-SE (with Selenium added). You could then continue using the Vitamin E you have, and you'd also be providing omega 3 fatty acids (Glanzen is flaxseed meal based).

Hope this is helpful,

Dr. Getty

Where are you from? Bayfield, CO

Dear Dr. Getty,

Again, thank you for your prompt reply! I think that switching from Accel to Glanzen-SE for the added selenium sounds like good advice. But I'm wondering if Reitsport SE, might be a better choice since there doesn't seem to be any probiotics added in the Glanzen. That is one of the reasons I liked Accel. I see that Reitsport has probiotics, B-Plex, plus glucosamine, all of which I would need to add if I put her on the Glanzen SE. Am I looking at this correctly? It would be nice to have everything in one easy package!

Thank you,
Kelly

Where are you from? Oregon

How did you locate this forum? friend

Hi Kelly,

The Reitsport and the Reitsport-HA100 are both excellent, complete products. They have the joint support that Glanzen doesn't have. Glanzen does have probiotics, just like Reitsport, but go with the Reitsport (or the HA-100 version that has hyaluronic acid for more joint healing) to provide the extra joint assistance. And, choose the one with Selenium added.

All the best,

Dr. Getty

Where are you from? Bayfield, CO

Thank you, Dr. Getty. You have been a tremendous help! I really appreciate this forum and the time you take to answer our questions.

Kelly

Where are you from? Oregon

How did you locate this forum? friend

It's my pleasure, Kelly!

Where are you from? Bayfield, CO