supplementation

Selenium and vitamin E are often two of the most common supplemented antioxidants in horses, often attributed to poor soil conditions and likewise perceived deficiencies in the patient.  They are both important antioxidants and vital to cellular health, but all too often, we just supplement without justification or even more, we fail to see rationale for the need for supplementation.  Each horse is different and just because a region is perceived as deficient in selenium or a forage is low in vitamin E, does not always equate to the need for supplementation in every horse.  We need to look deeper, connect the dots and seek deeper, underlying problems which may be addressed adequately.