The B Complex vitamins are many different vitamins; such as Thiamine, Niacin, Folacin, Panthothenic Acid, Riboflavin and a few others. Like many of the other vitamins, of the little that is in the hay and grain, much of it is lost in the curing, milling and storage. Therefore it is essential to supplement most of the B vitamins to the horse's feed. The best known source is brewers yeast.
There is a direct effect on the digestive system, for a deficiency of B causes digestive problems and loss of appetite. It also is directly related to skin, hair and reproduction.
Like vitamin E the B vitamins help in the functions and the metabolism of many of the other vitamins. A horse can manufacture his own Niacin from vitamin E.
There is still much to learn yet about B complex vitamins.
This is a reproduction of an article written by Bud Wrona as it was published for the local Redmond (WA) paper, in a column titled "Off the Hoof," which was created to help educate the community on, mainly, the proper care and feeding of horses. Some of the information might be outdated (unfortunately, we don't have the original publish dates) so please leave a comment if you happen to notice something that is.
Like vitamin E the B vitamins help in the functions and the metabolism of many of the other vitamins. A horse can manufacture his own Niacin from vitamin E.
There is still much to learn yet about B complex vitamins.
This is a reproduction of an article written by Bud Wrona as it was published for the local Redmond (WA) paper, in a column titled "Off the Hoof," which was created to help educate the community on, mainly, the proper care and feeding of horses. Some of the information might be outdated (unfortunately, we don't have the original publish dates) so please leave a comment if you happen to notice something that is.
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