Equine Equilibrium MT Ltd

12/05/2026

Perfectly put ❣️

You cannot waste a horse.

A horse who doesn’t compete is not wasted.
A horse who isn’t ridden is not wasted.
A horse who lives quietly, grows old, changes jobs, slows down, or does nothing at all is not wasted.

Horses are not resources.
They are not projects.
They are not potential waiting to be exploited.

A horse does not owe us performance, progress, rosettes, or productivity 🐴

Their worth is not measured in outings, mileage, heights jumped, tests completed, or photos posted online. Their worth exists because they are alive.

If a horse eats grass, rolls in mud, stands in the rain, naps in the sun, forms friendships, says no, says yes, or simply exists peacefully… that is not waste.

That is a horse being a horse 🌱

08/05/2026

Vitamin E deficiency if your equine is on restricted grass intake

Part 2: Vitamin E & The EMS Horse

If you have an EMS horse or pony, you are often doing exactly the right thing by restricting pasture access to reduce non-structural carbohydrate intake and minimise laminitis risk.

But there is an important consequence that is often overlooked.

Pasture restriction also removes the horse’s primary source of vitamin E.

This creates a very common scenario where horses are managed correctly for insulin dysregulation, but inadvertently become deficient in vitamin E.

Many of these horses are maintained on hay-based diets, sometimes with soaked hay, further reducing nutrient content. While this is appropriate for metabolic control, it significantly increases the risk of inadequate vitamin E intake.

In practice, I see this frequently in horses that are:

- On long-term pasture restriction
- Maintained on hay only diets
- Not receiving targeted vitamin supplementation
- Struggling to build or maintain topline

Vitamin E deficiency in these cases can contribute to muscle weakness, reduced performance, and difficulty developing or maintaining muscle mass, even when energy intake appears adequate.

It can also complicate the clinical picture in ridden horses. Horses may be assumed to have training or fitness issues, when in reality there is an underlying nutritional deficiency affecting muscle function.

The only reliable way to assess vitamin E status is through blood testing.

We can measure serum or plasma vitamin E concentrations. The sample must be handled and prepared carefully to obtain an accurate result as Vitamin E levels can be affected by several external factors. Interpretation should always be made in the context of the individual horse, their diet, and clinical signs.

👉 Get in touch with us using the booking link below if you’d like to get your horse’s Vitamin E levels checked.

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post about supplementation - what works and what doesn’t.

🩺 Contact us on 0427 072 095 or book an appointment online:
https://avonridgeequine.com.au/book-an-appointment/

If you found this helpful, subscribe for more veterinary led, trusted advice here:
https://avonridgeequine.aweb.page/exclusive-veterinary-insights

05/05/2026

Part 1: Why vitamin E matters more than you think**

**This is the first of a 3-part educational series on vitamin E in horses.**

Vitamin E deficiency is one of the most overlooked problems in horses.

In almost all mammals, Vitamin E is essential for the integrity and optimum function of several systems in the body, including nervous, immune, reproductive, muscular and circulatory systems.

Vitamin E is not just another vitamin. It is a potent antioxidant that protects cell membranes from oxidative damage. Importantly, vitamin E levels are associated with the maintenance of normal muscle and nerve cell function.

Horses rely almost entirely on fresh green pasture for vitamin E intake.

Once forage is cut and dried into hay, vitamin E levels decline rapidly. By the time hay is fed, the vitamin E content is often negligible. To make matters more challenging, the vitamin E added to many feeds is synthetic and has significantly lower bioavailability compared to natural forms.

This means many horses on hay-based diets are likely not meeting their requirements, even when their diet appears otherwise balanced.

Importantly, vitamin E is not stored efficiently in the body. Horses require consistent daily intake to maintain adequate circulating levels.

Deficiency does not always present with obvious clinical signs early on. Instead, it often shows up as subtle issues such as:
▪️poor topline
▪️reduced muscle development or muscle wasting
▪️underperformance
▪️weakness

By the time more significant signs develop, deficiency may have been present for some time.

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post, specifically tailored for horses with EMS.

🩺 Contact us on 0427 072 095 or book an appointment online:
https://avonridgeequine.com.au/book-an-appointment/

📬 If you found this helpful, subscribe for more veterinary led, trusted advice here:
https://avonridgeequine.aweb.page/exclusive-veterinary-insights

04/05/2026

Urgent!