Wholesome Equine Nutrition, LLC

11/30/2025

11/27/2025

The Effects on Fascia, Muscle, and Nerves: Why Vitamin E Deficiency Is More Common This Time of Year and Why It’s More Common in TBs

Vitamin E is an antioxidant essential for:
• muscle health
• nervous system function
• immune support
• recovery and performance
• preventing muscle soreness (tying up, fasciculations, stiffness)

Horses cannot synthesize vitamin E. They get it only from fresh forage—especially green, growing pasture.

Before exploring the seasonal causes, it’s important to understand how low vitamin E affects the body’s most sensitive systems:

The Effects on Fascia, Muscle, and Nerves

Effects on Muscle

Vitamin E deficiency can lead to:
• increased muscle cell damage from oxidative stress
• slower repair of micro-tears
• reduced ability to clear metabolic waste
• greater post-exercise soreness
• stiffness, cramping, or tying up (especially in TBs)
• difficulty developing or maintaining topline
• delayed recovery after normal work

Muscles fatigue faster, repair slower, and hurt more when vitamin E is low.

Effects on Fascia

The fascial system depends heavily on antioxidants for glide, hydration, and elasticity. Low vitamin E contributes to:
• reduced fascial glide
• thickened or “sticky” fascial planes
• increased whole-body stiffness
• compensatory tension patterns
• slower response to bodywork
• decreased force transmission through myofascial lines

Fascia becomes less elastic and more reactive, creating the tight, rigid feeling many owners notice.

Effects on the Nervous System

Vitamin E is crucial for nerve health—especially long peripheral nerves in the limbs, back, and hindquarters.

Deficiency may cause:
• increased nerve irritability
• muscle fasciculations (twitching)
• poor proprioception
• stumbling or uncoordinated movement
• hypersensitivity to pressure or touch
• vague neurologic signs that mimic weakness
• difficulty maintaining coordination under saddle

Even mild deficiency can make a horse feel shaky, twitchy, weak, or unbalanced.

Horses Without Pasture Access (Year-Round Risk)

Some horses receive little or no access to fresh pasture at any time of year, including:
• metabolic horses on dry lots
• rehab horses on restricted turnout
• horses in desert or arid regions
• horses boarded in facilities with limited grazing
• horses kept in sand pens or small paddocks

These horses are at constant risk of low vitamin E and often require year-round supplementation, not just seasonal support.

Why Vitamin E Deficiency Becomes More Common This Time of Year

1. Pasture Quality Drops Dramatically

In late fall–winter–early spring:
• grass goes dormant
• green content drops
• vitamin E content plunges
• horses graze less
• many move to dry lots or sacrifice paddocks

Fresh grass is the #1 natural source of vitamin E. When it disappears, intake drops sharply.

2. Hay Contains Very Little Vitamin E

Even high-quality hay loses up to 80% of vitamin E within:
• 6–8 weeks after cutting
• and continues degrading during storage

By winter or early spring, most hay contains:

👉 virtually no vitamin E

Even alfalfa loses its vitamin E during curing.

3. Horses Often Work More or Differently in Winter

Changing workload can increase oxidative stress, raising the horse’s vitamin E requirement:
• exercise
• training changes
• trailering
• indoor arena footing
• cold-weather stiffness

This creates a “higher need, lower intake” imbalance.

4. Confinement + Less Movement = Higher Oxidative Stress

More time in:
• stalls
• dry lots
• small paddocks

…reduces muscle circulation and increases oxidative load, raising antioxidant needs.

5. Not All Feeds Provide Enough Vitamin E

Many horses rely on:
• ration balancers
• basic grain mixes
• senior feeds

Even fortified feeds often fail to meet vitamin E needs unless the horse eats the full recommended serving.

Most horses need 1,000–2,000 IU/day, while performance horses may need 2,000–5,000 IU/day.

Why Thoroughbreds May Be More Prone to Vitamin E Deficiency

This is something many professionals observe, and several valid reasons explain why.

1. Higher Metabolic Rate

Thoroughbreds have:
• higher metabolic demand
• faster oxidative turnover
• naturally stronger stress responses

They burn through antioxidants—including vitamin E—much faster.

2. More Prone to Muscle Disorders

TBs are more susceptible to:
• tying up (RER)
• muscle soreness
• fasciculations
• exercise intolerance

Vitamin E deficiency increases the severity and frequency of these issues.

Why Thoroughbreds Are More Prone to Muscle Disorders

Key contributing factors include:

• Natural Predisposition to RER

Many TBs have a genetic tendency toward Recurrent Exertional Rhabdomyolysis (RER), where:
• muscle cells mismanage calcium
• contractions last too long
• muscles cramp, stiffen, or “tie up”

• Fast-Twitch–Dominant Muscle Fibers

TBs are built for:
• speed
• power
• rapid acceleration

Meaning:
• higher heat production
• greater oxidative stress
• elevated vitamin E needs

• High-Strung, Reactive Nervous System

Thoroughbreds often have:
• a naturally “ready for action” nervous system
• higher sympathetic tone
• elevated baseline muscle tension

This makes their muscles:
• more contracted
• more reactive to stress
• more prone to spasms and soreness

• Common TB Management Patterns

Many TBs experience:
• limited turnout
• increased stall time
• high-starch diets
• inconsistent exercise
• environmental stress

All raise the risk of:
• muscle tightness
• cramping
• tying up
• vitamin E depletion

3. Many TBs Are Coming Off the Track

Ex-racers often have:
• long periods stalled
• hay-based diets
• limited turnout
• high muscular stress
• nutritional gaps from racing environments

They frequently begin their post-track life already low in vitamin E.

4. Stress Sensitivity

TBs tend to be:
• sensitive
• high-alert
• reactive

Chronic stress increases oxidative load → increasing vitamin E requirements.

5. Thin Body Type = Less Antioxidant Reserve

Thoroughbreds typically have:
• lower natural fat stores
• fewer fat-soluble nutrient reserves
• faster depletion of vitamin E

This makes deficiency symptoms appear sooner.

Signs of Low Vitamin E (Common in Winter + TBs)
• muscle twitching
• topline loss despite adequate feed
• poor stamina
• slow recovery after exercise
• weakness or stumbling
• vague hind-end issues
• difficulty holding chiropractic/bodywork results
• nerve hypersensitivity
• lowered immune resilience

TBs often show subtle early signs.

Supplement Tip: Not All Vitamin E Forms Are Equal

Vitamin E supplements vary widely in absorption. In horses:
• Natural d-alpha-tocopherol is better absorbed than synthetic dl-alpha-tocopherol
• Water-dispersible (micellized) forms are ideal for horses on low-fat diets or those showing deficiency
• Powdered synthetic forms may not significantly raise blood levels in some horses

For horses showing symptoms, a high-quality natural, water-dispersible form is often the most effective.

Important Selenium Caution

Vitamin E and selenium are often paired, but:
• many feeds and balancers already contain selenium
• too much selenium can be toxic
• avoid stacking multiple E/Se products without checking totals

Always review total selenium intake with a veterinarian before adding selenium-containing supplements.

When to Involve Your Veterinarian

Consider veterinary testing if you notice:
• persistent muscle twitching
• unexplained weakness, stumbling, or poor coordination
• progressive topline loss
• vague neurologic signs
• chronic soreness or delayed recovery
• sudden behavior changes that feel “neurologic”

A simple serum vitamin E test can confirm deficiency and guide dosage.

Other High-Risk Horses

Beyond Thoroughbreds, vitamin E deficiency may appear sooner in:
• older horses
• horses in intense work
• horses with chronic pain or compensation patterns
• metabolic horses kept off grass
• horses recovering from illness or injury

These horses may benefit from proactive supplementation.

The Bottom Line

Vitamin E deficiency becomes more common this time of year because:
• pasture disappears
• hay contains almost no vitamin E
• work + confinement increase antioxidant demand

Thoroughbreds are more prone to deficiency because of:
• higher metabolic demand
• heightened stress reactivity
• muscle sensitivity and RER tendencies
• feeding and turnout patterns
• lower nutrient reserve capacity

https://koperequine.com/the-thoracic-sling-axial-skeleton-interplay/

11/19/2025

The “Stifle Lameness” That Wasn’t: A Story About Referred Pain

I once had a client who told me about a horse that developed an odd, on-again off-again hind-end lameness that no one could quite pin down. Some days the horse looked off behind, as if his stifle was sore; other days he moved completely normally. Nothing about it followed the usual patterns. Things that should have made a stifle issue worse didn’t seem to, and things that “should have” helped it, didn’t.

We were all very confused.

One day, the vet happened to be on the property with a brand-new scope and offered to scope several horses for gastric ulcers — partly to familiarize themselves with the equipment. When they scoped this particular horse, they found significant stomach ulcers.

The horse was placed on a veterinarian-directed ulcer-care plan, and within a few weeks, something unexpected happened:
the ulcers healed, and the mysterious “stifle lameness” vanished along with them.

It turned out the stifle itself had never been the problem. The horse had been expressing ulcer-related visceral pain as stifle discomfort — a classic example of referred pain.

Why Ulcers Can Look Like Hind-End or Stifle Issues

This situation is a great illustration of how the equine body handles pain. Signals from the internal organs and the limbs travel through overlapping pathways in the spinal cord.

Here’s what science tells us:

1. Visceral nerves and musculoskeletal nerves converge.

The stomach and the hindquarters share overlapping spinal segments, especially through the thoracolumbar region. When the stomach is irritated, the brain can misinterpret those signals as coming from the back, pelvis, or stifle.

2. Fascia connects everything.

The deep fascial membranes link the viscera to the musculoskeletal system. When the gut is irritated, the horse may brace through the abdomen and back, altering pelvic motion and limb loading.

3. Protective guarding changes movement patterns.

A horse in visceral discomfort often holds tension through the core, diaphragm, and back. This can create subtle gait irregularities that look orthopedic but aren’t.

When the gastric discomfort resolved under the veterinarian’s care, the nervous system stopped sending those distress signals — and the hind-end “lameness” disappeared.

✳️ Why This Matters

Not every hind-end irregularity originates in a limb. Sometimes the body is expressing visceral discomfort through movement changes.

This story is a reminder of how important it is to work closely with a wonderful veterinarian, and to consider the whole horse — inside and out.

https://koperequine.com/fascia-the-skeleton-of-the-nerves/

11/02/2025

This is the time of year to be vigilant!

When the temperature dips below 40°F, it’s not just your fingers that get cold. The grass changes how it metabolizes fuel.
Here’s what’s happening:
During daylight, grass uses sunlight to make sugars through photosynthesis. Normally, those sugars are used for growth or stored in the roots overnight. But when nighttime or daytime temperatures drop below about 40°F, the grass can’t grow, meaning it stores those sugars instead of using them.
This means high sugar levels in the blades of grass, especially on bright sunny days followed by cold nights.
For horses with metabolic syndrome, high insulin, or a history of laminitis, that sugar spike in the grass can be risky. It’s like turning the pasture into dessert.
What to do when it’s cold out:
Avoid turnout on frosty mornings. This is when sugar levels are at their highest.
If possible, wait until late afternoon for grazing because sugar levels tend to drop as the day warms up.
Use a grazing muzzle or limit turnout time to control intake.
Rely more on tested, low-NSC hay when temperatures are consistently cold.
Keep tabs on your horse’s insulin and body condition. Early management prevents flare-ups. Ask us about insulin testing. It's quick and easy.

Cold weather doesn’t mean you have to lock your horse away from the pasture forever. It just means being strategic. Knowing how grass changes with the weather can help you keep your metabolic horse safe and comfortable all winter long.

10/24/2025

My experience with flat soled horses is that there aren't very many "truly" flat soled horses. Not that I don't see very many to begin with, but after making the necessary changes...the concavity of almost every hoof can be improved.

Concavity=sole thickness, in most cases. Concavity must be built or developed over time, not carved out. There is a big difference between exfoliating dead sole material and removing valuable live sole. When you create the proper conditions the sole of the hoof thickens. I picture it raising the coffin bone off of the ground like the rim of a wheel when you pump up a tire. When you get the diet right...get the horse moving (especially on a clean 3-4" deep footing like sand, chat, or pea gravel) ..and keep the outer wall from making contact with the ground you will see the improvements almost immediately (sometimes literally overnight).

The horses coffin bone is naturally concave and the hoof capsule is produced from this bone. The sole is a reflection of the bottom of the bone. The problem is that the growth continues whether it's getting worn or trimmed away. The direction of growth is predominately forward so the hoof capsule will usually slough forward like a sock that's lost its elasticity and ends up bunched around your toes. Careful management can prevent, or correct, this situation so that hoof capsule is aligned with the coffin bone.

The tragedy is when this overgrown situation ensues for a long period of time... this changes the stride of the horse as well as the contact points of the hoof that were specifically designed for proper weight bearing. This breaks a horse down over time causing damage to the inner structures of the hoof as well as all the structures above the hair line. The upside is that the hoof is continually growing and you can use this constant supply of new material to fix the situation. Once you get the hoof wall perfectly aligned with the coffin bone you will see the concavity of the sole mimicking the concavity of the solar surface of the coffin bone. The only exception that I've seen to this is when the solar corium has been crushed for too long on a poorly conformed coffin bone and the bone has become flat or even convex. Even in some of these cases I've seen the horse restored to some level of comfort.

My goal is to educate horse owners to be able to detect hoof capsule deformation before it gets to the point of lameness and to take advantage of the healing abilities intrinsic to the hoof... to develop the best foot possible for the individual horse. “Bad” footed horses can improve and even good footed horses can be better.

(David Landreville, 2014)

08/28/2025

🔥MYTH🔥
Once a horse has had laminitis and/or rotation they will never have a normal foot.

Did you know it is entirely possible to have a healthy functional hoof after laminitis?
The hoof below suffered a bout of laminitis resulting in a small bit of rotation last season. So, how did we get back to a healthy hoof?

🔥How?🔥
Identify the causal factors in the first place.
Diet, Exercise, veterinary care, and hoof care all play a role getting your horse back on track. This is a team approach, everyone works together for the good of the horse.

- What dietary chages can you make for your horses health? chronically overweight horses and easy keepers are prone to metabolic issues. Look at your hay, pasture time, grain amounts, and treat in take to see what can be better managed on your end.

- Your veterinarian is your biggest asset!
Blood work to address insulin and acth levels.
Pain management medications to control inflammation within the foot and keep your horse as comfortable as possible. Radiographs to assess what damage has occurred inside the hoof capsule and help guide your farrier through the rehab process.

Hoof care! Finding a professional that is familiar with working on laminitic/ foundered horses. Do they have tools to help your horses comfort ? Are they willing work with your vet and have an open mind to trying new things? Are they skilled at reading radiographs? Do they understand the biomechanics of trimming a rotated hoof?
Is their way the ONLY way?!
💣several groups have proclaimed they have the secret to fixing these cases…. the magical recipe everyone wants….Do your homework, there are many ways to achieve results. Right handed farriers don’t cause rotation, leaving toes grow for months biomechanically doesn’t help your horse, and poor trimming is not the cause of every case of laminitis💣

Exercise?
Once you get to a comfortable state and have a healthy enough hoof movement/ exercise helps with metabolic issues and increases blood flow!

08/17/2025

Cool season grasses🌱 such as Timothy, Orchard and Rye because of the wet💦, cool climates where they are grown, cut, cured, and baled and alfalfa. Larger bales require lower baling moisture percentages; the risk of preservatives present in large square and round bales increases dramatically.

Grass hay grown in arid climates🌞 (mostly warm season grasses) rarely if ever are sprayed with preservatives; the expense is not necessary. The moisture content reduces at a rapid rate naturally. Feeding a combination of warm and cool season grasses is beneficial due to the diverse amino acid profiles and reducing the risk of preservatives in 100% of the hay fed.​

Unfortunately hay preservatives are necessary for farmers otherwise too many crops would be destroyed and the price of hay could skyrocket💸. To be as proactive as possible, ask your grower if they use preservatives. If so, what cuttings/loads/fields received the lowest concentrations and choose that hay. Inhalation is as much if not more of a health risk as ingestion.

Slow feeders may minimize inhalation of acid/chemical dust because they cannot bury their nose in the hay. Feeding from ground level allows the nasal passages to drain💧 effectively. If you experience skin or respiratory irritation handling hay, preservatives could be the cause. Whether these additives and preservatives are safe is debatable. If given the choice, I would rather not handle or feed hay treated with chemicals. Being well informed about the forage you are feeding is prudent and enables you to make educated choices on behalf of your beloved companions.

Preservatives in hay can have an adverse effect on you and your horse's health. Learn what hay types are likely to contain preservatives and what the 5 common ingredients are👉 https://www.thehaypillow.com/blogs/news/hay-preservatives-5-ingredients-you-need-to-know-about

08/13/2025

08/06/2025

Top - last day of steel shoes for a 10 year old Arab. I outlined the hairline in red to show the soft tissue atrophy and hairline distortion/degenerative displacement.

Bottom - same foot after 18 months on a 3-4 week simulated wear trim schedule. I outlined the current hairline in red, showing the regenerative improvements in the shape and position of the hairline. The green line outlines the future hairline position that the foot is revealing.

The space between the red line and the green line will fill in with hair as the digital cushion gains more depth and the hoof capsule regenerates in a lower relationship to the coronary band and coffin bone.