Horse Hair Analysis to Detect Chronic Selenium Toxicity

How can you tell if your horse is consuming too much selenium? Recent research results indicate that an answer is likely hiding in your horse’s mane and tail.
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Selenium is important for a number of equine bodily functions, but too much of this trace mineral can be seriously bad news for horses. How can you tell if your horse is consuming too much selenium? Recent research results indicate that an answer is likely hiding in your horse's mane and tail.

If a horse is suspected of having selenium toxicity or deficiency, there are currently three tests veterinarians can use to assess selenium levels: whole blood, serum, or hair analysis. While most practitioners consider the whole blood test to be more accurate than the serum test, it is only useful if the selenium exposure has occurred within the previous few weeks or months.

Veterinarians can use hair analysis, however, to detect selenium concentrations in exposures that have occurred months or even years before the time of the test, and researchers recently set out to evaluate this analysis more closely.

“Several diagnostic labs use hair analysis to document selenium exposure," the team wrote in the study. "However, there have not been any reported studies in the literature showing segmenting of the hair to determine time of exposure

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Written by:

Casie Bazay is a freelance and young adult writer, as well as a certified equine acupressure practitioner. She also hosts a blog, The Naturally Healthy Horse. Once an avid barrel racer, she now enjoys giving back to the horses who have given her so much.

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