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Horses are also susceptible to laminitis, a disease of the lamina of the hoof. Laminitis has many causes, but the most common is related to a sugar and starch overload from a horse overeating certain types of food, particularly too much pasture grass high in fructan in early spring and late fall, or by consuming excessive quantities of grain. [77]
Vitamin deficiencies may result in disease conditions. Excess of some vitamins is also dangerous to health (notably vitamin A), and animal nutrition researchers have managed to establish safe levels for some common companion animals. [5] Deficiency or excess of minerals can also have serious health consequences.
Equine nutritionists recommend that 50% or more of a horse's diet by weight should be forages, such as hay [5] " Fodder " refers particularly to foods or forages given to the animals (including plants cut and carried to them), rather than that which they forage for themselves.
Several plants, including nightshade, become more toxic as they wilt and die, posing a danger to horses eating dried hay or plant matter blown into their pastures. [ 3 ] The risk of animals becoming ill during the fall is increased, as many plants slow their growth in preparation for winter, and equines begin to browse on the remaining plants.
Vitamin A status involves eye health via two separate functions. Retinal is an essential factor in rod cells and cone cells in the retina responding to light exposure by sending nerve signals to the brain. An early sign of vitamin A deficiency is night blindness. [6] Vitamin A in the form of retinoic acid is essential to normal epithelial cell ...
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