Possible issues with Vitamin E. I am working with a nutritionist who mentioned this to me last week, and since it wasn’t out in the interweb sphere I didn’t share.
Dr Rachel Mottet of Legacy Equine Nutrition just shared this on Facebook. Takeaway, if youre using CT and your horses aren’t on pasture, may be worth a blood test.
Hmm, I hate to be a skeptic but this could very well be a case of the form of Vitamin E and not the California Trace ‘source viability’. Bit surprised that an equine nutritionist would not know this.
I say this as my horse was deficient and did not improve on say a massive dosage of Elevate powder but has improved immediately on the water soluble Vitamin E found in Nano-E and Emcelle. I use the Emcelle as it’s more cost effective and my mare continues to test well within limit now.
It doesn’t sound to me like she “didn’t know this.”
Sounds more like, “hey, I’ve heard of multiple instances of horses not benefitting as they should from this brand; check your horse” while also giving the manufacturser a heads up.
I mean, if the source isn’t sufficiently bioavailable to a significant number of horses using it, wouldn’t you want to know?
@Ghazzu I think we’re saying the same thing.
If it’s truly a change in the product then I’d want to see horses that were on it before and testing within limits and now testing deficient. Vitamin E is a tricky beast and these horses could very well have been deficient before taking using this and it’s not benefiting them in the way a water soluble Vitamin E would hence testing deficient even though they ARE being given a source. Some horses are perfectly fine without the water soluble Vitamin E, some just aren’t mine included.
This nutritionist is very, very knowledgeable about all of this, I know her personally 
It’s not about the form. Yes, synthetic Vit E has a lower absorption rate than natural. But regardless, there are products of both, which are stable, and products which aren’t stable. It appears they may be using unstable sources
that isn’t surprising. Powders/pellets/gelcaps are all “normal” forms of Vit E. Those go through the normal digestive process, which includes micellizing the E so that it is “water soluble” and can cross the intestinal barrier. If a horse is deficient enough, that may not be enough to get his levels up, either at all, or quickly enough.
Emcelle is a micellized water-soluble form, which means the body doesn’t have to do the work to convert it, so it’s more easily and efficiently absorbed, which makes it great for raising levels more quickly. Elevate WS is the same, and Nano-E just uses a different process to make the E “water soluble”
Eggggzactly. And since this is just a screen shot of the original post, not any of the comments, there’s at least 1 person whose horse went on CT Plus (with 1950 IU) with normal E levels, and then was found to be deficient later (or at least a lot lower, I can’t swear to the deficiency aspect)
See my last comment.
Anyone is free to join the group, read the thread, ask questions
(3) Equine Nutrition Education | Facebook
Noted. Would be interesting to know if CT has a new supplier causing the issue for this vitamin.
Or are horse owners recognizing that 1950 IU per day is not sufficient for their horses at their activity levels? It wouldn’t be for my horse, no pasture and she gets 5000 IU per day to be within acceptable levels.
Yes, it would be, but since the owner doesn’t seem to want to discuss this… 
When the Before blood work shows normal, and After shows not, with the same work, the problem is the product.
It IS possible that some horses need a lot more than they should on paper, but I don’t think that is really the case in these scenarios.
Are you regularly checking E while on the 5000IU of Emcelle? How much does your horse weigh?
Just curious I like knowing details of these weird situations, as it helps me make suggestions down the road if I see something weird
It could be an industry wide issue that the company is not aware of through their supplier. I know we got an email back in May about price increase on Emcelle due to increases of raw materials used in the manufacturing process. CT’s supplier could have made changes they are not aware of within the manufacture of the Vitamin E. I’d imagine the CoA they get is tested for potency not activity.
My mare is a pretty standard 1200 pounds warmblood. No pasture and I hardly count the minutes we spend hand-grazing, so hay diet, fed timothy pellets/Vermont Blend Pro/Ground Flax/Electrolyte and 4 alfalfa cubes for taste, lol. Dressage discipline 5-6 days a week with some as hack/field days in there as well. We test annually now that we’ve gotten her levels settled unless I feel $100 burning in my pocket, which these days is not often.
Thanks! Yes, it could be possible that a supplier pulled a dirty. I know that HorseTech put out notice that they were having to use synthetic E over their normal natural E for a bit due to a shortage.
The CT owner could have decided to talk to this nutritionist and try to figure out what the deal is, instead of ignoring multiple attempts and channels to talk to her
Add us to the list of CalTrace Plus users that are low - 169
Boooo. How long has he been on it?
I started him on the plus over a year ago. He was on the regular one for a while beforehand.
I emailed CalTrace sharing the numbers and asking if there was something up with the formulation/suppliers. If they respond I will share.
HA! Good luck getting a response!
I know 
Ugh. Now I’m supplementing my supplement. I got a new 40lb order a few weeks ago but may have to rethink things if they aren’t going to address the issue 
it’s ridiculous for sure that she is ghosting everyone.
Editing because word has it that the owner has finally contacted someone, that’s all I know
No joke. Not great for business.
see my edited comment
Yes! I’m in contact with Lara and she mentioned there are some communications going on so that’s good!
I have a gelding who’s on grass now but wasn’t for months he was on hay ;), and he’s been on Cal Trace plus since December of 2021. he is allergic to a ton of stuff so his ‘hard feed’ is now timothy or T/A pellets plus Cal Trace Plus. He has lost a fair bit of topline since I got him off Triple Crown Complete (he can’t have it). He also has access to white salt and a mineral only block.
I’ve emailed her.
By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. You may also receive promotional emails from The Chronicle of the Horse. You can opt out at any time.
For Customers
Company
Terms of Use
