Does it help or not?
OR still mixed information?
IME if they have adipose fat pads/crest it can be helpful. On the skinny ones, no.
thats what I needed to know.
Can’t hurt, evidence very poor that it helps.
[QUOTE=deltawave;4049789]
Can’t hurt, evidence very poor that it helps.[/QUOTE]
Can’t hurt may help is SOMETHING at least?:lol:
Most equine nutrition research is conducted on the east coast, where soils may differ a great deal from other regions. In Colorado, where the soil is alkaline, I and several others believe that our IR horses are doing better with chromium supplementation. I feed 5 mg/day, using Quiessence to my IR pony mares. It has magnesium, too, which we are also short on. Hard to tell in most cases if the Cr or Mag is the trick, but I did a week on/off/on/off with chromium yeast as the only change on my older mare, and I could tell in a week by hardening or softening of her neck crest that it was useful.
I think chromium is one of those things that would be useful to trial on an individual basis.
[QUOTE=deltawave;4049789]
Can’t hurt, evidence very poor that it helps.[/QUOTE]
Really? I find for most of the IR horses here in the Northeast it makes a HUGE difference. I’ve tried Mag Ox alone and then Mag Ox/Chromium and immediately so changes.
Leah, I think it depends on the horse and the symptoms, I tend to agree with EqTrainer and Katy.
Also Remission has more Chromium than Quiessence AND is cheaper 
Hopefully your horse will do well with the Remission 
Kim Cassidy
NAF, AHA Member
Thinking back on it-I can see the fat connection.
Polo has always seemed better with chromium. Hugo has added some spring pounds so I will add it to him and see.
Never made any difference on Milo or Julian and neither one gets fat pads like Polo and Hugo.
This spring we have had TONS of rain, pastures look like I dumped tons of fertilizer on them.
Muzzles and dry lots are in full use but a little extra help from chromium on the more waistline challenged ones certainly can’t hurt!
Another thing we need to consider is that chromium research in horses has always been done on normal horses, often TB’s. Not on IR horses or ponies. I have found no real research (with stats, controls and data collected by blind observers, and analyzed by the same lab as a batch) on supplements on IR horses or ponies. Trace mineral supplementation effects on IR horses is only anecdotal, so you might as well conduct your own little trial and decide for yourself.
Excellent point.
I don’t know of any published studies on chromium supplementation except in swine.
In swine it did appear to result in an increase in lean muscle mass.
But unless something new is out I haven’t read anything about its use in the equine - for IR or just to increase muscle. If things have changed I’d love to read about it.
Interesting. I didn’t know we used chromium for equines.
I take it daily and I find it really reduces my sugar cravings!
http://jas.fass.org/cgi/content/abstract/77/11/3022
]No difference in insulin sensitivity was detected (P > .10)
And sadly, that has been my observation with chromium supplementation as well. :no:
Hey - thanks for the links. I’ll be sure to read them!
thanks for the links!
I don’t know if it’s the chromium per se, but I started my borderline IR mare on SmartControl IR a little over a month ago. It has 5mg Chromium. I can tell that her cresty neck has gotten smaller.
Caitlin
I discovered this too and thought about putting my mare on Remission. She doesn’t have metabolic issues, but definitely benefits from Quiessence and the like in terms of dealing with muscle tension and attitude. Remission has quite a bit of chromium in it though - 14 grams. Would there be any potential for adverse effects?
Bumping this up for further discussion. Found this paper on @Katy Watts www.safergrass.org and decided to start my IR pony and senior TB (who’s neck had started to get a bit cresty despite being in healthy weight) on Remission. I live in SW PA and I have noticed a significant improvement in both of them. Is it the Chromium?? Who knows but I’m keeping them both on it and might even start my young TB on it once he’s finished with his hoof supplement. Since I cannot post the link to the pdf I did a copy and paste below:
[B][I]"Chromium propionate increases insulin sensitivity in horses following oral and intravenous carbohydrate administration
Journal of Animal Science, skaa095,
Published:25 March 2020 Abstract Forty-eight Quarter Horse geldings (3 - 8 yr of age) were used to determine the effects of dietary chromium (Cr), in the form of Cr propionate (Cr Prop) on insulin sensitivity. Horses were blocked by age, body condition score, and glucose response to concentrate feeding on d 0, and randomly assigned to treatments. Treatments consisted of 0, 2, 4, or 8 mg Cr/d from Cr Prop. Horses were fed daily a concentrate mix at a rate of 0.2 kg/100 kg BW and grass hay at 1.75 to 2.0 kg/100 kg BW. All horses were fed the control diet for 7 d prior to initiation of the study. After an overnight fast, blood samples from the jugular vein were obtained at 0, 2, and 4 h after concentrate feeding on d 0 and 28 for determination of glucose, NEFA, and insulin. A glucose tolerance test (GTT) was conducted on d 42. Glucose was infused via jugular vein catheters, and blood samples were collected at various times relative to dosing for glucose and insulin determination. Plasma glucose on d 28 was affected (P < 0.05) by treatment, time, and treatment x time. Horses fed 4 mg Cr/d had lesser (P < 0.05) plasma glucose concentrations than those in the other treatments at 0 h. At 2 h post feeding glucose concentrations were greater (P < 0.05) in horses fed 0 or 8 mg Cr/d than in those given 4 mg Cr. Horses fed 2 mg Cr/d had lesser ( P < 0.05) plasma glucose at 4 h post feeding compared to those fed 0 or 8 mg Cr. Plasma glucose did not differ among horses receiving 2 or 4 mg Cr/d at 2 or 4 h. Serum insulin was affected (P < 0.05) by treatment, time, and treatment x time. Insulin concentrations were greater (P < 0.05) in horses fed 0 or 2 mg Cr/d than in those given 4 or 8 mg Cr at 0 h. At 4 h post feeding insulin concentrations were greater (P < 0.05) in horses given 0 or 8 mg Cr than in those fed 2 or 4 mg Cr/d. Plasma glucose was affected (P < 0.05) by treatment and time, but not by treatment x time following the GTT. Mean plasma glucose (across sampling times) were greater (P < 0.05) in controls than in horses fed 2 or 4 mg Cr/d. Glucose concentrations following the GTT did not differ among controls and horses given 8 mg Cr/d. Following glucose infusion, serum insulin concentrations were greater (P < 0.05) in horses fed 2 or 4 mg Cr and tended to be greater in those fed 8 mg Cr/d compared to controls. Results of this study indicate that 2 or 4 mg Cr/d from Cr Prop increased insulin sensitivity in adult horses following oral carbohydrate consumption."[/I][/B]
