January 29, 2009 @ 9:19 pm
Older Horses and Vitamin C
I was flicking through an Equestrian magazine at the weekend and an advertisement for a Vitamin C supplement for older horses caught my eye. I know that the immune function declines in older horses but I did not realise that the horses ability to produce Vitamin C declines with age. I didn’t even know that horses produce their own Vitamin C.
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February 2nd, 2009 at 12:21 am
Interesting! Did it say how they produce it and consequently why the production decreases in age?
February 2nd, 2009 at 9:54 pm
I have found limited and different details to date on Vitamin C synthesis in horses. Some said the liver produces Vitamin C but one article said it is produced in the gut. I know that there is often reduced liver function in older horses so I expect that this is somehow related. It looks like I will need to do further research on this.
Another interesting fact is that most animals can synthesise their own vitamin C, with the exceptions of humans, primates and guinea pigs.