|
Your Horse’s Skin
How your horses skin really works and how simple allergies & inflammation can virtually cripple your horse
|
Does your horse suffer from these symptoms?
|
|
- Scruffy and dull hair coat
- Hives
- Fungal infections
- Dry flaking skin
- Brittle mane and tail
- Brittle hooves
- Poor hoof growth
- Chronic inflammatory conditions of the hooves
The horse’s skin is the largest organ in equine anatomy.
It is also the heaviest organ. The skin is the largest part of the integumentary system. This also includes the hair, hooves, specialized sweat glands, and oil-producing glands. There are also a large number of very specialized sensory nerve cells, as a part of the skin that allow the body to respond to touch, temperature changes of heat and cold, pain, and pressure.
This system is essential to the horse’s survival by serving as a primary protection from the environment. The skin is the primary barrier against harmful bacteria; it prevents numerous chemicals from entering the body and aids in reducing the possibility of injuries to the underlying tissues.
The skin helps to regulate body temperature by sweating, manufactures vital biochemicals such as vitamin D, and has extraordinary sensory sensitivities, and plays and important role in some immune functions. The skin is also involved in controlling fluid balance, stabilizing blood pressure, and giving flexible support to the horse’s body.
One of the most important functions of the skin, the regulation of body temperature, is controlled by blood flow changes, sweating, and the erection of body hairs.
The skin is made up of the epidermis and dermis. The epidermis is a tissue made up of a very high number of cells with a flat, horny surface. This tissue continues ultimately into a hair follicle and to the hair bulb, where cells multiply to form the hair itself.
The dermis is a form of collagen-type tissue. The deeper dermis is a connective tissue that contains fat deposits.
The nervous systems influence on the skin cause the sweat glands to sweat and the smooth muscle cells of the hair erector muscles to contract. The muscular activity of these smooth muscle contractions elevate the hairs and as a result put pressure on the oil-producing glands to secrete their fat-like substances.
The skin is a highly organized, complex system of nerves, muscles, connective tissue, and highly specialized cells and tissues. It is designed to harmonize the horse’s metabolism with both the internal and external environment. The skin can reflect the health of the internal organs as a well as the nutritional status of the horse.
Disorders of the skin, such as skin eruptions, hives, dry, flaking skin, and fungal infections can indicate exposure to an offending substance or substances as well as provide insight into the internal balance of the horse’s body chemistry and its ability to resist infection and/or inflammation.
Unfortunately, inflammations of the skin are a relatively common occurrence in horses that can be stubborn to assess and successfully resolve.
The most important nutrient group for skin and coat health in many respects are essential fatty acids. Poor quality fats or a diet too low in fat can have a very detrimental effect on skin health.
Take The Free
Horse Nutrition Test
Instantly see if your horse meets his nutrient requirements.
Dry flaking skin and a dull coat can be the first sign of a fatty acid imbalance or deficiency. The essential fatty acids linoleic acid and gamma linolenic acid can be supplied by good quality, unrefined vegetable fat or oil products.
These fatty acids however can go rancid easily and require antioxidant protection in the form of vitamin E to protect them. Damaged, oxidized, or rancid essential fatty acids will increase the imbalance and further stress of the skin and other tissues of the body.
The essential fatty acids if stabilized by vitamin E can also aid in controlling skin inflammation caused by an allergic response. These fatty acids have structural roles in cell walls and have a major role in reducing inflammation not only in the skin but in most other tissues as well.
Since the skin can reflect internal body imbalances it is important to consider other nutritional, biological and dietary phytochemical components that may have a positive role in helping to resolve skin inflammations or infections and improving skin health.
The health of the digestive tract is one of the essential components of normal immune function. The immune system plays a central part in the generation of inflammation and its ability to destroy pathogens. If the gut bacteria is out of balance or in some way disrupted that can directly influence inflammatory pathways that can affect any part of the body including the skin.
The "good" gut bacteria – probiotics – also are an important detoxification agent that can reduce or eliminate many of the toxic substances in the gut that can increase the inflammatory process.
High strength digestive enzymes can function as localized gut anti-inflammatories as well as exert a systemic anti-inflammatory benefit. These enzymes, though used primarily as digestive aids to ensure digestion and assimilation of nutrients in feeds and supplements, are now being recognized for these positive anti-inflammatory effects.
Immune regulation especially in the case of infections or allergies is a key aspect in a balanced inflammatory response. A normal, healthy balanced inflammatory response by the immune system can control infections and reduce the potential for allergic inflammatory responses in the skin.
Certain plant polysaccharides can have a powerful balancing effect on immune function and its role in generating inflammation. These plant compounds can improve immune cell communication patterns in such a way that the tendency to over-produce pro-inflammatory molecules is reduced and the subsequent inflammation reduced with it.
The inflammatory process and potential skin irritation can also be activated by diets that are high in sugar and/or too easily digested feeds by causing an over-release of the hormone insulin. Above and beyond insulin’s ability to transport sugar and amino acids from the blood into the cell, an over-abundance of insulin can trigger the immune system to increase its manufacture of pro-inflammatory chemicals.
Take The Free
Horse Nutrition Test
Vitamins, and especially mineral deficiencies and/or imbalances, play a major part in the regulation of inflammatory responses that can affect the skin health directly, low or imbalanced levels of zinc, copper, iron, selenium, and manganese can allow a skin infection to take hold or increase the inflammatory response in an allergic reaction. Optimal mineral balance can be considered a cornerstone for a solid nutritional foundation for optimal skin health and for the management of the inflammatory mechanisms.
Toxic environmental substances can cause inflammatory responses alone or in combination with other toxics. Relatively new classes of natural compounds, the phytonutrients, have shown remarkable value in controlling excess inflammation and promoting optimal health. They are not essential nutrients by definition, but are naturally occurring in any number of plants. Substances like grape seed extract, citrus bioflavonoid, quercitin, boswellia, curcumin, ginger, pineapple extracts, and ginkgo are just but a few of the literally thousands of exciting relatively new products (that have shown great value) in controlling and regulating inflammation and its negative effect on skin health.
Find out more about how a equine hair mineral analysis can help your horse.
By Jack Grogan
Reprinted with permission. Jack Grogan graduated from the University of Toledo. He has studied extensively in the fields of biology, biochemistry and nutrition. He has been a consultant in the human and equine nutrition industry for nearly 30 years. He has completed hair mineral analysis for over 10,000 horses.
horse joint supplement
|
