Vitamin C
Vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, is an antioxidant and can help neutralise free radicals. This benefits the body’s cell membranes and tissue – particularly with regard to premature ageing processes. Vitamin C also supports the natural immune defence and the body’s own detoxification reactions.
Vitamin C is necessary for the formation of collagen (connective tissue fibres), which is also reflected in its name: the name ascorbic acid derives from scurvy, a disease of significant importance in humans, which can be prevented and cured by ascorbic acid. Most symptoms of scurvy are due to deficient collagen synthesis caused by a severe vitamin C deficiency.
Horses can produce vitamin C themselves in the body. They are therefore not necessarily dependent on dietary intake in the way humans are. Among other things, Vitamin C is found in grass, apples and carrots. Nevertheless, supplementation is advisable for heavily worked sport horses, for stressed animals prone to illness, and for senior horses.
See also: Antioxidants
