Iron
What it does
Iron binds oxygen and releases it where work is being done. Roughly four fifths of the store circulates in blood, the remainder sits in muscle pigment and in reserves. Without this trace element there would be no oxygen transport at all.
Why it matters
A ration with sufficient iron keeps blood formation running. The real checkpoint, though, is a different one: almost every basic feed already supplies enough — so the question is whether a supplement is stacking on top unnecessarily.
When it becomes critical
With iron the risk sits at the top end, not the bottom. Uptake is tightly throttled in the gut, and shortage arises practically only in foals or after blood loss. Generously supplemented amounts bring no benefit and burden the liver over time.
How much a horse needs
Maintenance works out at 420 mg a day for a 500 kg horse, which everyday feed supplies without help. Anything above 1000 mg per kilogram of dry matter counts as the ceiling.
Baustein des roten Blutfarbstoffs; bindet und transportiert den Sauerstoff im Blut. In Heu und Weidegras meist reichlich enthalten.
Equine Applied and Clinical Nutrition (Geor/Harris/Coenen), Tab. 10-4, S. 194 (Fe 500) — zweite unabhängige Quelle am 18.08. bestätigt. Toleranzgrenze: Darüber hemmt Eisen die Verwertung von Kupfer, Mangan und Zink.
Cited values
| Type | Value | Unit / context | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Requirement | 38.4 | mg/kg Futter-Trockenmasse (Erhaltung) | Equine Applied and Clinical Nutrition (Geor/Harris/Coenen) (2013, Tab. 10-4, S. 194) |
| Requirement | 48.1 | mg/kg Futter-Trockenmasse (traechtig) | Equine Applied and Clinical Nutrition (Geor/Harris/Coenen) (2013, Tab. 10-4, S. 194) |
| Requirement | 34.1 | mg/kg Futter-Trockenmasse (laktierend) | Equine Applied and Clinical Nutrition (Geor/Harris/Coenen) (2013, Tab. 10-4, S. 194) |
| Requirement | 104.4 | mg/kg Futter-Trockenmasse (Wachstum) | Equine Applied and Clinical Nutrition (Geor/Harris/Coenen) (2013, Tab. 10-4, S. 194) |
| Requirement | 29.8 | mg/kg Futter-Trockenmasse (Arbeit) | Equine Applied and Clinical Nutrition (Geor/Harris/Coenen) (2013, Tab. 10-4, S. 194) |
| Tolerance limit | 500 | mg/kg Futter-TS | Equine Applied and Clinical Nutrition (Geor/Harris/Coenen) (2013, Tab. 10-4, S. 194) |
Careful when comparing: the requirement is given **per day**, the upper limit **per kilogram of feed dry matter**. These are different reference bases and cannot be compared directly. The upper limit is also not a target — it is the amount at which harm begins.
Interactions
- Eisen ↔ Calcium
- Eisen ↔ Phosphor
- Eisen ↔ Kupfer
- Eisen ↔ Zink
- Eisen ↔ Phytinsäure
Sources
- Quelle der Bedarfswerte und fachlichen Angaben: „Pferdefütterung“, Hrsg. Prof. Dr. Ingrid Vervuert und Prof. Dr. Manfred Coenen, 6. Auflage 2019, Georg Thieme Verlag (begründet von Helmut Meyer); Werte nach GfE 2014.
- Equine Applied and Clinical Nutrition (Geor/Harris/Coenen), Tab. 10-4, S. 194 (Fe 500) — zweite unabhängige Quelle am 18.08. bestätigt. Toleranzgrenze: Darüber hemmt Eisen die Verwertung von Kupfer, Mangan und Zink.