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Posted by Gail Ivey
on 11/3/2009, 6:37 pm, in reply to "Why not feed flax to a gelding?"
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Not enough research has been done on horses, but an overabundance of estrogens has been shown to cause pituitary problems in human males, specifically in the ability to absorb and utilize natural steroids. My nephew has been sick for six years and just had surgery to remove his pituitary tumor, caused by overingestion of soy based phytoestrogens throughout his infancy and early childhood. He is now almost 14 years old and about the size of your average 6 year old. His body has no ability to produce cortisol. He has been unable to stand or walk for more than a few minutes for about the past year. My sister has done more research than most endocrinologists on this subject, so I'm very sensitive to it.
Intact male horses have more estrogen than human women, and geldings only slightly less. Whatever the effects of adding more estrogens to a gelding's diet might be, the biggest risk I can see is Cushing's, or some horsey form of pituitary based Addison's.
There must be SOME reason why more and more horses seem to be diagnosed as IR or Cushing's nowadays, despite being "better fed." Well, if better fed horses are struggling with endocrine diseases, I'll go back to feeding not so well.
"Employ your time in improving yourself by other men's writings, so that you shall gain easily what others have labored hard for." -
Socrates
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