askHELTIE HELTIEhorse® Additional minerals healthy for many horses

Additional minerals healthy for many horses

Minerals are of great importance for all horses. And when a horse sweats a lot, exercises, grows, or has a foal at its side, additional minerals are often needed. Dutch roughage has become increasingly poor in minerals over the last few decades. A horse that only gets hay or hay and a little concentrated feed can therefore develop a deficiency in essential minerals.

Minerals

Feeding

2 July '24 • 3 min reading time

Minerals Are Important for Horses

Minerals are crucial for the skeleton, nervous system, and digestion of horses. All mammals require various minerals, even if sometimes only in tiny amounts. Sport horses that use their bodies more intensively and sweat more have a higher mineral requirement than horses that only perform light work. They especially need more sodium, chloride, and often potassium. These minerals can be found in electrolyte products. Growing horses and lactating mares also have above-average mineral needs, particularly calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and silicon. These minerals are found in mare feed and liquid silicon supplements.

Supplementing Every Horse?

Every horse is different, and the mineral needs vary per individual. It depends on the horse's age, activities, and living conditions. In general, most horses can benefit from a daily balancer or mineral block. This meets the basic needs for vitamins and minerals. You can also meet this basic need with two kilograms of concentrated feed per day, but this is less suitable for many horses due to the high amounts of sugars, starches, and additives in most concentrates. These can overload the body and cause stomach issues and itching in horses. Most horses used for recreation and light sports do well year-round with high-quality, unpacked hay and a balancer. However, this doesn't mean that these horses can't benefit from occasional extras.

When Is More Needed?

In certain situations, horses consume more minerals. For instance, during stress caused by changes in the group, competitions, or moving. During stress, a horse uses more magnesium for its nervous system, and a balancer may not suffice. In hot weather, an electrolyte supplement can be wise to replenish minerals lost through sweat. Horses sensitive to insulin resistance, laminitis, and summer itch often have a higher mineral need. The mineral requirement of your horse also increases during the spring and autumn molting periods. Also, be cautious if you soak your hay because your horse gains weight easily, suffers from laminitis, or has respiratory issues. Soaking hay washes out many minerals, leaving even less than you would normally expect.

How to Measure Deficiency?

It is incredibly challenging to know if and to what extent your horse has a mineral deficiency, and especially to prevent one. Some minerals are stored in the body and released as needed. You only notice a deficiency when the reserves are also depleted, and by then, problems have often arisen. For example, a mare might have used calcium from her bones to nourish her foal. Always consider what your horse is doing and what else it is consuming. Liquid silicon as a top dressing on feed is an excellent addition for many horses. It supports the health of tendons, ligaments, connective tissue, cartilage, and bones. A liquid magnesium supplement is also a good idea for many sport horses and stressed horses. We are happy to help you figure out what would work for your horse, so feel free to call us for advice.

Smart Supplementing

A convenient and smart way to supplement a wide variety of minerals and trace elements, besides magnesium and silicon, is with a mineral buffet. Your horse can then choose what it needs. You can use a supplement made from Bering Sea water in a bucket of water. It contains a wide range of minerals and trace elements in an easily absorbable form. Additionally, it is rich in fulvic acid, which helps transport minerals to the right places in the body and removes waste products. Always place a bucket of fresh drinking water without additives next to it to quench your horse's thirst, giving it a real choice.

Sources:

Tabel met behoefte aan belangrijkste mineralen en sporenelementen voor verschillende types paarden: https://www.voervergelijk.nl/informatie/92/behoefte-vitaminen-en-mineralen

M.J.S. Moore-Colyer. Effects of soaking hay fodder for horses on dust and mineral content. 2010. Animal Science Volume 63 Issue 2. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/animal-science/article/abs/effects-of-soaking-hay-fodder-for-horses-on-dust-and-mineral-content/F39299E2734D846DDA425B57DA056726

H.F. Hintz. Mineral requirements of growing horses. Pferdeheilkunde12 (1996)3 (Mai-Juni)303-306

Also interesting:

Feeding

Concentrate feed became the standard in horse feeding in the last decades of the previous century. Concentrate feed contains vitamins and minerals, to which fillers have been added. The idea behind it is to provide horses with their daily needs. From a different perspective, 'the new feeding,' mineral balancers have been introduced to the market in recent years. But what exactly is the difference between concentrate feed and such a balancer? We have listed it for you.

Concentrate feed or mineral balancer for horses, do you know the difference?

Concentrate feed became the standard in horse feeding in the last decades of the previous century. Concentrate feed contains vitamins and minerals, to which fillers have been added. The idea behind it is to provide horses with their daily needs. From a different perspective, 'the new feeding,' mineral balancers have been introduced to the market in recent years. But what exactly is the difference between concentrate feed and such a balancer? We have listed it for you.. What is a balancer? A balancer is a pellet containing minerals, vitamins, and trace elements. There are no additional substances such as starch, grains, or fillers. That's why you often only give 100 to 300 grams of a balancer per day. That's enough because the concentrations of vitamins and minerals are high. All essential elements are in that small amount of balancer. Furthermore, your horse only needs roughage. The invention of balancers is related to the desire of many horse owners to feed t...

Electrolytes

Minerals

Feeding

Minerals are essential building blocks for bones, muscle tissue, organs, and the nervous system. Therefore, your horse needs to be able to absorb enough minerals with its food and water. But minerals are complex, sometimes work together, and occasionally interfere with each other. How do you know if your horse is getting enough minerals or needs extra?

Extra minerals for your horse: When is that necessary?

Minerals are essential building blocks for bones, muscle tissue, organs, and the nervous system. Therefore, your horse needs to be able to absorb enough minerals with its food and water. But minerals are complex, sometimes work together, and occasionally interfere with each other. How do you know if your horse is getting enough minerals or needs extra?. Minerals are important for the skeleton, nervous system, and digestion. Horses require a large number of minerals, sometimes in very small amounts. Minerals are usually divided into minerals and trace elements. Minerals should be given in grams per day, trace elements in milligrams. Some of the 'major' minerals include: calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, sodium, chloride, and potassium. Trace elements include: zinc, copper, iron, manganese, iodine, selenium, cobalt, molybdenum, and sulfur. Compound...

Minerals

Vitamin E

Feeding

If you ask non-horse people: 'what does a horse eat?' then the chances are high that they will answer 'grass'. But that certainly does not apply to all of our horses! Especially not in a cold winter, or a dry summer. What is true, however, is that horses mainly eat roughage, from grass to hay. But unfortunately, roughage alone is not sufficient to keep your horse healthy.

# Why roughage alone is not enough for horses

If you ask non-horse people: 'what does a horse eat?' then the chances are high that they will answer 'grass'. But that certainly does not apply to all of our horses! Especially not in a cold winter, or a dry summer. What is true, however, is that horses mainly eat roughage, from grass to hay. But unfortunately, roughage alone is not sufficient to keep your horse healthy.. Roughage is obviously the basis for a healthy horse. Horses depend on fibers for their digestion and energy supply. Cellulose, the building material of plant cell walls, is present in fibers. For humans, this stuff is indigestible, but horses derive their energy from it, with the help of fungi, bacteria, and yeasts that live in the large intestine. In English, scientists say that horses are 'hind-gut fermenters'. In other words: they digest the majority of their food with the hind part of their...

Questions? AskHELTIE!

Are you looking for advice about your dog or horse? Or do you want to know more about conditions or ingredients? Feel free to contact AskHELTIE, and we will be happy to assist you! .