The main cause of sand eating in horses is a mineral deficiency. Sand consists largely of silicon, a mineral that plays a major role in the building of tendons, ligaments, cartilage, collagen, joint fluid, and even in bone formation. Silicon is an essential mineral for horses and other mammals. Horses try to intake this important substance by licking sand.

Eating sand is dangerous

But… eating sand is of course not good for your horse. The sand can accumulate in the cecum and colon and cause colic. If too much sand accumulates, the intestine can even rupture, causing the horse to die. So, it is better to prevent your horse from licking a lot of sand. As mentioned, sand licking is usually a sign of a silicon deficiency. Sand consists mostly of silicon dioxide, but unfortunately, a horse cannot absorb any of it. The silicon is trapped in the sand grains and cannot penetrate the intestinal wall to enter the bloodstream. Silicon can only be absorbed by horses from green plants or in liquid form. Eating sand is therefore only harmful and does not help solve the horse's silicon deficiency.

Why is silicon so important for horses?

Silicon has many important functions in the body:

• Silicon plays a major role in the structure of joints, muscles, connective tissue, cartilage, and collagen.

• Silicon is essential for healthy organs.

• Silicon aids in the absorption of other minerals and vitamins, such as vitamin C.

• Silicon is necessary to eliminate contaminants such as aluminum and pesticides.

• Silicon stimulates the production of glucosamine in the body

Stopping horses from licking sand

To stop your horse from licking sand, you need to ensure that it receives enough of easily absorbable silicon. This also applies when your horse specifically digs into certain layers of sand and, for example, mainly licks rust-colored (iron-containing) sand. Silicon plays an important role in the absorption of iron and copper. Aluminum from contaminants and pesticides blocks the absorption of copper and iron. Since silicon helps remove aluminum, iron and copper can be absorbed more effectively. Once this balance is restored, your horse will stop eating sand.

Easily absorbable silicon = liquid

When you want to provide silicon, one thing is very important: absorbability. Many supplements contain little silicon or only poorly absorbable silicon. Your horse does not benefit from that, it's wasted money. Silicon is a very difficult mineral to include in a supplement. Research shows that the small-molecular forms of silicon (monomers) are much better absorbed than the polymers (large molecules). Therefore, provide a concentrated liquid supplement, where the silicon particles are as small as possible. A high concentration of absorbable silicon is actually only found in hydrolyzed silicon, which contains tiny nanodebris that can easily pass through the intestinal wall. This is the most absorbable form of silicon.

Conclusion: silicon is essential for horses

Silicon is very important for your horse. According to researchers, it is the basic mineral that plays a role in many bodily processes. A horse with a silicon deficiency will try to supplement it by eating sand. This does not help because the silicon in sand is not absorbable for horses. The horse is at risk of sand colic. Therefore, give horses that lick sand a well-absorbable, concentrated, and liquid silicon supplement.

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