I’ve been hand-grazing my horse (who has a leg injury) and noticed her licking and then biting bare patches of earth. She has a salt block, so I don’t think it’s a mineral deficiency. Any ideas?
(I don’t let her eat the dirt, BTW).
Dirt has different minerals, so sometimes it’s a deficiency thing (note how many plant species she seeks out and how they change day to day, grazing is a horsey science!)
Sometimes on clay soils it can be self-medicating for GI issues, horsey Pepto-Bismol.
Sometimes it might be boredom, doesn’t sound like that for your girl.
You might want to call the vet’s office and ask a tech about it, I’m sure you are not the first person in the practice with that question.
They do it when they feel they are lacking in something. My horse did it a lot when he was laid up with a injury, and I’ve noticed it off and on since then. He’s definitely got a good diet, always has access to salt, and gets a quality and balanced feed. I don’t worry about it. It’s funny to me watching him find “good dirt.”
Both mine pull me towards a couple of spots when I am hand grazing them. They have put a hole in the ground from trying to eat in these spots. Not sure what is so tasty but we have a lot of clay at the farm too.
IME, licking a particular spot is usually indicative of low iron or ulcers.
And sometimes, they are just grubbing for tasty roots.
Low iron is rare in horses. Hopefully I do not own 2 horses with ulcers! I would go for the tasty roots theory but there is nothing left in the spots my horse go for. It is plain earth and my horses bite into it like they are eating carrots…
[QUOTE=caryledee;8184359]
Low iron is rare in horses. Hopefully I do not own 2 horses with ulcers! I would go for the tasty roots theory but there is nothing left in the spots my horse go for. It is plain earth and my horses bite into it like they are eating carrots…[/QUOTE]
not as rare as you think - depends on where you are in the world.
I have a bare spot near a Spruce that they like to lick occasionally. I have stopped worrying about it. This has been going on for many years with various horses. I thought maybe it had something to do with the tree.
[QUOTE=beowulf;8184363]
not as rare as you think - depends on where you are in the world.[/QUOTE]
Well, most soils in North America have abundant iron which grasses and other plants readily absorb. Check the average Fe (iron) content of 100s (1000s?) of hay samples tested over the past 10 years at the Dairy One/EquiAnalytical website.
Attributing “mild anemia” in horses with low iron is very common but incorrect. Mild anemia (low red blood cells or hemoglobin) seen in routine blood tests is almost always caused by the horse’s ability to store huge numbers of red blood cells in their spleens, instantly available when needed.
So, unless the horse has had a major blood loss, it’s doubtful lack of iron is the cause of mild anemia. I’ve yet to have a hay analysis (hays from RI, CT, NY & Canada) come in at less than 200ppm (many closer to 300ppm). This is a huge amount for a trace mineral. Given this fact, I wish the major feed companies would stop adding additional iron to their products.
The most common reason horses eat dirt/mud is GI distress of some sort. I believe it’s been proven the only mineral they seek out is salt (sodium chloride). IME, a few days of ulcer meds (ranitidine, omeprazole) often stops this behavior.
Years ago ( like in the 70’s) I use to groom a high level eventer who would eat the dirt while hand grazing at 2 sites we use to travel to for events. Horses then were not tested for ulcers ( or maybe they were but it is not something that people as often as now), I expect this horse had ulcers or some kind of digestive system problem as he could be also prone to colic in stressfull situations.
I would guess that the dirt is tasty, for whatever reason. Other than salt (and I even wonder about that), I am not convinced that horses seek out minerals or vitamins that they are lacking. If I put a mineral block out, the fatties invariably lick it down to nothing and the finickies leave it alone.
