Hey all, I’m trying to find a non trace mineral block to put out for my horse (and the other 2 she is with that are not mine) along with a regular salt block, but I can’t seem to find any.
The salt blocks are easy to find its just the non trace mineral blocks I just want a regular mineral block without salt so I know my horse is getting close to what she needs instead of pretty much just given salt with a tiny bit of minerals…
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
sorry if the post is kind of confusing.
Thank you that is much better then the trace blocks. I would use loose minerals but they would get dumped no matter how I put them out.
What’s your goal?
Horses don’t self regulate anything but salt. If you need supplemental vitamins and minerals, you should be using a supplement designed for that and adding it to their daily feed.
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I put out a trace mineral block and a plain white block at the same time. At times they consume the mineral block and at times the white salt.
The other blocks should be fed with caution and not free choice at the beginning as they can really go to town on them. I don’t use them for that reason. Might be cheaper and more effective to just get a basic vit/ min supplement you can add to her daily feed ration ( even if it is only a handful of feed).
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This. If the idea is to get the key minerals that are needed in quantity I wouldn’t rely on a block. I also add salt to the mashes.
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Please no more replies on this post as it obviously was a huge misunderstanding on why I asked the question thank you.
Trace minerals are those requires in small amounts - milligrams, even if we’re talking several 100 milligrams. But we’re not talking grams (other than fractions of grams :D) Copper, zinc, manganese, selenium, etc. The amounts of these minerals are in small amounts in these blocks because it would be a bad idea to have horses decide to start eating them and OD on them in short order.
The opposite of those are macro minerals which are in terms of multiples of grams. Calcium, phosphorous, magnesium, potassium, etc.
You are not going to find macro mineral blocks, nor would you want such a thing. The macros are not things horses even know to self-regulate, much less get what what they need from a block designed for rough cow tongues. It is possible some horses develop a taste for calcium or phosphorous if their forage intake has too much of 1 or the other, but it’s uncommon, and free choice is not a reliable way to insure they are getting what they need.
Loose minerals don’t get dumped if they are in a stable container with a lipped ring around the top if necessary.
If you want to make sure the diet is balanced, or close to it, use a properly formulated vitamin/mineral supplement, which contains trace and macro minerals, and feed according to the label.
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I put out a protein block this time of year. Similar to one posted last one horse 2 weeks. It is easy for them to eat ,crumbles when horse bites it.
Can anyone even find the ingredients and analysis for the range block Crazylife linked? The closest I can come is this and the only block product that is on there to be fed free choice is the trace mineral salt lick.
@Simkie I looked and can’t find one. And, I can’t enlarge any pictures to big enough to read without it getting too blurry
@Simkie this looks to be a private labeled version of the Ragland Mills block and is a little easier to read. (I found a Ragland label that was semi-legible and compared.)
http://www.atwoods.com/equine-supplements/ranch-pro-16-high-performance-horse-block.htm
Maybe if there’s been confusion on what you asked, you could clarify so we can all help you better?
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My horse along with the other 2 horses she is with are on pasture 24-7. they only get hay during winter months which is 3 or 4th cut pure alfalfa (not my choice) they also only are given a TMB until consumed, then switched to a regular white salt block until consumed. they have never had both at the same time (not my choice either)
so after I gained ownership of my mare, I wanted to change the way they were giving the horses the blocks and the worming schedule but worming has nothing to do with this post. I wanted to ensure at least my horse is healthy and I couldn’t do it without having to include the others.
the owners of the other 2 are very neglectful toward these horses unfortunately.
but I knew TMB are very high in salt and low in minerals and I wanted to find a mineral block that was lower in salt or didn’t have any at all and provide a salt block as well.
no offense to people that do provide a TMB and a salt block I know they work just fine for horses that are set for minerals and vitamins but these horses need a boost because of the lack of intelligence that the previous owners have.
I could go on and on about the “lack of intelligence” that my sister in law has for the upkeep of horses.
Hopefully that helps.
Get Equilix tubs they are a vitamin/mineral tub. Then you can also do a white salt block. Horse’s need access to salt all year round.
Thank you I will look into those.
That’s a lot better! Thanks!
So it’s a molasses block. @Crazy4horses2, horses lick because they want the molasses. They could get far too much of those minerals if they go nuts with it, or get nearly not enough if they leave it alone. There is nothing “hardwired” into the horse to say “I’ve reached all the copper I need for today, I’ll stop.” Horses are hardwired to know how much salt they need, but that’s it.
That’s why these blocks aren’t a good idea.
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That label says “should be consumed at the rate of 2 to 3 pounds per day”!!
Multiply that by 3 horses and that’s going to add up $$ quickly. It would be a lot cheaper and healthier to just use a VM supplement.
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Yeah I seen that, didn’t see anywhere that it’s held together with molasses though and that’s a definite no go.
You should then just get a salt or trace mineral block, whatever you prefer (though loose is better than blocks) and feed measured amounts of a v/m supplement, or just use a ration balancer. You will know what they are getting, you won’t have them tossing stuff everywhere, and there’s no potential OD on something if they happen to develop a taste for it.
