I’m looking for a good electrolyte that I can give my horses—especially during the summer—but I’m not sure if they need electrolytes, just salt, or both.
I’ve heard that electrolytes really only work about a half hour before or after riding, so should I just be giving them salt daily to meet their mineral and electrolyte needs?
I was looking at one from Tractor Supply and wanted to know if this would be better than giving electrolytes.
In general, my horses all get regular table salt in their feed daily and have access to a salt block (that they rarely use). I use electrolytes occasionally - when it’s stupid hot and humid out and they are pouring sweat just standing around, the day before a big trailer trip, before/ during and after a heavy conditioning ride, before during and after an endurance ride. I have not found any benefit to just giving it to them daily. What kind of elyte depends on what I’m using it for.
I make my own. I mix 2/3 regular salt with 1/3 lite salt and add ground up tums to the mix 10-12 tabs or so in a 2 quart container. My horses have done rather well in the Arizona desert on this.
What’s the actual need? Is there a fortified feed in the picture?
Sweat is mostly salt, so adding 1tbsp per 500lb salt to the diet meets the minimum needs, and can be 2-3x’d for extra sweaty seasons
E-lytes are best for conditions around competition
Don’t get caught up on “designer” salts as being superior, or an actual electrolyte supplement, just because they contain a lot of additional minerals that plain white salt doesn’t have. Yes, sea salts contain a lot of extra minerals, many of which aren’t a requirement in the first place, some of which are really not something you want anyway (Cadmium?), but the good news there is that there’s such a teeny tiny amount of any of those that they might as well not be there.
That Celtic salt is " * No other ingredients except unrefined sea salt".
Here’s the GA
98% salt. 0.20% magnesium means in a typical 30gm serving, that’s 0.06gm of magnesium. The basic need of a horse is 10gm. There’s 0.02% K, which is 0.0006gm, and the basic need is 18gm
It’s salt, in a fancy and $$$ bag.
I just feed regular table salt…a tablespoon with AM & PM feeds. Mine doesn’t touch blocks, so I don’t bother. He’s a very lightly ridden pleasure horse, and we don’t exert ourselves in the extreme heat/humidity (especially since he also has anhidrosis), so I don’t see the point in electrolytes. I did use Platinum Refresh on him one year for his anhidrosis and it contained an electrolyte. It worked okay, but One AC (no electrolytes) works just as well to get his sweater cranking again.
Depends what you mean by “work.” Electrolytes just replace minerals that are lost, usually through sweat. The body naturally works to keep a balance so if everything is working correctly the supplements won’t really do anything. If your horses are generally healthy and have a good diet you probably don’t need daily electrolytes. I know a few people that supplement with electrolyte paste on days when their horses will be sweating more than normal, usually for shows or long workouts, but that’s more preventative than to address any visible issues. I use Gallaghers Water in those situations but that’s mostly because my horse won’t touch plain water when away from home.
I like to use a salt block with my horse so he can control how much he gets, but loose salt is a good option too. Small amounts may help and can’t hurt if the horse is healthy.
Your vet can run an electrolyte test. My horse’s nutritionist recommends table salt, as long as I’m feeding at least the minimum of a high quality feed.
The question doesn’t make sense to me. Salt (NaCl) IS an electrolyte, while there are also OTHER electrolytes.
All horses need free choice salt, and extra in their feed is a good idea. My mare takes in about a pound a week, she gets an ounce in her mash and a 50 lb block lasts about 2 years. A 7 lb block lasted about 2 months. If the horse won’t use a block you could try feeding loose salt in a pan.
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