for those of you who feed your horses salt…what kind/how much do you feed daily?
In Summer/Hot weather 1 TBS am and 1TBS pm plain Publix Iodized Salt.
In Winter/Cool weather 1 TBS. am unless they’re sweaty during day then another TBS. pm.
I give them access to a salt block and they seem to use it as they need it.
Free access salt block. Use the red ones usually called mineral bricks or blocks. Refuse to pay for pink Himalayan, Dead Sea, Aegean etc. etc. salt. It’s salt for a horse, not seasoning for a tenderloin.
2 Likes
Mine has a large majikal pink Himalayan block that he loves. The more traditional white or reddish blocks don’t last as long because he takes big bites out of them and then buries them in stall–barn won’t allow me to put up a block holder bracket, so the salt on a rope works just fine.
[QUOTE=findeight;8307348]
Free access salt block. Use the red ones usually called mineral bricks or blocks. Refuse to pay for pink Himalayan, Dead Sea, Aegean etc. etc. salt. It’s salt for a horse, not seasoning for a tenderloin.[/QUOTE]
:lol:
I have offered both the regular white salt block, the reddish mineral brick, and a Himalayan pink salt rock on a rope. He won’t touch any of them. So I’ve decided to force him to intake some salt, because it’s way too hot & he’s sweating way too much. I just wasn’t sure if he needed a plain, say, sea salt, or if Iodized table salt was A-okay for him. The vet told me to pitch the electrolytes (well, once they’re gone) and feed salt, but of course I didn’t even think to ask. Duh.
Plain white salt block here.
How much grain does your horse get. Keep in mind that concentrated grain has salt in it. If you feed the recommended amounts which I wouldn’t think of:eek: they will get all the salt they need.
It’s ALL sea salt. Just that some if it was more recently in contact with the sea then the stuff that’s been buried under layers of earth for eons. It may be ground coarser or finer, some has other minerals removed. But it’s all sea salt.
Throw a tablespoon of the fine ground table salt in something moist when you feed him if he sticks his nose up at the free choice blocks or tears them up. I doubt there’s enough iodine in the iodized stuff to make any difference in an 1100 pound horse one way or the other. Go cheap.
2 Likes
Last winter I bought a bag of loose mineralized salt from TSC on my farrier’s recommendation. My horses hated it. Wouldn’t touch it free choice, wouldn’t go near their food if I put as little as a teaspoon in it. So… my recommendation would be anything but that!
[QUOTE=merrygoround;8307438]
Plain white salt block here.
How much grain does your horse get. Keep in mind that concentrated grain has salt in it. If you feed the recommended amounts which I wouldn’t think of:eek: they will get all the salt they need.[/QUOTE]
He gets 6lbs of his grain, which is within recommended amounts, and contains .90-1.20 sodium. However, He eats a large quantity of alfalfa, green grass (sometimes short, overgrazed) which gives him a huge jump in potassium. He needs extra salt not only because of the hard work/amount of sweating he is doing, but also to help balance the potassium levels out. The electrolytes provide a bit extra salt on top of what he gets from his grain, but the vet gave me good materials that I read online regarding why salt is more important than an “all in one” electrolyte and honestly, you can tell a HUGE difference between when he IS on salt (or electrolyte) versus when he isn’t. It’s amazing how sensitive some horses are.
But so, the cheap table salt is what i’ll go with, at a rate of 1-2 tablespoons to start, bumping up or down depending on the situation! Thanks all!
My boys get 2oz of iodized table salt each per day in their ration, and they still use their plain white salt block.
1 Like
Hide it in applesauce or something, he’ll eat it. Long as it’s with something moist and you start with a small amount.
I’m glad to see this brought up. I think a lot of people have gotten away from feeding loose salt under the assumption that fortified feeds have all that their horse may need. Obviously I can’t speak for every company, but for the most part this is not true.
Here’s an excerpt to help determine how much your horse needs:
For example, the National Research Council (NRC), in the current 6th revised edition of Nutrient Requirements of Horses (2007) gives the following calculations to determine maintenance requirements based on body weight (BW). For sodium it is 0.02 x BW and chloride, 0.08 x BW. A 450 kg horse requires 9 grams of sodium and 36 grams chloride per day. These are minimum levels; it doesn’t take into account sweat losses on a hot day or exercise. A level tablespoon of salt contains approximately 9 grams of sodium and 14 grams of chloride.
If your feed lists salt on the label, you can calculate how much your horse is getting by weight. I can not remember seeing a company or a feed label that did not recommend feeding free choice (usually loose) salt with the feed. I can’t put my finger on it at the moment, but I remember an article that found most (if not all?) horses in the study were deficient in chloride. I know many horse owners have noticed that their horses will lick buckets, troughs or even walls that have been cleaned with a bleach solution, and I’ve often wondered if it is due to a deficiency.
Farm stores sell plain granulated ‘stock salt’ in 50lb bags for less than $5. I throw a cup or two in a small bucket to hang. You can feed it too, much cheaper even than table salt.
I have a Himalyan salt block (roll?) hanging in my old guy’s stall and he makes good use of it. He’s had several episodes of impaction colic previously, so he can have as much as he wants. It keeps him drinking plenty of water. May be superstitious on my part but it beats a barn call for another colic.
My mare and gelding share a paddock and have a plain white salt block. I’ve only ever seen the mare use it though (frequently).
My gelding has coliced in the past from not drinking enough, however, so he gets 1 tbsp of plain, non-iodized salt added to his lunch every day. Their ration balancer contains iodine, so I don’t use iodized salt.
1 tbsp is about all I can give him or he will refuse his lunch.
[QUOTE=buck22;8307506]
My boys get 2oz of iodized table salt each per day in their ration, and they still use their plain white salt block.[/QUOTE]
Same here. Mine get one ounce of iodized table salt, plus a plain white salt block that they do lick on.
Salt is salt. It all comes from the sea, whether yesterday or several million years ago. I feed however the horse and circumstances tolerate/like. Large mineral block or white block if convenient, loose salt if that’s convenient and I think its needed. I just don’t use the palm-sized small blocks which go into holders on the wall because they last like half a minute and pices of them are all over pretty quick.
Farm salt tbsp added daily. Himalayan salt hung in stalls more as something to do.
My mare has Redmond salt on a rope in her stall, and she uses it. Different salts may taste different to horses, and so it might be the case that your horse would prefer one over the other.
I like the salt chunks on a rope (over the regular salt block) because my horse would pull the regular salt block out of its holder and drop it in her stall. Great game.
