Salt?

[CurlyWurlyRach]

My horse sweats up after pretty much every ride. she works hard and there's no shade in our arena.
Should she get a salt lick or salt in her feed?

Im presuming horses loose salts when they sweat like people do (apparently).

I dont really want to add anything like electrolytes (sp) to her feed as she already has FeelGood 30 General everyday vitamin and mineral and FeelGood 30 Hormonal mare supplements in just a scoop and a half of feed so its pretty powdery already.

:)

[Jessey]

I would offer free choice loose salt or a salt lick, horses are very good at self medicating when it comes to their salt requirements :p

[Laura+Phantom]

Yep I would put a salt lick there for her to choose, I like those pink himalyan rock salt round ones on a string. If she won't ever touch it though, (saphy won't) you could put some in her feed after she's been sweating, can't remember if it's 1 tsp or 1 tbsp you give.

[CurlyWurlyRach]

i have a feeling she wont touch a lick but we'll give it a go. Have to get my uncle to come visit with his cordless drill again..... until then i might put some salt in her feed.
anyone know how much? ordinary table salt? just as a temporary measure.

[Jessey]

I would try 1-2 tsp a day, personally I just put loose table salt into a bucket and put it where mine can get at it :p or just get the giant licks and hang them on a bit of rope from a fence or gate post :D

[Daffy Dilly]

I have a big block of orange salt (like a crystal, or a proper rock rather than a processed lick) on a rope, and he loves that. Apparently most horses that don't like a lick, like one of those.

He also gets tied up to his gate (where it hangs) so he has access to it even when not in his stable.

[jovi_y2k2]

the best thing is making your own mix of ordinary salt plus Lo-salt, in a 2:1 ratio and adding a 1-2 tsp per day to feeds. Most electrolytes are actually rubbish as they are mainly sugar rather than salt to make them more palatable, and the syringe versions are worse as the horse is then prone to dehydration. All horses should really have salt added to their diet in one form or other as its not added to feeds by feed companies, due to salt being a water attracter (cant remember posh name!) and so will lead to feeds becoming damp.

[CurlyWurlyRach]

i know the big orange thing you mean DD, i thought it looked bizare but they do actually eat them?
Curly is highly suspicious of things like likits but i suppose salt is different.
only problem is she will be out 24/7 soon and i dont think the owners of her fieldmates would be happy with me hanging salt up as curly gets posessive of things like that.

Why the lo-salt? what is differnt about it? will go to tescos after my next lesson and have a browse..going to feel a right fool buying two containers of salt :o

[jovi_y2k2]

Why the lo-salt? what is differnt about it? will go to tescos after my next lesson and have a browse..going to feel a right fool buying two containers of salt :o

off the top of my head I can't remember! it's something that my uni lecturer was preaching in Equine Nutrition :D , will skuttle off and look it up...

[CurlyWurlyRach]

cheers :)
So basically two parts ordinary table salt to one part lo salt, mix them up and put a teaspoon in her feed.

sounds simple enough.

[Laura+Phantom]

Isn't is because lo-salt has iodine in it? Or am I making that up? :confused:

[Remmy]

Yep I would put a salt lick there for her to choose, I like those pink himalyan rock salt round ones on a string. If she won't ever touch it though, (saphy won't) you could put some in her feed after she's been sweating, can't remember if it's 1 tsp or 1 tbsp you give.

Yer, this really is the best salt to give! Top tip though! if you buy the shaped stuff with the rope through, it costs loads more than buying the chunks. There's some on Ebay now. You could always drill a hole and hang it with baler twine??? I leave chuncks on the stable floors, in the paddocks and in the yard. It's really brill as it doesn't wash away when it gets wet or break if kicked about :)

[sheryl]

I wouldn't use ordinary table salt, because it has anti-caking agents in it;) . I use Sea Salt in granular form. You can get it in the supermarket.

[Laura+Phantom]

Ooh think i'll get some blocks off ebay then, the ponies love it!

ooh, didn't know that sheryl!

[Remmy]

Here's an interesting link about salt

http://www.mercola.com/forms/salt.htm

[jovi_y2k2]

cheers :)
So basically two parts ordinary table salt to one part lo salt, mix them up and put a teaspoon in her feed.

sounds simple enough.

Found my notes although it doesn't actually say why lo-salt should be used too (must have temporarily dozed off at that point :o) but a 2:1 ratio of salt to lo-salt and feed between 50-150g per day.

[jovi_y2k2]

Me again!! Lo-salt contains potassium chloride as well as sodium which is also lost in sweat, so you're basically making up your own batch of electrolyes at half the cost and without all the sugar

[Peanut]

This is a good thought, Rach, with all the hot weather we are suddenly having. My mare doesn't like the pink rock on a string so I think I will try and get a big lick to hang on the fence in the field.

Last summer I put a mineral lick next to the water trough and six horses licked it to nothing in a couple of days. :eek: I wonder if they were so keen on the lick because of a deficiency or because they just like the taste. :confused: