Vitamin and mineral supplements

carthorse said:
I can remember a friend bringing bananas to the yard for the horses. The majority either wouldn't try them at all or tried them and spat them out, Little Un ate his but wouldn't take another and he was the only one who ate more than a mouthful.
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First time I offered one up to Storm she looked at me like I'd given her poison - spat it out and did that funny chomp chomp bleurgh action. Now she loves them! Chloe has always liked them and Zi will do just about anything for one.
 
Bodshi said:
Both ours have a salt lick. Jack disposes of his (large) one very quickly. Raf's (small one) lasts months, maybe a year. I only know he's been licking it by the damp patch I occasionally see underneath it.

If we've been doing something strenuous that's made him sweat I offer him an extra bucket of water with electrolytes in, as well as his fresh water, so he has the choice. Guaranteed that if we've been out somewhere like on a PR he'll drain the electrolyte water (and I give him another if he does) before he goes for the fresh water, whereas normally he won't touch the electrolyte one. I prefer to put it in his water because he's easily put off his feed if anything unusual goes in it and after a hard day he's often slow to eat his tea anyway.

On a daily basis he has Saracens Stamm 30 balancer because this seemed to have the highest concentrate of vits/mins when I was doing my research (admittedly several years ago). It's a pellet which he has in his feed, but he'll happily eat it on its own. He also has extra vitamin E but that's specific to his individual needs.

Poor Jack (retired) doesn't get anything other than a token feed with his Danilon (plus garlic and brewers yeast in the vain hope they do something to put off the flies) but he looks so well on it it's hard to believe he's lacking in anything.
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Aw Jack is like Zi, only getting a token feed! Zi isn't retired but he's such a good doer and doesn't need anything. He gets a stingy handful of grass nuts.......and sometimes carrots. They all love Fast Fibre though - I don't think that's particularly calorific.
 
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Mine don't eat the rockies really either, I probably won't bother buying either again, though perhaps they would be more interested if I wasn't giving them balancer in a bucket.
 
Jessey said:
Mine don't eat the rockies really either, I probably won't bother buying either again, though perhaps they would be more interested if I wasn't giving them balancer in a bucket.
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Auto correct. That should have said rock salt on a rope.
I have seen black and wondered what the difference was.
I moved it though, where it was hung before she ignored it, now its in a spot she likes or can see it.
 
We had a ginormous field lick once for J when he was in a tiny paddock - thought it would keep him happy. He adored it. So did madam and used to try and get in on the act under his fence. I can never remember the name of it. Because a few years on I got one for Chloe and Storm and omg they just completely ignored it. Mind you it smelled funny. Sort of like brewers yeast gone wrong. I will never know what the tasty one was. Maybe it did have molasses in it. Must have been good they polished it off and almost ate the plastic tub.
 
I gave my virtually untouched one to Niko, he stomped on it a bit and walked away, that was 2 days ago and I’ve not seen him pay it any attention since ? he’s getting balancer anyway, I’m not relying on it for nutrition I just thought it might give him something to do, he’s got a salt block too, also untouched.
 
As mine enjoyed the luck go much I took a chance and bought the 3kg salt one as well. It's going in the spot she uses to itch. She is a little bit of a routine lass, but think we are to an extent. :)
 
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chunky monkey said:
I keep seeing people saying about feeding a good vit and mineral supplement. So what do people recommend?
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Just found your post. This reply might be a bit late but here goes..... I always worry that my ponies (who graze bare grass in the spring & summer & just get hay in the winter when the grass is poor) are getting enough vit/mins. I have tried several powdered vit/min supplements. My shetland refused to eat anything containing these powders however my bigger pony would eat them so they weren't wasted. Then I found Equibites treats. Both ponies love them. Shetland gets 2 per day, bigger pony gets 3. This isn't the recommended dose but I am hoping the Equibites will boost their vit/min intakes. Try to buy the larger 10kg bag (£16 in my local shop) rather than the 3 kg bag because it works out much cheaper. Would you like a couple of Equibites sending in the post free of charge?
 
Mine get topspec lite balancer or D&H L for laminitics balancer as all the licks were full of molasses/sugar. The fat donkeys, Suze and Fleur get it just on its own, it comes as pellets. Buddy Aimee and Tintin get it added to Allen and Page Veteran mash.
 
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