This is an archived Horseadvice.com Discussion. The parent article and menus are available on the navigation menu below:
HorseAdvice.com » Horse Care » Equine Nutrition, Horse Feeds, Feeding » Minerals and Electrolytes for Horses, an Overview »
  Discussion on High metabolic rate & excess loose mineral consumption
Author Message
Member:
lindsey

Posted on Monday, Jun 9, 2008 - 5:50 pm:

I am confused by my horse's behavior.
I will start by saying I discussed this with my vet last week and she said not to worry as he looks well & healthy, however I DO worry :-(.

Not sure if there's a correlation, but it's generally assumed by any vet that my horse metabolizes drugs VERY quickly.
He has shivers and needs sedation for shoeing. Everyone is shocked to notice that 0.7cc Domosedan and 0.4cc Torbugesic HARDLY buys us 20 minutes, usually only 15 minutes before he is FULLY awake again. Often we end up with 1cc+ Domosedan (& Torb) which gives us the necessary 20 minutes to shoe his hinds.

Now in theory my horse shouldn't be lacking anything, he gets a balanced min/vit hoof supplement and I give him some additional magnesium oxide to keep his hindend muscles relaxed with regards to the shivers.
However he was still eating away at his salt block. So I decided to give him loose minerals : Rush Creek Mineral, BVC mix & Redmont salt. For about 6 months now he is literally devouring the stuff, if I'd let him he'd finish an entire 25lbs bag in one go. WHY???
Could the fact that drugging him, shows us he metabolizes stuff incredibly fast, give him increased mineral/vit needs?
I did take these particular loose minerals away (which contain wheat middlings, yummy?) and replaced them with Red Cal, a different loose mineral (no wheat middlings) and that he didn't touch at all!?!!
Yet again, give him a bucket of water with electrolytes and you can't stop him from drinking. I've seen him finish two full buckets in one go and still looking for more :-(?

I am really confused now, is he trying to balance out the minerals himself. Is the fact that I supplement him with additional magnesium, causing him to try to get extra calcium perhaps?

My vet (acupuncturist) will be seeing him again in 3 weeks time and I will for safety's sake request a full chemistry blood test.
I am worried about overstressing his kidneys.
I have been restricting him to 1oz of each mineral-mix a day lately and will stop the extra magnesium supplementation.
But I'm now wondering if I should just take all loose minerals away and back to basics : free choice timothy hay/ 10 hrs pasture & good hoof supplement.
PS, my other horse, exact same diet, never ever touches any of the loose minerals I give him.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Jun 9, 2008 - 9:05 pm:

Hello Patsy you should not remove all minerals from the diet and 2 ozs of loose trace mineral salts added to the food daily will supply the healthy unstressed horse with adequate salt and trace minerals. As to why your horse is craving salt I can't guess. You do not mention any work or environmental stress. There are some horses that develop such a craving for no good reasons and they are discussed at Horse Care » Equine Nutrition, Horse Feeds, Feeding » Minerals and Electrolytes for Horses, an Overview. There are also disease conditions that lead to water/electrolyte problems and you can find more about them at Diseases of Horses » Urinary System » Excessive Drinking and Urination, Polydipsia / Polyuria (PD/PU).
DrO
Member:
lindsey

Posted on Tuesday, Jun 10, 2008 - 9:59 am:

Thanks Dr O. So 2 ozs is not an excessive amount for him to receive. In that case I'll leave it & hopefully he'll slow down himself one day.

Thanks for the links, I hadn't read the urinary system articles yet.

He doesn't drink excessively. In any other way he's really a very happy boy.
And doesn't show any signs of stress whatsoever. Only 2 horses on the property, he's the highest in pecking order and really enjoys his time out. He's schooled first level, but no showing. He loves his work and doesn't get worked up over it. He's schooled 3 to 4 times a week and gets 2 trailrides a week. The only time I really now him to get stressed out is when attempting to shoe his hinds, other then that he's got this happy look on his face at all times.
So it would surprise me if stress is presently causing him to crave the minerals.

Thanks again, I'll keep monitoring him and see what a bloodtest tells us later. Most likely not much, assuming his kidneys are working fine and presumably flushing any excess out.
Home Page | Top of Page | Join Us!
Horseadvice.com is a BBB Accredited Business. Click for the BBB Business Review of this Horse Training in Stokesdale NC