|
|
 Expert
Posts: 1580
  
Location: Down South | We just got my daughter a new horse. A 4 year old mare. When we went to try her, as we were standing in the arena after riding her, she bent down and starting licking the ground. We brought her home this past Friday, and I saw her a couple times lick the dirt outside of her stall. When I turned her and her pasture mates out last night, I gave her a few minutes and then went down to check on them; to make sure they were integrating well together. I found her digging a hole with her teeth in the ground and eating the dirt.  . What is she missing in her diet?? I have a mineral and salt block out (granted she has only been here 4 days). And I feel like I should buy something to prevent sand colic. Any advice is GREATLY appreciated. Thank you. |
|
| |
|
Expert
Posts: 3514
| Vitalize High Perfromance. Feed her a good clean diet. The Vitalize High Performance has a pre and probiotic to help keep her ulcer and colic free. |
|
| |
|
I just read the headlines
Posts: 4483
| I'd call the vet to ask what could be going on. It could be a deficiency, some kind of digestive upset, stress, etc. |
|
| |
|
 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 460
| Actually a lot of horses like eating dirt! I'm sure it's from a lack off some mineral in their diet though. But even with high quality feed, I still find mine eating dirt chunks every once in a while :) never had any issues come of it. Would love to hear what else other people know if it's a diet of deficiency :) |
|
| |
|
| Leave your mineral block in the pasture for it's salt content ...... it has so few minerals it is not even funny.
Buy you some ADM GROSTRONG MINERALS .... 50# bag of loose minerals and vitamins .... start adding a handful to her feed every other day for the rest of her life (and your other horses) <$40 ...
ADM GROSTRONG MINERALS is the same recipe that is known a Moorman Minerals until ADM bought Moorman ..
The great thing about GroStrong is simple ... the minerals are chelated differently so they are more easily absorbed by your horse and then the correct amount of vitamins has been added to enhance this thru the gut absorption of both minerals and vitamins.
You can also place GroStrong in a bucket // feeder as a free choice and place it under a roof out of the weather ... wind will blow it out of the bucket ..
Don't be concerned of your horses becoming over mineralized or vitaminlized ... your horse will not over eat it due to the salt content. If you see a build up in the bottom of their buckets due to the horses selectively eating it .... just cut back to 2 handfuls per week ...
GroStrong is a great product for pregnant mares to make sure the foal in the oven is getting his full dose of needed nutrients ..... along with his mama and her new foal by her side.
YOU WILL NOTICE A DIFFERENCE IN HOW EVERYBODY LOOKS AFTER A FEW MONTHS OF FEEDING GROSTRONG .... NO MAGIC ... JUST GOOD NUTRITION MAKES THE DIFFERENCE ...
I do not feed any other supplements ... and my feeding program is simple ... whole oats, alfalfa and a little bit of chopped corn .... this is all natural and is less expensive than the heavily advertised high dollar bagged feeds... Your horse will have to chew and eat more slowly which creates more saliva which is the item needed to have good digestion in their tummies and colons ...
DON'T FORGET THE LOOSE .... ADM GROSTRONG MINERALS ...
IF YOU LIKE YOUR FEED... YOU CAN KEEP YOUR FEED ... just start mixing it 50-50 with whole oats and add a flake of alfalfa along with the GroStrong minerals..... PRETTY SIMPLE ... EHHHHH??
|
|
| |
|
Expert
Posts: 1580
Location: Down South | BARRELHORSE USA - 2016-05-03 1:20 AM Leave your mineral block in the pasture for it's salt content ...... it has so few minerals it is not even funny. Buy you some ADM GROSTRONG MINERALS .... 50# bag of loose minerals and vitamins .... start adding a handful to her feed every other day for the rest of her life (and your other horses) <$40 ... ADM GROSTRONG MINERALS is the same recipe that is known a Moorman Minerals until ADM bought Moorman .. The great thing about GroStrong is simple ... the minerals are chelated differently so they are more easily absorbed by your horse and then the correct amount of vitamins has been added to enhance this thru the gut absorption of both minerals and vitamins. You can also place GroStrong in a bucket // feeder as a free choice and place it under a roof out of the weather ... wind will blow it out of the bucket .. Don't be concerned of your horses becoming over mineralized or vitaminlized ... your horse will not over eat it due to the salt content. If you see a build up in the bottom of their buckets due to the horses selectively eating it .... just cut back to 2 handfuls per week ... GroStrong is a great product for pregnant mares to make sure the foal in the oven is getting his full dose of needed nutrients ..... along with his mama and her new foal by her side. YOU WILL NOTICE A DIFFERENCE IN HOW EVERYBODY LOOKS AFTER A FEW MONTHS OF FEEDING GROSTRONG .... NO MAGIC ... JUST GOOD NUTRITION MAKES THE DIFFERENCE ... I do not feed any other supplements ... and my feeding program is simple ... whole oats, alfalfa and a little bit of chopped corn .... this is all natural and is less expensive than the heavily advertised high dollar bagged feeds... Your horse will have to chew and eat more slowly which creates more saliva which is the item needed to have good digestion in their tummies and colons ... DON'T FORGET THE LOOSE .... ADM GROSTRONG MINERALS ... IF YOU LIKE YOUR FEED... YOU CAN KEEP YOUR FEED ... just start mixing it 50-50 with whole oats and add a flake of alfalfa along with the GroStrong minerals..... PRETTY SIMPLE ... EHHHHH??
I actually feed ADM feed but I don't feed the mineral. But, after she arrived and started eating dirt I had thought that getting a bag of the ADM minerals may be a good idea. Thanks!! |
|
| |
|
 Elite Veteran
Posts: 851
Location: West Texas | ADM Feeds already have mineral in them. Terrible advice to cut your feed back in half and then add oats and more mineral. Sorry, just not sound logic. If you feed a fortified concentrate, feed it to the label. I doubt your horse has a mineral deficiency. |
|
| |
|
Expert
Posts: 3514
| Depending on what feed you are feeding of ADM you can feed their grow strong minerals. When I fed it I consulted with Pat who is their nutritionist. He always said it was fine to feed the Grow Strong Minerals. I have also been told a horse will eat dirt when they were having digestive issues. I've seen some do it when they did not have a salt block. |
|
| |
|
 Take a Picture
Posts: 12841
| All horse feeds have minerals in them but not really enough to make a difference. I keep GroStrong minerals free choice in a tub in the loafing sheds. Eating dirt is not good. You might want to give hte horse something for sand colic. One other thing, make sure the horse is getting enough salt. Needs to be loose. I put a couple of tablespoons in the feed each night. If the horses don't want the salt they leave it behind. |
|
| |
|
Elite Veteran
Posts: 851
Location: West Texas | streakysox - 2016-05-03 12:35 PM
All horse feeds have minerals in them but not really enough to make a difference. I keep GroStrong minerals free choice in a tub in the loafing sheds. Eating dirt is not good. You might want to give hte horse something for sand colic. One other thing, make sure the horse is getting enough salt. Needs to be loose. I put a couple of tablespoons in the feed each night. If the horses don't want the salt they leave it behind.
Then why do the feed companies even bother then? Yes, ADM says they put growstrong mineral in their feeds then say you can add mineral, sounds like bad feeding advice geared to selling you more stuff, as extra mineral generally wont harm them. Minerals added to feed are done so that at recommended feeding levels, minerals are at optimum amounts. ADM purposefully telling people to double dose on minerals is wrong, in my opinion. As far as eating dirt, science has discovered that it is not because they lack nutrients and minerals. I have even seen where some think a little dirt eating is quite natural. Excessive dirt eating is what you may need to take notice of.
http://equusmagazine.com/article/mythbuster-why-horses-eat-dirt-259...
http://www.equinews.com/article/geophagia-eating-dirt-could-have-se...
Edited by Tdove 2016-05-03 12:57 PM
|
|
| |
|
I just read the headlines
Posts: 4483
| Tdove - 2016-05-03 12:53 PM
streakysox - 2016-05-03 12:35 PM
All horse feeds have minerals in them but not really enough to make a difference. I keep GroStrong minerals free choice in a tub in the loafing sheds. Eating dirt is not good. You might want to give hte horse something for sand colic. One other thing, make sure the horse is getting enough salt. Needs to be loose. I put a couple of tablespoons in the feed each night. If the horses don't want the salt they leave it behind.
Then why do the feed companies even bother then? Yes, ADM says they put growstrong mineral in their feeds then say you can add mineral, sounds like bad feeding advice geared to selling you more stuff, as extra mineral generally wont harm them. Minerals added to feed are done so that at recommended feeding levels, minerals are at optimum amounts. ADM purposefully telling people to double dose on minerals is wrong, in my opinion. As far as eating dirt, science has discovered that it is not because they lack nutrients and minerals. I have even seen where some think a little dirt eating is quite natural. Excessive dirt eating is what you may need to take notice of.
http://equusmagazine.com/article/mythbuster-why-horses-eat-dirt-259...
http://www.equinews.com/article/geophagia-eating-dirt-could-have-se...
Agreed. The more I hear about ADM, the happier I am that I no longer feed their products. |
|
| |
|
| HELLO BHW ..
I don't care what brand of feed you are feeding ... read the ingredients and count how many you can't pronounce ... this is a red flag to me!! There are so many human food processing and ethanol trash items being added to horse feeds to increase the profits of the feed companies.
This is the reason I went back to all natural grains that contain the base nutrients for all horses for 100's of years with great success!!
Then added minerals and vitamins just like you do for yourself and your kids.
Horse's teeth are bone and constantly growing .. so the more chewing they do ... keeps them worn down from their chewing activity which pellets do not supply. Which also means they are not gulping their food ... walk down your alleyway and look at the happy faces when feeding whole grains.
I look at horse feed the same as I look at my own food... if there is no chewing, crunching or snap crackle and pop ... lol .... it is over processed and lost most of its nutrient value. Heat destroys nutrients, vitamins and minerals and pellets are heated to be formed and most have gluten to hold the pellet together.
Whole oats, alfalfa, corn and good hay creates saliva which is the start of digestion in a horse. Try eating a box of party crackers with nothing to drink and feel your saliva glands kick in ... then go get you a beer.. lol
We all love the taste of orange juice ... look at your carton and explain to me ... why they concentrate it which takes heat which kills all the nutrients, filter out all the pulp which is good nutritious fiber, grind some of the peel to bring back the orange flavor and smell and then come back and add processed water and then add processed vitamin C to sell it to me and you.. lol
After coming to my senses on the high price of feeds with trash added to them and the continuous high dollar advertising I was paying for ... I looked at the needs of my horses and changed back to whole oats, alfalfa, corn, good hay and a well made vitamin mineral supplement like GroStrong .......... my horses have never looked better, foals strong and stout at birthing and grow like weeds as they get old enough to share Mom's dinner ....
YEP .. it makes me happy to see everyone fat, sassy, shiny with big growthy babies ... just by me returning to being simple minded ... lol
|
|
| |
Advice Needed -- horse eating dirt