Dr. Matt, our vet in California, said that he’d seen many a small block chewed to pieces because that’s the only way the horse can get enough of what he needs from the block. Also he sees a lot of folks depending upon the ingredients in sacked feeds to supply what their horses need. The problem with that is: a standard portion of any sack feed doesn’t take into consideration the differences in the metabolism of each animal, the differences in the way they are living, their stress levels, or the differences in times of the calendar year. Never mind the high sugar grains with which most of them are made.
These blocks were originally designed for cattle and they more or less migrated into the horse world. A horse simply cannot do enough licking to serve the needs of his body.
Study after study says it’s best to leave it up to the horses. They will know when they need salt and how much they need. So I would definitely recommend that yours have access to free-choice-all-the-time granular salt and/or mineral mix, preferably unprocessed. We have a big bucket hanging in the barn. Our herd of eight, including Noelle, have access to it 24/7. We never let it run out. We use Dr. Dan Moore’s (The Natural Vet) formulation called Red Cal because we like what we read about the product, (it’s unprocessed ancient sea salt from where oceans used to be, plus trace minerals), and we liked most of what we read about Dr. Dan (except for feeding oats). It’s been interesting to watch the value of the free choice point that was made above being proven. We’ll go for days sometimes with little or no Red Cal gone from the bucket. Other times they’ll empty it in a day or two. They know what they need, and when. But then our bodies can do that as well (check this out). Bottom line: It should be free choice 24/7 and it should be granular, never forcing your horse to attempt to supply his needs by licking on a block. Or your wrist :)
Joe Camp, film writer, producer, director, author, passionate speaker, and the man behind the canine superstar Benji believes that anything is possible if you work hard enough and trust in yourself. He was told by industry “experts” not to bother with the original Benji film; that it wouldn’t work. He proved the experts wrong and now, after five Benji movies, he’s at it again with his new best selling book The Soul of a Horse published by the Crown/Harmony imprint of Random House in 2008. A book that is already in its fourth printing, has climbed to #4 on The Dallas Morning News Non-Fiction Best Seller List, and is setting traditional thinking about horses on its ear.
Learn more about Joe and Kathleen Camp on their website: Soul of a Horse
Joe
ACTHA Monthly | July 2015 | 37