Yes, there are natural sources of salt for horses. Horses, like all livestock, require salt (sodium chloride) for their health, and it’s often provided to them regularly. While commercial sources of salt for animals often contain iodine as a routine additive, there are also natural sources that can fulfill this need.
What Natural Salt Sources Can Horses Benefit From?
- Salt Deposits: Natural salt deposits, such as those found in salt licks, can provide horses with access to salt in its natural form.
- Iodized Salt: Salt to which small quantities of potassium iodide have been added is beneficial in areas where iodine is lacking from the diet of horses.
- Trace Mineralized Salt: This can be used when copper or cobalt may be deficient in the horse’s diet.
Why is Salt Important for Horses?
Salt is essential for several bodily functions in horses:
- General Health: Salt is of great importance to animal health.
- Nutrient Balance: The basic nutrients that animals require for maintenance, growth, reproduction, and good health include minerals.
- Hemoglobin Formation: Copper and cobalt, found in trace mineralized salt, are needed along with iron for the formation of hemoglobin, the oxygen-carrying pigment of the red blood cells.
- Thyroid Function: Small amounts of iodine are needed by animals for the formation of thyroxine, a compound secreted by the thyroid gland.
How Much Salt Do Horses Need?
All farm animals generally need more common salt than is contained in their feeds, and they are supplied with it regularly. Good quality grass-legume pastures, in addition to iodized or trace-mineralized salt, will supply adequate nutrients to maintain an adult horse at light work or mares during pregnancy.
What Happens if Horses Don’t Get Enough Salt?
A serious deficiency of iodine may cause goitre, a disease in which the thyroid gland enlarges greatly. In some areas, farm animals may suffer from anemia unless the deficiency of copper and cobalt is corrected by means of a suitable mineral supplement.
How Can I Ensure My Horse Gets Enough Salt?
- Salt Blocks: Livestock are usually given access to common salt separately, so they will not be forced to eat more of the other minerals than they require to get the amount of salt they need.
- Mineral Supplements: In areas where soil and forage are deficient in copper and cobalt, farm animals may suffer from anemia unless the deficiency is corrected by means of a suitable mineral supplement.
- Commercial Feeds: Swine diets usually contain prescribed levels of calcium, phosphorus, salt, and essential trace minerals that may be deficient in the grains they are fed.
Would you like to explore the specific nutrient requirements of horses in more detail?