Will free-choice access to a white or mineralized salt block provide for a horses mineral requirements?
It is totally dependent on your horses needs and the amount of work they do.
In terms of salt, potentially in winter with little or no exercise a salt block may offer enough sodium and chloride in combination with their pasture, other feed and forage sources, (which are typically high in potassium) may cover their daily needs.
Again, this is dependent on the individual horse and whether it is happy to lick at the block. We must remember a horse does not have a cows rough tongue and therefore many horses are not happy attempting to lick a hard salt block.
For example, a 500kg horse not in work, has a daily maintenance sodium requirement of just under 10 grams of sodium, which may be met by consuming about 28g of sodium chloride salt from their salt block.
Most horses entering higher levels of exercise, (e.g. heavy exercise requirement can exceed 50 grams of salt per day), a horse will simply not be able to gain enough sodium & chloride from a salt block alone and will require further supplementation in the feed.
When it comes to other needs however, the amounts of these key minerals such as zinc and copper, selenium, manganese, cobalt and iodine (which are some of the most important trace minerals in equine nutrition) are likely not being consumed at high enough quantities to ensure the horse’s needs are being met or the diet’s trace mineral profile is well balanced.
Again, that mature 500 kg horse at maintenance will require 100 mg copper and 400 mg zinc a day. Generally, the levels of minerals in blocks are not high enough to make a significant impact, also they will not be in a form that protects the minerals from degradation like a sealed container will and end up leaving your horse deficient.
An interesting research study on horses and licking preference of plain slat blocks compared to Himalayan or red mineralised, showed the horses in this study did not lick a particular type of salt block any longer than another, which does not agree with anecdotal accounts of horses licking Himalayan salt for longer periods. chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://kb.osu.edu/…/1aea4bec-e75a-40c5-9318…/content
Conclusion – individual horse intake is highly variable, some horses will never lick enough from a block to receive enough minerals, some may be excessive and be ingesting more than they need for certain minerals.
Dont leave their health requirements to trial and error!
Always consult with an equine nutritionist to assess your horse’s diet and establish what supplementation is necessary and appropriate for your horses individual needs.
