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Posted by Dr Thunes
on 11/3/2009, 11:51 am, in reply to "vitamins? minerals? supplements?"
128.120.218.130
You are correct that you need to be feeding a mineral supplement that will balance your hay. First you have to insure that the horses mineral requirements are met and then that the diet is balanced as some minerals interact with each other so it is necessary to insure that the ratio between the minerals is correct or secondary deficiencies may occur.
The requirement is based on the horses age, weight level of work, climate where it lives etc etc. and is based on the recommendation of the National research Council.
Horses on all hay diets should receive flax in order to rpovide the omega-3 fatty acids that they would otherwise get from grass.
Water soluble vitamin deficiencies have not bee described in the horse as the bacteria in the gut produce these. However it stands to reason that if you have an reason to suspect that your horses digestive tract may not be functioning adequately that you might want to supplement these.
Vitamin E may need to be supplemented if the horse is working and depending on which mineral supplement you go with.
There are a selection of hay balancing products on the market. For example CA Trace minerals, LMG super supplements, Purina Enrich 32, Nutrena Equiblend, Triple Crown 30 and on and on. They all have their pros and cons and I don't know which one would be best for your situation.
You are right that every batch of hay is different and generally I don't tend to recommend testing unless you have several months worth at once. However if you always get your hay from the same grower you might get some generalities from doing an analysis.
If you want some specific help in knowing which supplement would be best for your horse I would be happy to arrange a phone consult with you. If you are interested, send me an email.
Clair
Independent Equine Nutritionist,
Equilibrate Equine Consulting,
www.equilibrateequine.com
clair@equilibrateequine.com
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