Could my horse be lacking nutrients?

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Sandylou

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My horse is a very good doer and so this winter I decided to cut out his hard feed and keep him on a grass and hay diet only. He's had very little work this winter too. He's looking very well on it and has not dropped any weight at all.
Despite his appearance I'm a little concerned as he has been seen chewing wood and concrete and also most recently has started itching quite a lot. At one point he was scratching so much that I called the vet who advised that I treat him with Coopers Fly Repellent in case of mites. After treatment he stopped itching completely but has started to itch again over the past week or so.
Someone has suggested that he may be deficient in vitamins & minerals which could be causing the skin irritation and chewing. Would you agree?
Should I try mineral lick? If so, do you have any suggestions as to which I should use?
Should I skip all of that and just get the vet out for a check-up?

Any suggestions are much appreciated. Thanks everyone :)
 
If you didn't do anything to supplement vitamins/minerals then he probably is lacking. Personally I would go with a multi vit injection to give him a boost and then a good quality mineral lick or small feed to meet his requirements. The issue with a mineral lick is they are quite sweet so very palatable and it's not always easy to quantify how much they are taking in....some will guzzle them, others have no real interest.
 
As Amage says, good lick(not a molassed one!) or balancer would be a good place to start.
Mine always have access to a red rockie & a lump of Rock Salt.
 
i would actually give him a daily does of vits and mins rather than a lick or block.

Baileys lowcal is great but ime it does promote a bit of condition.

Have a look at the forageplus website, they do a winter balancer and a summer balancer for horses just on forage :)

Also have a look at naf pink powder
 
You probably need to repeat the Coopers treatment. It was effective when you used it before, so very likely will be again.
An unmollassed mineral lick is always a good idea IMO.
 
He needs a vit and min supplement. It's not going to mess with him going to a new yard. Nor will a salt lick. Put in a handful of beet.

Another that would caution on the Lo Cal. Don't care what the name of it is, if horse is a good doer he most likely will gain weight. Even at the coffee cup rate. Most good doers don't need a product that's mostly soya.

Terri
 
Sandylou said:
I'll repeat the Coopers tonight and see how we go with that. Would you not suspect and deficiencies then?
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If coopers worked before, it's likely that he did have mites or lice. They're hard to get rid of, so I'd say the coopers probably helped lower the population while you were using it, and they've been repopulating happily ever since :)

I'd suggest asking your vet about different treatments for parasites, because I think Coopers is more of a repellant than actually getting rid of an existing infestation.

Horses and ponies on forage only diets are quite likely to be a little deficient in some vits and minerals (although hay + grass is about as good as you can get for natural provision of them). I agree with those who suggested a good all round balancer (one which includes essential amino acids too), however if your horse is generally in good condition it does seem rather likely that his skin condition is nothing more than creepy crawlies :)
 
Sandylou said:
I'll repeat the Coopers tonight and see how we go with that. Would you not suspect and deficiencies then?
Click to expand...
TBH, the only way to detect deficiencies is through a blood test. At this stage, I don't think I would go to that expense. He is unlikely to be deficient in all vits and mins, so you run the risk of overloading with some, if you add a supplement. I certainly wouldn't use Lo-Cal, it contains fillers, which the horse doesn't need. Will your horse be moving far? Will he be eating different hay/lage at the new yard. If so you may see a difference anyway. But my money is on a re-infestation of lice - they can be a nightmare to get rid of!
 
My good doer has access to a mineral lick - standard rockies one, plus I've now got him on D&H Equibites to try and help ensure he gets sufficient vits and mins - he gets unmollassed chaff. It's funny though mine also been on hay this winter instead of haylage and while been a bit better for his weight I do wonder if he's lacking more in the way of proper nutrients as has had various infections - mudfever and mites and while both been successfully treated his skin is taking a long while to improve.
 
Mine will chew trees and fences if they are hungry. Although they have turnout and a lot of hay, I supplement with fast fibre (It doesn't blow round the field), and that seems to solve the problem.
Agree with above re lice.
 
Just to clarify, Coopers Fly Repellant Plus is a treatment for lice/mite infestations and should be repeated at least fortnightly to make sure that you get all the eggs which were unhatched the first time round. I find that actually weekly is better.
It can also be used as a fly repellant.
 
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