Do minerals really make a difference to hooves?

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NellRosk

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A few months ago I stopped feeding Pro Balance to both my horses as I'm skint and had to make cuts. So they've just been on linseed, readigrass and beet all winter (along with ad lib haylage). I can honestly see no difference in horn quality and they haven't gone footy. My gelding is halfway through transitioning and doing really well, better than I could have hoped actually (now hacks bootless on stony tracks which I never expected). I was going to start feeding minerals again when my wage goes up in a month or so but now I'm thinking... do I really need to?! Thoughts?
 
ester said:
I think it depends on the horse and the balance already present in their forage.
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They're on very good quality dry haylage, could that be why? My gelding really struggled the first time I took his shoes off so I was really meticulous about his diet when I took them off this time but he's doing great. I don't know whether to buy more when I can afford to but I'm thinking if they're fine then maybe I don't have to?
 
Have a look at the pro mineral rather than the pro balance. Its much cheaper and you feed a smaller amount. I add brewers yeast for the b vits which they sell for a good price. (he also gets a small handful of charnwood linseed) I have to say my horse has always had a soft silky coat and that changed when he was ill over the last year or so, it felt really dry and wasn't as sleek.

I am convinced the grass he is on is missing something vital/is very unbalanced and the pro mineral seems to have bought his spark back. He has always had strong quality horn but his feet are still excellent & his coat is now looking glossy & shiny, he loks amazingly amazingly well & is full of energy (despite still being lame!). I really think it's made a huge difference and helped re balance what was missing. I would be loath to stop feeding it now. Might be worth you taking a look.
 
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BethH said:
Have a look at the pro mineral rather than the pro balance. Its much cheaper and you feed a smaller amount. I add brewers yeast for the b vits which they sell for a good price. (he also gets a small handful of charnwood linseed) I have to say my horse has always had a soft silky coat and that changed when he was ill over the last year or so, it felt really dry and wasn't as sleek.

I am convinced the grass he is on is missing something vital/is very unbalanced and the pro mineral seems to have bought his spark back. He is looking glossy, shiny and amazingly well, I really think it's made a huge difference and helped re balance what was missing. I would be loath to stop feeding it now. Might be worth a look
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I think I actually fed that as I was trying to make cuts and it was a bit cheaper! My mare will be fed brewer's yeast in summer as she has sweet itch and it seems to help this. I could give my gelding a scoop too? It's cheap enough. You've just reminded me actually that I need to buy some!! That is interesting though, may get that when my pay goes up.
 
I agree, how crucial mineral supplementation is depends on the balance in the forage. Unless you test, you won't know. I also think that time plays a role. At least for certain minerals, the horse will have stores in the body which can be depleted first before any potential deficiency starts showing up.
You could just continue without supplementation and see how you get on. The worst that could happen is that you notice a deterioration at some point.

I consider supplementation something of an insurance policy - I'm trying to make sure there's no nutritional deficiency, to support optimal health. It may be a waste of money, but the only way to tell if it makes a difference would be be go without for quite a long time, and even then it could be difficult to guess whether small issues that can prop up from time to time (horse a bit flat, coat a bit dull...) have anything to do with the supplementation, and could have been avoided, or would have occurred anyway.

So, I'd say: entirely up to you.

My only additional comment would be that I figure it takes about 9months or so to grow a new hoof wall, so I wouldn't expect to see any drastic changes in horn quality (good or bad) in a much shorter time frame.
 
Might be worth a try. it's half the price and you only use about half the amount so it works out substantially cheaper. The bigger the bag you buy the better the value, it's the postage & packing that's the killer - I try and share it with someone if I can!
 
I feed pro mineral to mine. I'm not sure he needs it, but its a tenner a month so its not expensive. He gets 40gms of salt as well which does seem to make a difference
 
Mine have mineral licks in the field. I don't add to diet.

Biggest improvement I've seen was cutting OUT micronised linseed. If you are having problems with footiness I would trial not feeding that, because that's two horses I have who are properly rock crunching since I stopped it.
 
I only supplement what I know they need, magnesium, selenium, copper and zinc. I buy the sulphates for copper and zinc and the cow stuff for magnesium and selenium yeast (and brewers yeast). Costs pennies, but on my grazing most horses don't manage without it. I have blood tested to make sure I've got it right.
 
FfionWinnie said:
Mine have mineral licks in the field. I don't add to diet.

Biggest improvement I've seen was cutting OUT micronised linseed. If you are having problems with footiness I would trial not feeding that, because that's two horses I have who are properly rock crunching since I stopped it.
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That's quite interesting, I might try it if we are still at the current stage in a few months. Had to get off today on a stony track, so that's my benchmark of comfort.

He's never had a shiny coat on linseed either, despite being on it 2+ years.
 
I think they are important, especially for any horses with compromised hooves but as already said it does entirely depend on the mineral balance of the forage. I also think horses will build up stores of the mineral and probably only show symptoms of deficiency when the stores are depleted.

If I was only to feed two 'supplements' then it'd be magnesium chloride and salt without a doubt.
 
Thanks, all interesting replies. I may cave and get some Pro Mineral when I can afford. And I hadn't heard of linseed making them footy! Mine are fine though on rocky tracks and one needs it for her sweet itch so will be keeping that. I can get a big sack of it from the feed shop quite cheap too. :)
 
I also feed pro mineral and Brewers yeast. I'm on a very tight budget, but this combination seems to work well.
 
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