Do older horses need more salt?

K

Kezzabell2

Well-Known Member
Joined
9 April 2014
Messages
2,975
Location
Basingstoke
Visit site
Just curious, my mare used to be scared of salt licks, she'd snort at them and avoid going anywhere near them!

now she waits at the fence so I can let her into the starvation patch, so she can go inside and get the salt lick!! she will stand there for ages licking at it!

she never did this until about a year or 2 ago! I remember the first time she was interested because my youngster was licking it! since then there's been no stopping her!
 
My old boy would never touch his salt lick until my new boy came along i put it down to the new boy starting the lick off and taking the crusty layer away.
I think they do need more salt when they get older as it encourages them to drink more which helps them pee more and get rid of toxins there bodies have trouble loosing as they get older. I noticed that his pee is less smelly and clearer than before.
 
I will always feed 25gms of salt if in work, [it can be purchased in 25kg sacks], and I think they all have individual "tastes" as well as physiological demands. My boy used his rock on a rope for his tail rubbing, so I washed his tail a bit in summer when I saw him doing this.
He also licked the earth in a particular place in his winter field. When I put him on salt + minerals all year round he did improve coat colour, and also pee clearer.
I always like to see a good clear pee!
I am not sure about age and salt, its an interesting question.
 
Last edited:
Kezzabell2 said:
Just curious, my mare used to be scared of salt licks, she'd snort at them and avoid going anywhere near them!

now she waits at the fence so I can let her into the starvation patch, so she can go inside and get the salt lick!! she will stand there for ages licking at it!

she never did this until about a year or 2 ago! I remember the first time she was interested because my youngster was licking it! since then there's been no stopping her!
Click to expand...

I am not sure it is age related but she obviously needs salt at the moment, if she is only getting it in lick form she may well not be taking enough to meet her requirements, I would give her some in a feed each day and see if that reduces her need to use the lick, I had one that needed plenty of salt at times and as soon as he started going at the lick more than normal I increased his daily amount which stopped the need to spend ages licking each day.
 
be positive said:
I am not sure it is age related but she obviously needs salt at the moment, if she is only getting it in lick form she may well not be taking enough to meet her requirements, I would give her some in a feed each day and see if that reduces her need to use the lick, I had one that needed plenty of salt at times and as soon as he started going at the lick more than normal I increased his daily amount which stopped the need to spend ages licking each day.
Click to expand...

Good point, she doesn't get any extra in her hard feed, so will start adding it and see whether she still wants the salt lick!

Its funny how they don't seem interested until their their new friends have it!!
 
I think mine has always 'self medicated' with the salt licks lol I've seen her digging rocks/stones under the earth and licking them. Then other times I would buy a proper rock lick and she's just ignore it. I haven't noticed any increase with age, but she seems to go through phases of wanting it more. She is obsessed with her salt lick again at the moment (she lives out but there's an old one in the stable and when I bring her in after un-tacking she runs over to it, but it had been gathering dust up until recently). I should probably put one the in the field as she apparently wants more salt I guess. She is never remotely interested in those bucket/tub type licks though!
 
Perhaps i should have said that 'some' older horses need more salt.
My old chap is in his thirties and is a geriatric.
As i scrolled through the posts to see if anybody had replied to mine (they haven't) i came across this one with no reply. In my rush to reply as a 'Foal' gave my account of the question. I would however say be very careful with introducing extra salt without the advise of you vet.
 
Joanna Armitage said:
Perhaps i should have said that 'some' older horses need more salt.
My old chap is in his thirties and is a geriatric.
As i scrolled through the posts to see if anybody had replied to mine (they haven't) i came across this one with no reply. In my rush to reply as a 'Foal' gave my account of the question. I would however say be very careful with introducing extra salt without the advise of you vet.
Click to expand...

Okay thats a good point, I do have vet out tomorrow to xray my youngsters feet again, so I will speak to him about it, he's known her for 14 years!!

she is also an old lady, 30 at least!
 
Kezzabell2 said:
Okay thats a good point, I do have vet out tomorrow to xray my youngsters feet again, so I will speak to him about it, he's known her for 14 years!!

she is also an old lady, 30 at least!
Click to expand...

My old horse used to ignore his salt lick, he started licking it a lot and finishing it off very quickly. He was subsequently diagnosed with Cushings - in my non-educated opinion could it be an indication of Cushings?
 
Horsewithsocks said:
My old horse used to ignore his salt lick, he started licking it a lot and finishing it off very quickly. He was subsequently diagnosed with Cushings - in my non-educated opinion could it be an indication of Cushings?
Click to expand...

She does have cushings!! She is being treated with prescand (4 a day) and has been for 2 years!! which I guess would have been around the time that she started taking a shine to the salt lick!!
 
My old boy with cushings also likes his salt lick. His cushings is well controlled with prascend but he does tend to sweat up a bit when it's warm or he is excited by something. My other horse doesn't touch his salt lick (at least not that i've noticed) so I guess the cushings is a factor.
Kezzabell2 said:
She does have cushings!! She is being treated with prescand (4 a day) and has been for 2 years!! which I guess would have been around the time that she started taking a shine to the salt lick!!
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top