Eating mud?

Flibble

Flibble

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I know its a sign he needs something in his diet but while Hand Grazing the lad today he headed for a muddy patch licked the mud and the started to bite it with his teeth and eat it a bit like I am when I get let loose with a Cadburys Cream egg. Do you think this a specific element missing in his diet or a desire for general minerals?
 
a friend of mine, her pony used to do this and she just put him on a all round mineral supplement and put a salt lick in the field, that seemed to stop it
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I think that is an old wives tale, your horses is just weird like ours, he licks mud where he is about to roll. His diet is fine he's just odd
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It can be a sign of dicomfort in the stomach. My horse went down with spasmodic colic at a show so I started walking him around, he was quite bad (he has recurring colic) and was burping (how they do) and he found some soil and started gulping down, just tearing at it like it was hay or something. It was quite alarming. When the vet arrived and gave him an anti spasmodic injection i asked her why he had done this and she said in the wild they would do a similiar thing in an effort to settle the pain in their stomachs. Interesting stuff.
 
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I take it if you are hand grazing your lad he is on box rest? If he is on box rest due to a colic related issue maybe it would be worth just keeping a close eye on him in case he does get more colicky - if this is indeed the case. I'm not trying to worry you but I think I have a valid point. If he was licking the mud I would say a mineral/vitamin deficiency, if he is tearing at it in teh way you describe and the way my horse did that day then I would say it is cause for concern. x
 
Thanks for your concern. He is not on Box Rest we arent allowed turnout currently so I always take him out for a wander and let him tuck in to what little grass there is in the mudbath.

Just edited to say I will keep a watchful eye on him ref colic threat you never know when it can creep up on you!!
 
Oh okay not on box rest then - there's my theory shot to pieces!! The mud bath sounds familiar by the way...thank goodness it will soon be summer! Yeah, I'd just keep an eye on him just in case - good luck x
 
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