Horse eating mud!

[kombikids]

new horsey seems to eat her bed (straw) - quite a bit a night, and i have seen her eating mud which was very odd! I am wondering whether she is lacking in something or just very greedy/wierd! She was overweight but is dropping her weight quite well, i tend to feed her as much hay as she wants and she gets 5/6 hours turnout a day (strict yard) She is on a couple of handfuls of good doer and a joint supplement, she is 14 years old. I was thinking of adding in a balancer and seeing if that helps, just tryingto decide if she needs the £40 veteran top spec stuff or a lami light or blue chip!

any advice gratefully recieved!

 

[Charmaine18]

I know nothing about nutrition I'm afraid, but maybe you could try giving her a mineral lick to keep her occupied? It has to be better than eating mud, and maybe it will give her the extra nutrients she's looking for (if that is the cause).

 

[clairel]

They do normally like/ eat mud if they are lacking some nutrients, so maybe a mineral lick would be cheaper than a balancer feed?!

 

[Rebels]

Mine started eating mud after being on box rest and was cured with a himalayan salt lick. Mud eating can cause colic so be careful

 

[china]

they eat mud to compensate for the lack of a certian nutrient, try a mineral lick, if she wont eat the lick then add a balancer or daily vit and min supplement.

 

[hoggedmane]

I give mine equivite general supplement as they are all on diets and it stops them licking mud.

 

[kellyeaton]

but her on seaweed that has all vit/mins you need plus amio acids trace elments etc!