Is this normal...?!

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gingerspice

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that out on exercise my horse eats mud...!
There is one favorite place where he literally plants himself and licks and takes bites of the mud under-foot and won't budge until at least one good mouthful has been taken, but he has started doing it more in other places this week.
He is eventing fit, looks well and in good spirits but I'm thinking he might be deficient in something in his diet.
He's out all night on ok pasture and in in the day with haylage after hard food breakfast.
He isn't a fussy eater but he is not a pig!
Any comments most welcome!
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Thanks!
 
When our horse and the previous one used to do this it was always at this time of year. Do you put salt in his diet? We found if we put a salt lick in stable if they were in or salt in a small feed if we've almost stopped the feed they stop trying to eat soil and licking it so they were difficiant in salt. This is normal when they are lacking a certain mineral. But better to try and stop the soil eating do't want the gut to get compacted.
 
Ellie licks the mud off her hooves sometimes if we've been out for a hack. I was pretty freaked out the first time she did it, but I think it's just habit, TBH. She's got a salt lick, a Likit and a respiratory lick tub, so I couldnt really give her any more!
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Thank you both very much.
I stopped the salt in his food at the end of the hunting season which in hindsight was probably the wrong thing to do. i'll start it again along with a good vit and min supplement.
He did do the same thing at this time last year, but it seems more obvious this year so I was considering a blood test.
Amazing how they find those rich spots just out hacking!
 
My horse has a salt lick in his stable, he has ignored it for the last 6 months, in fact the one he had before I gave away as he wasn't interested and it just gathered dust. Unfortunately he had to go on box rest in Feb and all that time he still ignored it. He is now back out and at the weekend I found him licking the salt lick!! So who knows? Maybe it is the time of year and they are all lacking in something? Also all the horses at our yard beds are very wet at the moment, due to the high level of liquid in the grass rain and good grass, so maybe they are peeing out nutrients?
Just a thought!!
 
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