My Horse Is Eating Stones!!!

[Spit That Out]

Hi, my horse is eating stones...why and how do i stop him?

He's only 20 months old and someone at the yard maybe his teeth are hurting? Someone else has said he's trying to get salt off the stones?

We've just put gravel (old road tarmac) in the gateway and he's started to eat it???

He's got a salt lick in his stable and he has vits and mins in his feed, at night he has a mixture of hay and haylege and there is plenty of grass in the day.

I had to put my hand in his mouth yesterday to help him get rid of a stone the size of a large strawberry and this morning i chased him away from the gate but by the time i had walked away he had gone back and was snuffling around the gravel?!!?

I think he's spitting them out but I'm worried he might swallow them...what damage will they do to him if he does?

My friends Labrador ate stones and had to go to the vets to have them removed...maybe the stones in our area are extra yummy?!!?

 

[Birker2020]

I think he is seeking out a lack of phosphourous in his diet. It may also be that he is suffering from low grade colic as it is not unheard of for horses to eat strange objects when this occurs. My horse has tried to gulp down large quantities of soil for instance, when he was suffering from spasmodic colic whilst waiting for the vet to arrive.

 

[Spit That Out]

I don't think it's the colic as he's had spasmodic colic twice before and he acted completely differently but I'll give my feed adviser a ring on Tuesday and ask about the Phosphorous thing.
Thanks

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

Maybe a field lick block of a general purpose vits/mins/trace elements would give him what he needs?