Nibbling earth - anyone know the cause?

[mytwofriends]

I'm just wondering if there's something specific my horse might be lacking if he's doing this?

It's not all the time, but I first noticed it a few weeks ago and assumed he'd found some tasty shoots. They'd be long gone by now if there were any, as he usually does it in the same area.

He's 25, has controlled low grade Cushings (1 x Prascend) and is on a diet of a scoop of Top Spec cool conditioning cubes, Top Spec senior balancer (at the recommended amount for a 16.2 600kg horse) and quarter of a scoop of Dengie hi fi senior chaff - all this over two feeds. I also add a little micronised linseed to the pm feed. He's stabled at night, with ad lib quality hay, out in the day, again with more hay.

I've bought a salt lick, which he'll probably ignore as he's always done so in the past - but I figured it would be worth a try.

Anyone else's horses like to go 'grubbing' too?

 

[JillA]

Salt licks are a waste of money - their tongues aren't rough enough to get what they need, salt in their daily feed is the way to get enough salt into them, and yes, they do all need it as an electrolyte. It's all on here http://www.calmhealthyhorses.com/solution/salt.html

 

[mytwofriends]

Salt licks are a waste of money - their tongues aren't rough enough to get what they need, salt in their daily feed is the way to get enough salt into them, and yes, they do all need it as an electrolyte. It's all on here http://www.calmhealthyhorses.com/solution/salt.html

Fair enough. I wasn't sure if it was salt he was lacking to be honest. Just thought I'd try a salt lick and see if anyone on here might know what nibbling earth indicates, if anything.

Also meant to add he's retired, so lives the life of Reilly, mooching about.

 

[Shay]

Eating earth indicates either - he is trying to self supplement with something he is missing in his diet or - that he is in a very bare paddock and is just trying to satisfy his natural behaviours. Either way it isn't ideal as ingested earth can settle in the gut and cause sand colic.

When they get cushings their ability to balance vits & mins does get disrupted. So even though you are feeding a good quality balancer he might still feel he is lacking something. I'd be reluctant to add salt to feed as they then have no choice in what they consume and salt can mask the signs of progression of the condition. It might be worth getting his levels checked if they haven't been done previously. Or offer a good quality salt / mineral lick.

JillA is right that they do not have rough tongues like cows; but salt is hygroscopic. If you buy a lick designed for horses they are smooth surfaced. A film of water forms of the surface of the lick which horses can then lick off. (Or if they are like one of mine he bites it to hear the crunch!) I don't know if there is a mineral lick which is not laden with sugar - another thing you really don't need with a cushings boy! But if there is that might do as an alternative.

 

[mytwofriends]

Eating earth indicates either - he is trying to self supplement with something he is missing in his diet or - that he is in a very bare paddock and is just trying to satisfy his natural behaviours. Either way it isn't ideal as ingested earth can settle in the gut and cause sand colic.

When they get cushings their ability to balance vits & mins does get disrupted. So even though you are feeding a good quality balancer he might still feel he is lacking something. I'd be reluctant to add salt to feed as they then have no choice in what they consume and salt can mask the signs of progression of the condition. It might be worth getting his levels checked if they haven't been done previously. Or offer a good quality salt / mineral lick.

JillA is right that they do not have rough tongues like cows; but salt is hygroscopic. If you buy a lick designed for horses they are smooth surfaced. A film of water forms of the surface of the lick which horses can then lick off. (Or if they are like one of mine he bites it to hear the crunch!) I don't know if there is a mineral lick which is not laden with sugar - another thing you really don't need with a cushings boy! But if there is that might do as an alternative.

I'm going to pop his lick up in his stable anyway. It's a mineralised one which contains copper, and it doesn't appear to have added sugar (unless it's disguised under another name!) I've had him for 10 years, and he's never been particularly prone to licking them, but we'll see.

His ACTH levels were checked October/November time, and they were at 36, so not high at all. The vet was very happy with him. Not so say they haven't risen a bit since then I guess.

I don't think he's ingesting much earth from what I can see. He's just nibbling then moving on. I have the vet coming to do his jabs on Feb 6th, so I'll have a word then.

Thanks for the suggestions - all food for thought!

 

[mytwofriends]

Also meant to add, although there isn't much grass in his paddock, it's far from bare, plus he has hedges to snuffle through too.

 

[JillA]

You could add salt to his diet then you will know what he is getting, plus you could also think about balancing his minerals. If your forage comes from several sources it may not be worth getting it analysed but Forageplus do a generic mineral supplement based on average deficiencies found in samples across the UK. You could speak to them anyway, they are very helpful.
I'd be adding the salt and see if that stops him and if not, look into mineral balancing

 

[mytwofriends]

You could add salt to his diet then you will know what he is getting, plus you could also think about balancing his minerals. If your forage comes from several sources it may not be worth getting it analysed but Forageplus do a generic mineral supplement based on average deficiencies found in samples across the UK. You could speak to them anyway, they are very helpful.
I'd be adding the salt and see if that stops him and if not, look into mineral balancing

Yes I could do that, as I source my hay from a local farmer so I know exactly where it comes from. Good advice, thanks.

 

[oldjumper]

I'm just wondering if there's something specific my horse might be lacking if he's doing this?

It's not all the time, but I first noticed it a few weeks ago and assumed he'd found some tasty shoots. They'd be long gone by now if there were any, as he usually does it in the same area.

He's 25, has controlled low grade Cushings (1 x Prascend) and is on a diet of a scoop of Top Spec cool conditioning cubes, Top Spec senior balancer (at the recommended amount for a 16.2 600kg horse) and quarter of a scoop of Dengie hi fi senior chaff - all this over two feeds. I also add a little micronised linseed to the pm feed. He's stabled at night, with ad lib quality hay, out in the day, again with more hay.

I've bought a salt lick, which he'll probably ignore as he's always done so in the past - but I figured it would be worth a try.

Anyone else's horses like to go 'grubbing' too?

All good advice re:supplements that you can try but sometimes horses just like to eat earth! All ours - in full work, fed haylage and hard feed year round and turned out for 7/8 hours a day - eat and lick earth for 2-3 weeks every year (usually in late summer). No idea why but assume something tasty or beneficial is in soil at that time. It was alarming at first but as they do it every year and have suffered no ill effects - I just let them get on with it!

 

[mytwofriends]

All good advice re:supplements that you can try but sometimes horses just like to eat earth! All ours - in full work, fed haylage and hard feed year round and turned out for 7/8 hours a day - eat and lick earth for 2-3 weeks every year (usually in late summer). No idea why but assume something tasty or beneficial is in soil at that time. It was alarming at first but as they do it every year and have suffered no ill effects - I just let them get on with it!

I must admit, my old guy is a quirky old so-and-so, so it wouldn't surprise me if that's why he was doing it too!

 

[twiggy2]

I have worked with a few horses that have done this over the years and I think it is linked to excess stomach acid/ ulcers. Clay and soil will neutralise the acid and I believe the horses are self medicating in order to do that.
2 of the horses would only noticeably do it at tines of stress and both went on to test positive for ulcers.

 

[mytwofriends]

I have worked with a few horses that have done this over the years and I think it is linked to excess stomach acid/ ulcers. Clay and soil will neutralise the acid and I believe the horses are self medicating in order to do that.
2 of the horses would only noticeably do it at tines of stress and both went on to test positive for ulcers.

That's interesting to know. Thank you.

 

[irishdraft]

My recently retired mare is doing this ATM as well, she does have a spoon of salt daily in her feed and is not on a bare paddock although I don't suppose there is much in the grass and she has ad lib hay. She has done this in the past to no ill effect the other 2 out there don't seem to do it so I don't worry about it

 

[mytwofriends]

My recently retired mare is doing this ATM as well, she does have a spoon of salt daily in her feed and is not on a bare paddock although I don't suppose there is much in the grass and she has ad lib hay. She has done this in the past to no ill effect the other 2 out there don't seem to do it so I don't worry about it

Sounds like a similar situation. I'm going to keep an eye, but mention it when the vet comes in a couple of weeks. Nonetheless, I've popped the salt lick into his stable for him to doubtless ignore! Interesting if he does have some though.

 

[LD&S]

With regard to the salt, I always add it to their feed but when it's warm I do normal buckets of water and one with 3-4 tablespoons of salt, they always drink the salty water. My salt licks that I paid about £10 each for I gave away as they wouldn't touch them, fickle horses!

 

[JillA]

http://saracen.equinews.com/article/ideal-salt-levels-horses-examined - just found this interesting article

 

[mytwofriends]

With regard to the salt, I always add it to their feed but when it's warm I do normal buckets of water and one with 3-4 tablespoons of salt, they always drink the salty water. My salt licks that I paid about £10 each for I gave away as they wouldn't touch them, fickle horses!

Yep, mine's one of those! Have never thought about adding salt to water in nearly 40 years of horse ownership! Good tip!

http://saracen.equinews.com/article/ideal-salt-levels-horses-examined - just found this interesting article

That's very interesting. I'd be surprised if my oldie is losing salt through sweat as a) he's no longer ridden and, b) he's fully clipped due to growing an enormously thick coat which does make him uncomfortably warm.

However, the eating earth trait does point in that direction .......

 

[Mule]

I've noticed that adding salt seems to reduce earth eating. Mabey they are looking for minerals.

 

[Gazen]

One of my horses suffers from frequent low grade colic. I have noticed a corrolation between when she is feeling colicky and licking our clay mud. The clay seems to settle her tummy.

 

[Mule]

That's interesting. I find it fascinating how they manage to 'treat' some illnesses without our assistance.

 

[mytwofriends]

Very interesting information, and thanks for all the replies. I'll see whether giving him his salt/mineral lick reduces, or even stops, his behaviour. Like I said, I'll also mention it in passing to the vet when he comes to do his jabs.

If he has been feeling under the weather, he definitely hasn't shown it outwardly, cheeky old boy!

 

[Dave's Mam]

My Exmoor does this. He actually scrapes his teeth on the ground and then licks the mud. THEN he licks me. YUCK!

 

[mytwofriends]

My Exmoor does this. He actually scrapes his teeth on the ground and then licks the mud. THEN he licks me. YUCK!

He sounds like a charmer!

 

[Dave's Mam]

Absolutely.

 

[laura_nash]

One of my horses suffers from frequent low grade colic. I have noticed a corrolation between when she is feeling colicky and licking our clay mud. The clay seems to settle her tummy.

I give my horses bentonite clay when they have an upset stomach. I buy a decent size bottle of it sold for wine making, you need to be careful of the source as some has heavy metals in. Its usually the cob who needs it if he's got into some good grass or something sugary, or been given some haylage, and got the squits. It works very well to settle his stomach and also seems to help avoid him being footy afterwards which I assume means it helps remove toxins. The first time he got onto decent grass after we went barefoot he could barely walk on hard ground for a fortnight afterwards, but that hasn't happened for years even though the break-outs onto decent grass are sadly still fairly regular. I used to use activated charcoal initially but was recommended the clay by someone on a barefoot forum as its much easier and cleaner to use and seems to be as (or more) effective.

 

[ester]

Mine has always done it in particular spots, regardless of the bareness of the paddocks and when he's been on minerals balanced to forage, I just ignore him . He doesn't do it obsessively or enough I would worry about the amount ingested.