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[RC] [Guest] Salt Intake: freechoice Block vs granulated in the pasture - Ridecamp GuestBetty Washburn washburnb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx I would appreciate any comments on the following observation, as I don't know at this point whether to provide salt blocks or granulated salt to the herd at pasture. Last summer we compared two herds of 5 horses each. One herd had the usual mineral salt block in the pasture. The other had granulated salt in their pasture pan. The horses given the granulated salt ate 5 times more salt than the herd given the block salt. We are thinking that the horses "on the block" get their tongues sore from licking the rough block - which would raw their tongues and sting - and therefore quit licking before they had enough salt in the diet. Or, perhaps, the "granulated" horses ate too much salt for a good dietary balance. Unfortunately, we were unable to monitor their drinking; both herds had access to creeks as well as water troughs. Both herds are out 24/7 on similar pasture and feed. This is just one of those things that we happened to discover after the fact...but what a surprise. Any comments? TIA, Betty =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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