Re: TM salt blocks

[Susan Evans Garlinghouse <suendavid@worldnet.att.net>]

That old saw has been going around for years and it's really a mountain
out of a molehill.  TM salt doesn't supply a truly significant quantity
of any of the trace minerals, only the macrominerals sodium and
chloride, which is what you want.  The requirements between ruminants
and horses are not so vastly different than supplying a TM block is
going to cause any problems---although I presonally recommend supplying
loose, just plain salt, as their tongues don't get sore continually
licking a block and the primary minerals you want are just the Na and
Cl.

However, there are some mineral blocks out there specifically for cattle
that horses should not have access to---some mineral licks contain
substances that are beneficial to ruminants but toxic to horses.  The
same goes for some types of cattle feeds.  But throwing out a regular
old red TM salt block for the horses isn't anything to worry about.

Susan G

Joie Rowles wrote:
> 
> I recently received the Nov issue of Horse Journal.  In it they say that
> red, trace-mineralized salt blocks and not the best answer to supply trace
> minerals to horses.  They indicate that these are designed for cattle and
> other ruminents, not horses. They also say that some levels of minerals are
> too high and others are too low, and this could possibly lead to
> interference in absorption of correct amount of minerals from an
> equine-formulated supplement if you are also giving that.  Their
> recommendation is to stick to plain salt and use an equine TM supplement.
> I was surprised to read this; my mare always has access to a red salt
> block.  What do you guys think??
> 
> Joie Rowles
> Arizona