[RC] Feeding loose salt/trace minerals - Soli SorokinMy arabt recently coliced quite badly. He has recovered, but the vet and I have been trying to nail down the cause - there was no change in feed/routine/activity level and this horse does not have a history of colic. We think that it was partially due to a lack of electrolytes/drinking combined with the fact that he has a small (3-5lb) supplementation of alfalfa cubes which he was eating - but then (as I discovered) sometimes stealing the remainder of the other horses' cubes - making his diet mostly alfalfa cubes. This probably wouldn't have been an issue normally, but with the extreme heat/humidity we've had, combined with the fact that this horse just will NOT freely take in salt from his salt/trace mineral block, probably combined to make him 1) not take in enough water and 2) become impacted on those cubes. Vet recommends feeding him separately and soaking the cubes - which we've been doing - and feeding supplemental salt/trace minerals thrown in his feed. He will eat it this way, but I am concerned with how much I am supposed to be giving. He says thrown a cup in. That seems excessive when using the trace mineral formula, but I could be wrong. So, my question is - how much of this should be given on a daily basis? And should it be increased on particularly hot days and/or days that he gets ridden? We ride a 5 mile loop about twice a week and a 15-25 mile ride about once a week. I've not had a horse before that refuses to use their salt block entirely, so this is a new thing. His rations right now are 3-5lbs of cubes per day (weight before soaking), about 1-2 lbs of Ultium per day, and as much medium quality grass hay as he'll eat (which isn't much). Thanks! ~S =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 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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