This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Lynda in Texas asked:
" As for vitamins/supplements, I noticed in a feed store the other day salt blocks that were labeled mineral/vitamin/salt blocks. There were also regular salt blocks. If I used one of the former, would it suffice for my filly (who will be two years old when she comes home) and a 16 year old mare w/foal? Or would "Winnie Cookies" be a better choice?" I would be hesitant to recommend a block such as mentioned above as a source for vitamins. The minerals and salt are fine, but vitamins tend to be more fragile and generally don't hold up as well to degredation by sunlight and time. I've read that a 50# mineral block generally lasts one horse for six months if it's protected from the weather. I don't know for sure that the vitamins would not remain potent for six months, but it sure makes me wonder. Since I think the recent post about Winnie Cookies said they come in a bag, that would seem to me to be an advantage in protecting the viability of the vitamins. The amounts and kinds of vitamins in each product would really have to be compared to help tell the whole story. Here's an interesting thought about minerals for horses. A representative for a feed and farm chain based here in the Southeast claims that mineral blocks are very inefficient ways to supply minerals for horses. He points to the fact that horses are not really "lickers". Now I know some of you just raised an eyebrow to that, because your Fjords like to lick your hands and arms etc. But what he means is that comparatively speaking they're not lickers. A friendly cow will lick the hide right off you if you will stand still and let it. (For those of you who have never been licked by a cow, you don't know what you're missing! If you think your dog slimes you, "you ain't seen nothin' yet!" Can I have an amen to that from Barbara Lynn on that?) The point is that it's not really natural for a horse to just stand there and lick something. Additionally, he maintains that a horse would have to lick for something like 3 hours per day to really get the minerals they need from a block. So what does he say is better? Loose, granular type mineral supplements given free choice. A horse can get what it needs much quicker and go about its business. I haven't seen any research to support his claim, but it sure challenges the time honored tradition of tossing the old 50# mineral block into the pasture for the horses. Here's another little tidbit. Horses cannot tell when they need more of such and such mineral. The reason they go to that mineral block (other than boredom and because the other horses are over there) is because their body is telling them it needs salt. Brian Jacobsen, DVM Norwegian Fjordhest Ranch Salisbury, North Carolina ___________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]
