Last updated on May 17th, 2021 at 07:00 pm
Best Horse Vitamin and Mineral Supplement
The primary source of vitamins and nutrients for your horse is always going to be from meal and feed. Equines will always depend on their main meals to get all the vitamins and minerals that their bodies require. However, sometimes they don’t get everything they need from just eating grass and pasture. When this is the case, you may need to rely on supplements to keep your horse healthy.
The most important things needed to keep your horse in top shape are going to be amino acids, minerals, and vitamins. These ensure that your animal is going to have proper growth and a healthy development, while keeping them free of disease and sickness, promoting healing, and keeping the joints and muscles strong.
But in a world filled with thousands of different supplements, how do you know which ones are the best? You need to check the ingredients, the minerals, and the vitamins before making any kind of decision. You also need to keep in mind the dietary needs of your horse.
Another thing to always check before purchasing supplements for your horse is the source of the product. Most vitamin and mineral supplements are made from bioavailable ingredients or synthetic ingredients. You always want to choose natural ingredients when it comes to supplements for your horse. Natural ingredients will always taste better and be easier to digest.
What Vitamins and Minerals Does a Horse Need?
For your horse to stay healthy, they need a long list of vitamins and minerals. Not only does your horse need vitamins and minerals to be healthy overall, but many of these are necessary to maintain the skeletal integrity and cellular communication of the animal. Some of the minerals needed include calcium, sodium, phosphorus, chloride, potassium, magnesium, and sulfur.
Then there are other trace minerals like cobalt, zinc, copper, iron, iodine, and selenium that are also very important. Most horse feeds have a variety of minerals, but many are missing some important ingredients like sodium and chloride.
When it comes to vitamins, there are two different kinds. There are water-soluble vitamins and fat-soluble vitamins. Fat-soluble vitamins include A, D, E, and K. For water-soluble vitamins, your horse needs vitamin B and C. What’s really interesting about horses is that they can synthesize their own vitamin C and don’t really need it in their diet. Also, assuming your horse has enough exposure to natural sunlight, they will have plenty of vitamin D.
Vitamin A and E are usually found in pasture and hay, with extremely high amounts found in the pasture during the months of spring. However, most fat-soluble vitamins will degrade in stored hay. Any good supplement for your horse is going to contain a reasonable amount of all the vitamins your horse can’t produce naturally!
Keep in mind that if your horse does not have enough access to sunlight, you may want to find a supplement that specializes in vitamin D and selenium.
Do Horses Need Mineral Supplements?
You might be confused as to whether your horse needs mineral supplements or not, and you may also be confused why something like a horse would require mineral supplements. The truth is that horses in captivity do not have the same diets, the same life span, or even the same lifestyle as a completely wild animal. While wild horses might not need mineral supplements, the horses on your property most likely do.
This is because all animals require the right amount of minerals to be healthy and happy. And while hay does contain minerals that your horse needs, there’s a high chance that it’s not getting enough solely through hay. And even though some people provide their horses with a mineralized salt block, most of these salt blocks contain only salt and very few additional minerals.
It is absolutely critical that your horse has mineral supplements. It needs to have a properly balanced diet that contains all the major minerals and trace minerals that will keep the horse healthy. Your horse either needs mineral supplements, or a special feed or fortified grain that is going to provide all the minerals we already talked about earlier!
What Supplements Do Horses Need?
There are a lot of different supplements you can give your horse, including energy supplements, protein supplements, supplements to encourage bone strength, supplements for electrolytes, iron supplementation, and many more. Only you will know which supplement your horse needs based on what exactly they are deficient in.
The most common deficiencies include things like a lack of copper, zinc, and selenium. Also, vitamin E is often necessary in a supplement form for your horse. Most horses that are active will need a supplement that can provide at least 120mg of copper, 400mg of zinc, 300mg of manganese, 2 mg of iodine, 2mg of selenium, and 1,000 IU of vitamin E per day.
It’s a little tough to get all the necessary minerals in a single supplement. Some supplements come only with vitamin E and selenium, while others offer a mix of calcium, zinc, essential vitamins, and trace minerals. Always check the label for the exact nutritional content before making any purchase.
What is the Best Horse Vitamin & Mineral Supplement?
Compressed Himalayan Rock Salt from Himalayan Secrets
The Himalayan Salt Stick for horses is definitely one of the better supplements you can buy. It’s all natural, horses love it, and it contains a balance of 84 natural minerals and trace elements that come highly recommended for horses.
Vita Flex Health & Wellness Pellets
If you want something a little more robust, the health & wellness pellets from Vita Flex contain lots of essential amino acids to aid in muscle growth, as well as a nice combination of vitamins and minerals. One bucket comes with easy-to-feed pellets for your horse.