I personally would not add salt to my animal's ration.  They  have free-choice  mineral blocks available, and will eat only what they need.

Marla

I offer a mineral block (aka, red salt) and sulphur salt block (aka, yellow salt) free choice in the hay bin but that's it.  Horses are pretty smart...they'll take what they need.  (Some horses get bored and eat mineral blocks, these idiots should only be allowed mineral blocks under supervision.)

* Note sulphur helps with bone and tendon developement in young and developing horses.

I do know a lady that puts minerals and salt into her rations and those are the sickest horses...thyroid this and laminitis that, correlation?  You decide.

I found loose red mineral salt for cheap at the feed store. I put it in a bucket and offered it free choice without problem.  I recently bought one of those protein and mineral buckets....gawd...my horse devoured the thing while I was gone. She was a sticky disgusting mess.   I was worried that she'd be sick from it...  Some horses ARE stupid about free choice things especially if molassas is involved, as it is in many of the pressed salt blocks.  I offer gross plain mineral salt without molassas.

Amanda

Sorry I haven't responded to any of your notes. I've been unable to get to my computer for a couple of days.

Here's the info (in a nutshell) that I got from Horse Journal in their most recent issue(Mar.09), but recently I've heard about salt intake from other sources too. If a horse gets too little salt for his minimum requirements his body will adjust by holding less water. This leaves the body fluid ratio normal, but it leaves the horse in a continually dehydrated state. This is because his total body fluid is below normal, plus he won't have his natural instinct to eat free-choice salt because his brain isn't getting a "low sodium" signal. This is normally fine if the horse is just hangin' out, but if the horse sweats or gets diarrhea(hard workout, heat, illness) it can cause severe dehydration and overheating can occur. Remember, this is a synopsis of an article, not my personal opinion.

The recommendation for daily salt intake in this article is:1-2oz(2-4Tbsp) in cool weather, and 2-4oz(4-8Tbsp)in hot weather. Many variations within these parameters exist according to exercise, ill health, etc. A daily consumption of 1-2 oz is absolutely necessary to avoid a dehydrated state. When using a salt block the horse should eat a minimum of a pound (16oz) of salt every 16 days, and more if he is working or the weather is hot. The article highly recommends monitoring your horse's salt intake with the free choice salt blocks to ensure the right amt is getting eaten. I guess that means weighing the salt block. Then the article goes on to say that some horses don't like to spend all the time it takes to lick off 1-2 oz/day, the block might be located far away from the grassy areas the horse grazes, other horses may keep low pecking order horses away from the block, already salt-deficient or mildly dehydrated horses will not have a normal salt hunger, and monitoring an individual horse's intake is impossible when housed with a group.

So that's why I asked! I'm confused by the free-choice vs daily supplement ideas. My horse did get a mild colic this past Fall and the vet said it was due to mild dehydration in combination with stress. He passed the "pinch test", but still was dehydrated. I priced a bag of white salt at Costco and it was cheap, cheap, cheap. This seems like a simple, cost effective way to help my horse, but I wondered what you all thought since you're in the "real world". Thanks for all your responses!

I add salt to the horse's diets in the winter, in order to encourage them to drink more water. Since the water is so cold, even with the de-icer (only keeps it at about 40 degrees), they don't drink as much as they should. Plus, when horses are eating hay / dry food, they need more water.  So, the salt is to encourage water consumption and keep the horses properly hydrated.

When horses can graze on grass, they get a good amount of water through the grass.  I have also seen horses not drink water from troughs in the summer if it's too hot. so setting water in a shady area can help.

In the summer, I provide bins of loose salt and loose minerals. The horses seem to know when they need more. I do not use trace mineral blocks because they are usually 93 - 97% salt. If a horse needed minerals, they would have to take in more salt then they might need.

Also - horses tongues are not rough like cows and other ruminants, so it's more difficult for horses to lick a block.

Just like people, salt helps horses retain water. When feeding alfalfa, horses need more water than when eating a grass hay, to help flush their systems of the higher proteins from alfalfa hay.

When I buy big bags of it from the grain store, the salt costs about 7 cents a pound. Minerals are much more expensive. I use Purina's 12;12.

I add the salt to pellets that are wetted or soaked (depending on the season - winter they get soaked alfalfa cubes; summer, dry feed that I put some water over, to make everything stick.)

gemm - if your horse also gets a pelleted feed, there is salt in that.

Read your tag on any sweet feed or pellets. 

Keeping water as fresh as possible is also a big help. 

Throwing the loose salt in with the feed, the horse will sort through and eat what he needs and leave the rest.

Fortiflex makes a GREAT double bin...  I screw it to a board first, then screw the board to a wall. Otherwise, the salt and minerals corrode the screws and I can't move it. http://www.kvvet.com/KVVet/search_results.asp?mscssid=640B1E342F4947D8B8B9F042ECF0B5A3&Gift=false&GiftID=

If you have any kind of bucket that you can hang up, that works good too.

When I boarded, I used the divided bin thing, since it was in the stall and I didn't want to take up a lot of space.  With the horses outside 24/7, you can hang smaller buckets in a run-in or under the eaves, depending on your weather.

I have seen the 2-bin things at TSC.  They are also nice to hang up in the shop or garage for small parts... so maybe you could buy some for the horses and some for your hubby?

I keep trace mineral blocks out at all times but when I travel I take loose mineral salt and add about a Tbsp a day.    Especially if it is hot and they have been ridden hard.

I just buy a big bag of the loose salt and put some in a coffee can.   It's always in my trailer.

Yes, water is good, but excess salt is just as bad for your horse as it is for you.

Marla

Carbs, bacon, whiskey and soda are bad for me.....

But oh so good......  I've got a bacon sandwich and a Dr Pepper right now.

Just sneakin in here to say;  here in the high desert we always give a teaspoon to a tablespoon to our animals with their feed in the morning. We have a 50 lb block available ALL the time, and have never had a colic episode or a horse tie-up from lack of electrolytes. When we are trailering for several hours, I will give the horses an extra amount of electrolye salt for a day before we leave so they drink plenty BEFORE they are trailered. That way if someone doesn't drink on the trip for some reason, I'm sure they have enough fluid in them. We have temps in the 90's to 110 daily, as well as about 13% humidity as an average here in late spring to late fall, so lots of water I think has been the key.