Best Salt for Horses – Buyer’s Guide

Just a few years ago, choosing horse salt licks was easy. All you had to do is go to a feed store and grab any block of salt you could find and give it to your horse. Today, however, there are many options you need to know about and have many choices to choose from. Every pony owner wants what is best for their pets. They need to ensure that their horses are consuming the right food so that they can function optimally. But, which salts have the right nutrients? That is why we have put together this list of the Top 5 best salt for horses. This review and buyers guide will give you the information you need to ensure you provide the best to your horse.

Best Salt for Horses

1. Indusclassic Himalayan Animal Licking Pink Salt lick– The best natural mineral salt

If you are like most animal owners and are keen on ensuring that your pets do not consume any chemicals, this one is made just for you. You will love that it is completely free from additives and chemicals and so, it is safe for your animals. Also, you will enjoy the fact that it still maintains its natural color and as such, ensures that it does not contain additives.

If you have used pressed licks in the past, you will love that this one lasts up to 6 times longer and thus, saves you a lot of time and money. So, you get more value for your money and ensure that you get extra functionality and nutrients for your animals.

2. Horsemen’s Pride Salt Block – The purest salt available

Mined from the himalayan rock, this salt lick contains numerous minerals that are crucial for the good health of your horse. These elements include potassium, iron, and magnesium that help keep the pet healthy and energetic. Some of the minerals the salt contains are those that help prevent cancer and cardiovascular diseases and aid in the regulation of blood pressure. Thus, your horse will be healthy regardless of the daily activities that it is involved in.

If your pet is a racehorse, it will be losing electrolytes during practices and in the race. This salt allows the horse to remain hydrated throughout the day and ensures that the animal also maintains its electrolytes. The salt helps the horse’s body to retain water in its tissues thus keeping it hydrated and active.

If you are a farmer with many animals in your homestead, this is perfect because it can serve all of them. It can also be hanged in locations where the animals frequent to ensure that they can all reach it and have as much as they need.

3. Large 7.3 lb Himalayan Salt – Most economical salt

S.W.A.M.P. is an organization that is known to provide the best natural products to prevent illnesses caused by the harmful effects of chemicals in the bodies of animals. They have come up with this salt, which is mined right from Punjabi and packaged in the US. The salt is inspected thoroughly to ensure that it is pure and natural and does not come with any additives that are detrimental to the life of the animals. If you are giving it to your horses, you will be glad to find out that it does not contain iodine additives that are harmful to pets.

4. Nomad Co. Himalayan Salt Lick – The longest-lasting salt

Your animals spend most of their time out in the fields enjoying nature. You, therefore, need salt that is suitable for the outdoor environment. It is difficult and inconvenient to have to build a shade of salt. That may even throw off your aesthetics. With this salt lick, you will love that it can last for months out in the sun without splitting or falling off the rope. This ensures that your livestock can get to it regardless of where they are and whatever time it is. If your animals do not love the block licks, this is something fun that they may enjoy and love. It is big enough to fit both big and small animals.

5. Himalayan 3-6 Lb Salt Rock Animal Licks with Rope – Best salt rock with the most minerals

As a horse owner or rider, you need to ensure that your pet gets the most nutrients. Like humans, the health of your horse reflects what it eats. This salt rock contains 84 minerals that are essential for the well being of your animal. Now, you are certain if the horse does not eat the minerals in its forage, it will still be healthy.

You will also love the fact that it will last for quite a long time. While salt licks are not particularly expensive, if you have to keep buying a new one every other week, they can get costly. With this salt lick, you are certain that your horse will have the minerals it needs and still use the salt for a long time.

This salt is made from himalayan salt rock and has maintained high levels of purity and nutrients that are gotten from the said rock. You can, therefore, use it for all your livestock. The himalayan rock is known as one of the purest types on earth and is free from contaminants and pollutants. It allows your horse to replace the electrolytes it loses during the day.

Best Salt for Horses – Buyer’s Guide

Salt is critical to horses, although its importance is often overlooked due to minerals that seem to be essential to a horse’s body. Most farmers assume that their horses will get all the nutrients they need from the forage they provide them with. However, what most do not know is that the salt content in hay and grass is too little and thus, horses need supplementation. Like with all other minerals, a deficiency in salt is met with critical health consequences over a period. So, why does your horse need salt in its diet?

1. Electrolytes

Salt is usually a combination of chloride and sodium. These two have countless functions and both dissolve into the body. They are ionized and begin sending crucial electrical signals and communication. In the body, communication is an essential part of the nervous system and allows the musculoskeletal systems to function optimally.

2. Hydration purposes

Another useful task of sodium is that it can hold water in the tissue. If your pet is a racehorse or enjoys running out in the fields, this is a very critical aspect. It allows the body to stay hydrated and balances the fluid dynamics. Insufficient sodium prevents dehydration. It helps to the brain to read the body and trigger thirst messages. As such, the body stays hydrated, and the horse continues to run without interruptions. Generally, it stays healthy.

3. A source of fuel

The body of a horse uses sodium to transport glucose across cell membranes. The glucose then becomes a source of fuel for the muscles. When the level of sodium is not enough, the cells do not have enough glucose, and the tissues are, in turn, impaired. Eventually, the horse becomes sickly, lethargic, and has weak muscles. If it is a racehorse, the tissues are damaged, and the pet can no longer run and compete effectively. What most people do not know is that salt also plays a huge role in blood sugar regulation, maintenance of healthy weight, healthy coat, strong hooves, hormonal balance, and an ideal body PH. It also acts as a natural antihistamine.

How to Recognize Salt Insufficiencies

Salt deficiencies develop over a period. After a few weeks, there are minor signs of deficiencies, although if you are not keen, you may not see them. However, horses often give you clues of deficiencies pretty early. You may begin noticing that your pet has an abnormal appetite, which is also known a pica. This means that your horse begins to eat and lick items that may have traces of salt on them. While the occurrence of pica does not necessarily mean that a horse has a deficiency, it warrants you to check whether your animal is getting enough salt. You may also notice a decrease in water intake because the body tries to preserve the salt it already has within it. Dehydration as a result of salt deficiencies places the horse at a risk of other diseases such as colic.

As an animal owner, you need to know that the salt requirements in horses are different and that they will always fluctuate, depending on the time and the season of the year. Salt intake is often influenced by diet, biochemistry, and the events in the life and lifestyle of the horse. A great way to ensure you provide adequate salt to the pet is to place it where the horse can reach it easily and let him take as much as it needs. A horse will also tell you if the salt you have bought is of great quality. The reason is that horses tend to have innate intelligence when it comes to meeting their salt requirements, so they tend to prefer quality over quantity.

What is Equine Therapy?

Equine therapy encompasses a range of treatments that include activities with the horses amongst other equines to enhance physical, occupational, and emotional growth in persons with certain ailments. The horses that are used for therapy are trained and chosen specifically for therapeutic properties before they are integrated into the program. Horses of any breed can be chosen as long as they are calm, even-tempered, sound regarding service, well trained, and gentle. The movements that are required for the therapy are usually so and, therefore, older horses that are past their athletic calm can be used. Although mares can be used too, geldings are most preferred because they are thought to be the calmest of the horse species.

Horses that possess hormone-driven behavior such as stallions are not used since they pose threats to the individuals who undergo therapy. The horses required are calm but not lazy. They are get desirable structure, gait, balance, and muscling. It is desirable to condition your pets for therapy at a young age so that they will know what to do and will be well trained to handle people with all kinds of problems.

Masculinity is not a compulsory trait that a horse must possess because it may be foregone in a pet that has great balance. It is also easier to tell if a horse is unsound and has signs of lameness while it is still young so that it can be avoided.

How to Choose the Right Salt for your Horse

According to scientists, a horse that is 1,100 pounds needs about 28 grams of salt on a cool day to ensure that it gets the amount of sodium it needs. Here are several things you need to consider to ensure that you get the right horse salt for your animal.

1. Types of salt

Most people assume that they can make their animal salt at home using regular cooking salt. The truth is that regular salt is heavily refined and contains anticaking agents like sodium aluminosilicate that prevent clumping. There are also bleaching agents that have been used to get the salt to that snow white color. While these additives are not harmful to human beings, animal salts need to be less refined and processed. They should also not contain additives. There are several salts that you have to choose from.

Himalayan Salt

Himalaya salt is pinkish and comes from Punjab a region in Pakistan. Like with most other salts, it has high concentrations of chlorides and sodium. The pink color results because the salt contains high concentrations of iron, although it is not enough to highly impact the diet of a horse.

Redmond salt

As a result of farming practices, numerous minerals have been deleted from the soil. This is perhaps why most farmers choose to provide the Redmond rock to their horses. Redmond rocks contain natural sea salt that has traces of minerals that are a decade old. It, therefore, provides essential minerals to your horses that it may not get from forage. Most users state that they see that their horses thrive, and mineral deficient horses cannot have enough of the salt.

2. What Minerals they Contain

You also need to consider what minerals the salts contain. In many cases, you can tell whether the salt has the needed minerals because they are color-coded. The salt you choose will depend on whether you need your horse to obtain additional minerals from the licks or not. For instance, white salt only contains salt and does not have any other minerals. Red salts blocks have iodine in high quantities. Blue salt contains iodine, cobalt, and salt while brown and pinkish salts contain additional minerals. If you are considering getting salt licks for your horses, avoid red blocks. While iodine is great for all animals, the red licks contain large amounts of iodine and should not be fed to horses.

3. Brand

Like with all things you will buy online, you need to make sure that you use the right manufacturer. Today, with technology and so many people willing to help and provide you with quality information, you can easily know which manufacturers are great and those that are not. You need to know how long that manufacturer has been in business and what their customers say about the salt licks they sell. If most customers are pleased, there are high chances that the manufacturer offers high-quality products that will be beneficial to you and your horse. There are also high chances that the companies already know what minerals horses need and are providing them with their salt licks.

4. Your Horse

Before you go out and buy salt for your horses, there is a need to figure out if they are likely to like it or not. The truth is that, even with the most recommended type of salt lick and the best company, your horse is the only real indicator of whether the product is good for them or not. Sometimes, after you buy the licks, you find that your horse gets frustrated and begins biting large chunks from the product. They say that the horse will only lick as much as it needs, but when it bites off the salt, it may end up with too much. As such, you need to monitor your horse and determine whether its tongue can lick the salt.

5. Season of the Year

Most pet owners find that it is better to offer salt licks over salt granules during fall and winter. This is because salt blocks are tough and cannot be blown away and do not dissolve in water when they are rained on. During winter, however, these blocks tend to become too tough for the smooth tongues of horses to lick them off.

Conclusion

Ensure that the salt licks you choose are approved by the FDA. The more minerals a certain type of salt licks contain, the better it is for your horses because it has a high likelihood of providing them with nourishment. Most of the salt licks that have been discussed in this review will last for months and will still give your animals the nutrients they need to be healthy and strong. The salts in this review contain 84 minerals, which are essential for animals. They help active animals maintain the recommended electrolyte levels in their bodies. The salts encourage animals to drink more water, thus keeping them hydrated and healthy. Such salts help your animals get healthy and strong bones and teeth. With an increase in water intake, the animals have better and stronger hooves and vibrant and beautiful coats. The best part is that these salt licks are not costly and last for a long time. Using a rope to hold the salts is better than using metals. The reason is that metals tend to rust and cause damage to the salts, thus affecting animals that ingest the salts.

About author
Hello everyone, my name is Adam. I was that kid who brought home cats, birds, dogs, hamsters, rabbits, and whatever else I could catch. Throughout my life, I have always been very passionate about pets. I look forward to sharing my knowledge and experience with you!