Minerals and vitamins
Alongside energy and protein, horses also need minerals and vitamins. Some are plentiful in roughage, while others are often lacking in it.
General information, not individual feeding or ration advice. For your own horse, consult your vet or a nutritionist.
How does it work?
Minerals are divided into macrominerals, which the horse needs in grams, such as calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, sodium and potassium, and trace elements, which it needs in milligrams, such as copper, zinc, selenium and iodine. Roughage provides a lot of these, but depending on the soil it is often a little short of a few trace elements. The horse makes some vitamins itself: B vitamins through the gut flora, vitamin C in the liver, and vitamin D under the influence of sunlight and sun-dried hay.
Why it matters
Because a horse produces several vitamins itself, deficiencies in healthy horses on good roughage are not that common. Even so, the make-up of the roughage may mean that supplementing certain minerals is worthwhile.
Common misconceptions
- Giving more vitamins is not always better; with some vitamins and minerals, too much is actually harmful.
- A horse does not need separate vitamin C as long as it is healthy, because it makes that itself.
What to watch for
Do not pile up supplements without knowing what the ration already provides, because minerals also need to be in the right balance with one another. Let a vet or nutritionist guide you in this; this is not supplement advice.
Discover more
Sources: Ohio State University Extension · Merck Veterinary Manual.