People keep writing that a salt block is not sufficient for horses, especially in hot weather. So exactly how do you give them enough salt? Do you give them regular table salt out of your wife's salt shaker or what? I would appreciate your input. Thanks.

I can buy 'loose' salt from our local co-op, in 25 lb bags. They probably have it in larger quantities as well. Much less expensive than buying table salt from the grocery store.

I'd say for 40 plus years,my stock has had only blocks.I haven't had any fall over dead yet.
I set out mineralized blocks in the winter and sulfur added blocks in summer. The sulfur ones seem to help the fly problem.
I'm sure no vet or animal nutritionalist, but how the heck do people come up with the idea their horses don't get enough salt. Animals in the wild get their salt, what little they do, from natural licks which sure don't contain much. I don't seem to remember hearing about wildlife dying from too little salt either

I think all this stuff just makes us humans feel better, but the livestock could care less.
I have been feeding livestock since I was ten yrs old. Near 56 years now.I have yet to even have a bale of hay tested. Guess I have been darn lucky

horses or mules that are rode or worked hard in warm to hot weather sweat a lot and lose a lot of salt you can see it when their sweat drys i crave more salt in hot times if stock are offered loose white salt they will sure eat it ronnie tucker tn logger

Had a vet tell me to feed two ounces of loose salt a day. Said it would prevent colic.

Loose salt and salt/mineral mixes are available. They aren't as convenient as blocks, but the animal gets more.

Vince,
Sometimes salt licks are good, sometimes they're not adequate. Agricultural practice of putting potassium on the soil (especially in spring) and ignoring sodium is part of the problem, as is leaching, like in our area. High potassium is, as far as I'm concerned, an outright stock killer. Partly it destroys the natural desire for sodium, so animals on high K feed won't get anywhere near life sustaining amounts, and won't take it if they can get it. If this is happening, and believe me it does, you literally have to force-feed salt to get enough into the animals, not only to meet their dietary needs, but to overcome the negative impact of excessive K. It's rarely put on the soil because the plants don't need it and it's only addressed when there's too much. Plants will take it up though, especially if there's not so much darned K in the soil, and an adequate amount of sodium. Salt is protective against a lot of K-induced diseases, including grass tetany, that come about not so much as a result of low magnesium, but way too much K that prevents the uptake of Mg in the plant, as well as messes up the animal's Mg and Ca metabolism. A lot of soils have a good balance of K and Na, then you don't need to make a big deal out of salt. But here in our area, I think the lack of it has put more animals down than most other nutritional deficiencies combined, short of outright starvation. Wild animals don't generally have to deal with our practice of overfertilizing with potassium.

Barb

Hi Frank,

The salt issue is another where there are no 'right or wrong' answers, in my opinion. There are so many variables between individual animals, feeds, amount of work and even locations that it becomes nearly impossible to make definitive comments. *slow grin* Except maybe that there ARE no definitive comments!

I've used both plain salt blocks and mineral blocks in various situations. Sometimes the stock use them...and sometimes not. I think they're alot more capable of knowing when and what they need than me. When the blocks are not available free choice, putting some down in the pasture or stalls seems to eliminate wood chewing / licking and dirt licking. My granfather always claimed those were sure signs the stock were missing something.

During a drought, I moved 10 horses into a newly fenced pasture and they started chewing the trees after about a week. They were part of the string for a trail riding stable I was managing and were used on wooded trails every day then turned out overnight. Even though the old pasture was getting sparse, they never chewed the trees. After adding mineral blocks in the new pasture, there was no more chewing.

Use Your best judgement, but if you have blocks available free choice then you're probably ok.

Barb,I'd disagree and say most time salt blocks are good, at times they may not be adequate. In some instances as you state,other steps need to be taken.

I have lived in PA, NM,and Colorado.We ran a dairy farm in PA.Did custom haying and raised black angus and horses in NM. I have raised mules for about 35 yrs in CO,have friends that run in all total maybe a thousand head of beef,and know at least another 200 hd of horses and mules.

Can't say I remember having any of them die except from disease,injuries, or old age.Also can't remember any of them being fed anything except salt blocks, except the dairy cows that did not get out in winter got salt on their hay.

But you know how us old guys are, if it ain't broke we tend not to try to fix it.

IF I can't find loose salt I'll break up a block with a hammer or hatchet. Horses can easily chew up a chunk of salt if they can get it in their mouth, but can break or chip an incisor on a solid block. IF you see evidence of gnawing on the block, that's how you know they need loose salt. As Ronnie said, "if you offer it to them they will eat it".
For the record, I leave out a sulfur block and loose trace mineral and, in summer loose white salt. My five have been licking on that sulfur block for a few years now. It's almost gone and I don't have much of a fly problem.
ed

For years, I just put out plain and mineral salt blocks. Last year someone suggested that I put out loose salt, too. I did, and the horses really went to town on it. So I guess in my case, the blocks were not enough.

Heya Vince,

There are no arguments here, only additional experience. I can't match your volume, but I've sure had some down-and-dirty experience that isn't as favorable as yours. If you've had no health problems at all, like grass tetany, spring abortions, laminitis, that don't seem to have any relation at all to salt, then the blocks are doing a great job. If blocks didn't work, they wouldn't make them, and loose salt sure isn't very weather-proof. There's a lot of high K, near-zero-sodium hay and forage in this region, yet lots of horses around here won't eat salt in block or loose form - lots of laminitis, lots of metabolic syndrome (diabetes) lots of winter colics, lots of tying up, lots of reproductive problems in this part of the world, that don't seem salt or potassium related. I can provide considerable evidence that they are. Like you say, if it ain't broke, don't fix it! :o) Just food for thought from the Dogpatch Cafe though, sprinkled with plenty of loose salt! :o) Our combined experience gives other Porch sitters some reasons to examine the pros and cons of a very important feeding issue.

Barb

Barb, you wrote, "If blocks didn't work, they wouldn't make them,". Sorry but I've got some difficulty with that comment. First, I believe blocks were originally made for range cattle, who have a tongue that's much tougher than a horse's. Secondly, If I used marketing as a guideline for feeding I would be giving my stock a lot of expensive crap that doesn't do a darn thing for them. Just my $0.02
ed

Barb, you need to move to a more hospitable part of the country. Fightin all those problems is worse than watchin your money in the stock market. It would be too much stress for me.

I did an experiment the last few days.I had a box of salt about 5 lbs, a sulfur block and a mineralized salt block.Set it all in front of one mule. The loose salt is still there,and the mule seems to like the sulfur block the best. I always take it up during the winter so the mules have to eat the mineralized block.

When the blocks get down small I have tried to crush them up to lose salt. The mules don't seem to like that and go for the block

Ed,

Vince says they work. Argue with Vince! :o)

Barb

Now I ain't arguing with anybody. Just talking salt. Seems like Vince did in his experiment what I do all the time, put an assortment in front of the mule and let the mule decide what he needs. Vince's mule needed sulfur. Mine eat mostly the trace mineral. Different pastures, different mules, different requirements at different times.
I made a mistake one year and left a pregnant mare without trace mineral salt for a couple months. Her mule colt developed a goiter at two weeks of age. Vet gave me iodine to give him and it cleared up. Now I play it safe. Plenty of minerals for all!
ed