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Post by mrsfields on Apr 6, 2013 15:05:13 GMT 1
Where do you get your salt from - supermarket? I have been doing but I struggle to remember to keep enough of a supply in. jill, yes, i've just been buying it from the supermarket - until recently i'd been buying it in 1-kg packs but we'd get thru them surprisingly quickly, but the hub came home the other day with a massive 10-kg bag he'd spotted in the local supermarket, which is great! (we're in France though, so not sure what would be available in the UK!)
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Post by mrsfields on Apr 6, 2013 15:14:58 GMT 1
Here's another link for you that makes interesting reading. Salt licks aren't enough especially in Spring. Fingers crossed for you and Reggie mrsfields. beefmagazine.com/mag/beef_dont_short_saltI use table salt. thanks mandal! thanks for the link too, interesting reading!
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Post by portiabuzz on Apr 7, 2013 0:21:35 GMT 1
it sounds promising, hoping it continues for you ;D
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Post by mrsfields on Apr 8, 2013 10:06:00 GMT 1
it sounds promising, hoping it continues for you ;D thanks so much portiabuzz! i hope so too!
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Post by kafee on Apr 8, 2013 15:31:35 GMT 1
I raided the co-op last night, 1.5kg cooking salt for £1. 10gms per kilo of horse did you say. Raffles is about 400kg. How table spoons would be 40g: my scales aren't very accurate.
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Post by mrsfields on Apr 8, 2013 17:35:52 GMT 1
I raided the co-op last night, 1.5kg cooking salt for £1. 10gms per kilo of horse did you say. Raffles is about 400kg. How table spoons would be 40g: my scales aren't very accurate. hi kafee, the 10 g/100 kilo bodyweight was recommended on the site i looked at for headshaking - i think salt recommendations can vary considerably though... ok, i'm a baking nerd so just popped down to the kitchen and weighed out a level tablespoon measure of table salt and it came to 20 g (i give mine rock salt so thought i better check because table salt is less bulky) ;D
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Post by portiabuzz on Apr 8, 2013 22:03:38 GMT 1
it sounds promising, hoping it continues for you ;D thanks so much portiabuzz! i hope so too! ;D ;D ;D fingers crossed for you xx
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Post by portiabuzz on Apr 8, 2013 22:04:05 GMT 1
ps i use tescos own basic salt
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Post by kafee on Apr 8, 2013 23:16:08 GMT 1
I raided the co-op last night, 1.5kg cooking salt for £1. 10gms per kilo of horse did you say. Raffles is about 400kg. How table spoons would be 40g: my scales aren't very accurate. hi kafee, the 10 g/100 kilo bodyweight was recommended on the site i looked at for headshaking - i think salt recommendations can vary considerably though... ok, i'm a baking nerd so just popped down to the kitchen and weighed out a level tablespoon measure of table salt and it came to 20 g (i give mine rock salt so thought i better check because table salt is less bulky) ;D Brilliant, thank you so much for that. I'm a very reluctant cook which is probably why I don't have accurate scales. Seems an awful lot of salt though. I never used to add salt to their feeds, and relied on them helping themselves to the mineral lick. However, I've been adding salt to their feeds all winter, and normally his discomfort starts in February. He doesn't seem to be suffering at the moment, but that could be down to the cold weather? I will gradually increase the amount I'm giving him, while keeping an eye on how palatable he's finding it.
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Post by mrsfields on Apr 9, 2013 8:15:48 GMT 1
hi kafee, the 10 g/100 kilo bodyweight was recommended on the site i looked at for headshaking - i think salt recommendations can vary considerably though... ok, i'm a baking nerd so just popped down to the kitchen and weighed out a level tablespoon measure of table salt and it came to 20 g (i give mine rock salt so thought i better check because table salt is less bulky) ;D Brilliant, thank you so much for that. I'm a very reluctant cook which is probably why I don't have accurate scales. Seems an awful lot of salt though. I never used to add salt to their feeds, and relied on them helping themselves to the mineral lick. However, I've been adding salt to their feeds all winter, and normally his discomfort starts in February. He doesn't seem to be suffering at the moment, but that could be down to the cold weather? I will gradually increase the amount I'm giving him, while keeping an eye on how palatable he's finding it. that sounds a good idea! i was surprised how palatable my two found it, especially ken, who would often eat his minerals reluctantly (as we need high levels of zinc and copper) but he now licks his bowl since i've been adding the extra salt... i'd love to hear if it helps his symptoms!
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Post by Pony-Nutt on Apr 9, 2013 8:53:15 GMT 1
I can well believe the lack of salt has caused those symptoms! If you read all the Equifeast bumph most of the clues you need are on there They seem to have most of the nutrition thing sorted but as they want to sell their product they try to disguise it a little bit. Electrolytes (sodium, potassium, glucose, magnesium) control muscle contractions and nerve function so they really need to be in balance to work properly.
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Post by mrsfields on Apr 9, 2013 10:41:31 GMT 1
thanks pony-nutt! i haven't heard of Equifeast?? i will have a look on google... i also picked up the book recommended on the nutrition course "Feed you horse like a horse" and it recommends quite large quantities of salt, and makes a link between magnesium and headshaking as well... i've been thinking back to the circumstances when reggie suddenly started headshaking - it was about 3 months after moving to a training yard with a complete change in feed/forage - before then, he was having added salt, magnesium and brewers yeast with beet/alfalfa (simple systems type diet at the time), and his hay wasn't rich at all, just pretty rough unfertilized meadow hay full of thistles and thorns from a local farmer... but then at the training yard, he went onto a (supposedly reputable complete) mix which all the horses were getting and the salt, magox and brewers yeast were stopped, and the hay looked lovely and green (different to the washed-out looking late cut stuff they were getting before) but it was heavily fertilized with potassium/nitrates(?) and so i wonder if this could've caused the potassium spike/imbalance? because 3 months later, in the middle of winter, i was in his stable with him while he was eating his hay, and he suddenly started doing this weird twitching, as though he'd had an electric shock on his nose - it was so strange, it freaked me out a bit, and i didn't know what on earth it was.... i guess this then progressed gradually, and he was becoming difficult to ride, and then by the summer his trainer put him in a gogue because his head was all over the place, and out in the field he was dragging his nose along the ground, constantly then at our next yard in winter 2010, the headshaking suddenly got worse, and i resorted to a nose-net made of tights - i couldn't give them my own feed there, so again no extra minerals or salt other than licks in their stables, and again the hay was heavily fertilized... it got so bad Reggie was headshaking/twitching constantly even in his stable, all year round... when we got our farm, i got last years hay (which was left for us) analysed and the potassium/sodium ratio was 45:1 - apparently a ratio < 10 is recommended, and > 20 = increased risk... so our ratio was too high, despite being late cut and organic and unfertilized... the amount of sodium i'm feeding has brought this ratio down to within "safe" levels, and now a month later reggie seems like a different horse... i feel terrible that he has suffered so badly for so long
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Post by Deleted on Apr 9, 2013 11:19:26 GMT 1
You weren't to know though mrsfields, when you see results like your recent analysis it's so easy to think everyone should feed salt, magox etc just in case, but my forage analysis was pretty much the opposite of everyone else's on here. My forage has more salt and magnesium than required so feeding extra is just a waste of money, and mine is low in calcium so if I jumped on the "alfa is bad" bandwagon I'd actually be feeding too little calcium, for my two it provides a necessary top up preventing them having to have calcium granules/ powder in their feed which I doubt they'd like.
Until you're in a position to get an analysis done on a longer term supply of forage any additional minerals or feed choices are just guesswork and aren't always helpful.
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Post by curlytobiano on Apr 9, 2013 12:10:49 GMT 1
that is a very moving tale Mrsfields - poor Reggie - how lucky to have an understanding owner and really hope that this has cracked it for you both. Fingers crossed x
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Post by kafee on Apr 9, 2013 22:15:59 GMT 1
You weren't to know though mrsfields, when you see results like your recent analysis it's so easy to think everyone should feed salt, magox etc just in case, but my forage analysis was pretty much the opposite of everyone else's on here. My forage has more salt and magnesium than required so feeding extra is just a waste of money, and mine is low in calcium so if I jumped on the "alfa is bad" bandwagon I'd actually be feeding too little calcium, for my two it provides a necessary top up preventing them having to have calcium granules/ powder in their feed which I doubt they'd like. Until you're in a position to get an analysis done on a longer term supply of forage any additional minerals or feed choices are just guesswork and aren't always helpful. You're absolutely right, Michelle, I ought to get an analysis done, not just blindly add salt etc. They do prefer their speedibeet with salt in it though.
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