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December 2007

Nutrimix Packs The Right Stuff

Multiple Vitamin Mineral Supplements for Horses

No one vitamin-mineral product will work for all horses, but we did find two products that come close.

Many people feed an equine "multi" to their horse for nutritional insurance. However, there’s some debate among nutritionists and veterinarians as to whether the average horse truly needs it. In this two-part series, we’ll help you decide if your horse would benefit and, if he would, which product is your best choice.

This article is focusing on true "insurance" products, those top-dressing equine multis that you put on top of the feed in relatively small amounts. Next month, we’ll look at multis that are also protein supplements and fed in larger amounts.

These are market-survey articles. We went window shopping on the Internet for multi supplements just like you would. We included only basic vitamin-and-mineral supplements, without extras like glucosamine, and only products for which full contact information, analysis and pricing was available on the company’s website.Obviously dosage is important, although you wouldn’t know that by comparing the levels of nutrients that different supplements contain and deliver in their recommended doses. Using the NRC (National Research Council) basic recommendations as a guide, we’d like to see a top-dressed multi vitamin/mineral deliver about 50% of the requirements as a good "insurance" level.

However, it’s not that simple. The horse’s basic diet often contains significant nutritional deficiencies, as well as excesses, that can further interfere with the availability of minerals that are in short supply. A horse eating only alfalfa hay has different needs than one eating only grass hay. And, there’s even tremendous nutrient variation among grass hays. With all the different types of hay in mind, it’s easy to understand why no single ideal vitamin/mineral formula is possible for all horses on all forages.

A comment that a product formulated for grass hays is "light on calcium, phosphorus and magnesium," but this isn’t necessarily a bad thing either. Remember that no fixed formula supplement can possibly actually balance all "grass" hays. One product can’t be all things to all horses. It can’t fill the deficiencies one horse might have, while balancing excesses of another. That said, we’ve set the targets in Table I to reflect the likely needs of a 500 kg (1100 pound) horse in light-to-moderate work on a diet based on grass hay. For more details on modifications that would be appropriate to your specific geographical area’s hays, you should contact an equine nutritionist, your local agricultural extension agent or your state’s veterinary/agricultural university.

Who Needs One?

If you’re already feeding the recommended amount of a highly fortified grain mix or complete feed, you likely don’t need to add any other vitamin or mineral supplementation. There may still be imbalances in your diet, but adding a balanced supplement on top probably won’t fix them. Horses maintained on pasture may have mineral deficiencies but do not need any vitamin supplementation, except perhaps vitamin E when being worked regularly.Signs of dietary deficiencies or imbalances include problems with the horse’s:• Coat, including sun fading• Hooves and skin• Bones and joints• Muscles.You may also see:• Increased infections and allergies• Anemia• Poor healing.We're not saying diet is the only factor here, of course. It’s simply that sound nutrition can minimize many common health issues. If you’re seeing any of these problems in your horse, read on. Your horse may benefit.

Minerals

Minerals are the most important ingredients in your supplement. You probably think of bones when you hear "minerals," but they do much more than form bone. Adequate mineral levels are required for virtually every body function. Your horse loses minerals every day in sweat, urine and manure. These basic losses need to be replaced.