Is Your Equine Mineral Mix “Balanced”?

Many horses out there are on various kinds of mineral mixes, fortified feeds, or balancers. All of these provide different quantities of vitamins and minerals, and sometimes protein and fibre. And many people are under the impression that when fed with their horses’ forage, these feeds complete their nutritional requirements.

But, despite the claims made, there is no such thing as a "balanced" mineral and vitamin mix. These products provide the vitamins and minerals based on an estimate of what deficiencies horses may have according to their current feed and forage. This is an impossible prediction. Deficiencies cannot be determined for any horse without assessing their feed, their lifestyle, their health history, their gut health, their exercise levels, and their stress levels. The nutritional requirements for horses are highly individual.

And to make it even more complicated is that each commercial product is formulated differently – there are no standard formulas. So, we have no way of knowing if our horses are getting what they need, or don’t need. And quite often when feed programs cross my desk, I find that people are feeding two or three different products with a great deal of overlap of many of the nutrients. So that presents a whole other problem.

Riva munching on thistle

Other issues in feeding synthetic mineral mixes include minerals that compete for absorption, minerals that are antagonistic, or agonistic, the form that the minerals come in (inorganic, organic, chelated, etc.), the base that is used to mix the nutrients, and various preservatives, fillers, and binders that the mix might contain.

One of our most common questions we get from customers is, “Can you compare a synthetic mineral mix to herbal nutritional blends?” The answer is simple. No. While many herbs contain organic minerals which are highly absorbable, plants come in a natural form whose analysis is not controlled by people, but by nature. We therefore do not refer to herbs as being "balanced" or make any other claims as to their ability to correct deficiencies. Or to complete a horse’s diet.

Sapphire thoroughly enjoying her favourite herbal blend, Five Herb Digest, out of the wheelbarrow

So what we like to do over here at Riva’s is offer a blend of plants that are known for their high content of common nutrients - naturally. Horses generally really like these blends and, like all herbs, they have a number of therapeutic benefits.

Riva’s Happy Horse and Happy Horse Senior herbal blends are "nutritional" blends in that they are formulated with seaweeds and herbs to promote superior health and wellness. And, if needed, you can safely add any kind of extra vitamins, minerals, or antioxidants that your horses may need for therapeutic purposes.