The horse l just bought licks my hands to get the salt off, so l got him a mineral lick. The owner of the stable I am boarding him at says she does not use them and that they are bad for horses. l always used them at my house all year round because in northern new york it does not really get hot enough to worry too much about it. Besides do not they only lick them if they need it? I am not sure how to approach her about this, as l have always kept all my horses at my house, but he is my horse right? If mineral licks are actually bad for him, what can l do to make sure he is getting enough minerals? I am sure he would not be licking salt off my hands if he did not need it right? Also l can not change stables because it is the only one within a reasonable distance from my house that is not full.
l guess the problem was that l said it was a salt block instead of a mineral lick which is what l have. In order to be healthy l should have both to balance the other out?

I've always used them. My horses have never had anything wrong. The vet has seen them at my place and would've said something if they were bad. l think they're okay. Research the ingredients of salt blocks and check to see if a certain product might be questionable. Certain brands may be different than others.

Mineral licks have salt in them so that the horse does not overdose on them. Do not worry, mineral licks have been used for live sock for a bit longer than the owner of your stables has been around. l use them with great success.

Mineral blocks are not bad for your horse. Although If you are really worried you could just put him on a regular salt block, and supplement his grain ration for extra minerals. Salt blocks have always worked fine for us.

You r correct in assuming that horses need salt=sodium & cloride (pretty much all animals do, including humans). How much they need can vary with the horse is activity, size & environment. Any factor that influences the amount a horse sweats also influences his need for salt. He will not get enough from his hay.

The National Research Council suggests that horses at rest need only 25 grams of sodium cloride per day. It goes up from there depending on work load.

If he is licking u it is a sure sign he needs salt. They will only lick the block when they need it.

As u said he is ur horse! The stable owner should respect this. As nicely as u can just tell him ur horse needs the salt. Talk to ur vet. That can also be part of what u tell stable owner, if ur vet recommends it ( l am sure he will!). You can also ask him where he heard salt blocks r bad for horses, & u can do ur research in to it.

Good luck.

l provide both a plain salt block & a mineral block that is specifically for horses. If u only provide a mineral block, the horse cannot get the salt without also getting the other minerals, so maybe that is what the stable owner means. My two horses lick from both blocks, & l assume that they crave what they need. l keep both by my trough, & they definitely know which one they r choosing to use. l will see one of them start to lick on the salt, stop, & go to the other & spend time licking on it..which to me means a choice is being made.
Before l got my own place, l used to keep both mineral & salt licks in the stall, in wall holders. The horse would then have access whenever in the stall, & they both were licked.

l have used them my whole life & my parents & their parents. You should ask her why she thinks that.

No, mineral licks r good for horses. l have always used them. They should only lick them if they need it. Galloppal has a good point about giving them a choice between plain salt an mineral salt. At the end of the day, it is ur choice to give ur horse a mineral block, not the stable owners.

BTW - l do not think he is licking ur hands to get the salt. l think he is licking them because u let him. This is a very small step away from biting. My horse is not allowed to put his mouth on anything that is not food.

Yea mineral licks and salt licks are ok, as long as they are specified for horses. Your barn owner may think that because licks can be bad for horses if they are deer licks or cow licks. The deer and cow licks contain other ingredients that are not good for horses. If you are worried about your horse getting meinerals and a lick is out of the queation, try Equishine.

The only way they could be bad for ur horse is if u mistakenly bought one meant for cattle. l just about did that myself. Where l purchase my blocks from they have them right beside the cattle ones & l just about grabbed the wrong one because they had been shelved wrong by the company! So, make sure u read ur labels! And l also agree with other , have the mineral one & the regular one beside each other so ur horse can choose what they want.

Hope this helps!!

All my horses have free access to both plain salt licks & mineral licks, except one mare that licks her salt brick out of boredom when she is stalled. She was going thru a brick a week & of course, drinking a lot of water & urinating so much she'd flood the back half of her stall. My vet advised me (after running blood work to make sure everything was OK) to get rid of the salt & mineral bricks in her stall & supplement her feed with loose salt & minerals. She still gets what she needs & she is not flooding her stall anymore. She has access to salt & mineral licks when she is turned out but I've never seen her use them.

Horses need salt & minerals so if ur barn manager flat out will not allow u to leave the mineral lick in ur stall, u can supplement ur horse is feed.

l also use both the mineral (brown) and the salt (white) blocks for my horse. The only thing about keeping just the mineral block (which also contains salt) is that when licking to replace the amount of salt they need they may be over loading on the minerals. Licking excessivly on the mineral block to replace salt can also result in a sore tongue. So if you give them both they can make the choice according to their needs.
good luck!

l have always used mineral & salt blocks to supplement necessary minerals to my horses diet. Licking ur hands does not necessarily signify a deficiency but l am with u that ur horse should have access to a mineral/salt block.

l have seen (in very rare instances) horses ravenously eat mineral & salt blocks, actually break them apart with their hooves & chew them up, consuming an entire 40lb block in the span of about an hour (they were not my horses or l would have taken it away.) It is one of the oddest things l have ever seen in my 20+ years of riding.

This is obviously quite bad for them, perhaps the stable owner is confusing the dangers of extreme overconsumption with the real need for ur average horse.

l would ask her why she believes that they r bad, but as long as she does not prohibit them l think that this is not a big enough deal to switch barns.

There r a few ways in which mineral blocks could be a problem for ur horse. One is if it contains selenium when selenium is in ur supplements & grain (this is common). Selenium is never removed from the horse is body, builds up over time & can be toxic after it is built up to a certain level. There r some mineral blocks without selenium.

Also, mineral blocks can cause problems because a lot of supplements come with minerals in them. So u can also unbalance some of the minerals ur horse depends on getting in certain amounts or in certain proportions. When adding a mineral block, make sure u know what u horse is already getting. And consult with ur vet.

If you use an Equine mineral block they are very healthy for a horse! Bovine or other type is for a different need, so they are not. Stick with what you are doing, and yes, he IS your horse, do what you feel is best for him. sometimes they lick your hands because they like the taste.

Mineral licks r not bad for ur horse, & u r correct that the horse will only lick on them when their minerals r imbalanced. The problem with licks & blocks is that the horse has a smooth tongue & can not utilize the tub/block to get as much vitamins & minerals from it that the horse needs. The best way to ensure ur horse is getting the appropriate amount of minerals is to feed a loose mineral. Purina has a really good one called Free Balance Mineral. It comes in a 25# bucket & it is weather resistant- meaning that if u feed it outside & it rains (as long as it is in a container that can drain) it is not going to damage the integrity of the mineral. You can either put it in a draining container (if outdoors) or a little bucket in the stall, or top dress ur grain with it. Your horse will eat about 2 ounces a day of the mineral after it gets it is system balanced.

we have always used loose mineral salt and also given the horses dicalcium phosphate, especially to the race horses; l worked for a woman who has been breeding race horses for probably thirty years and she swears by it