Minerals - Who Needs 'Em?

Some minerals are called "macro" because they are needed in much greater quantities. For example, calcium and phosphorus make up about 70 percent of the mineral content of the horse's body.

So what do the various minerals do and what are the consequences if they're not provided in the proper proportions? Below is information about the minerals that can be deficient under normal conditions.


Calcium
Function - Builds strong bones and teeth. Important during lactation. Required for proper heart contractions. Affects the availability of phosphorus.
Deficiency - Causes rickets in young horses and osteomalacia in older horses.
Notes - A horse fed only grass hay and grain is often deficient in calcium. Feeding a little alfalfa will usually compensate. The calcium to phosphorus ratio should be about 1.1 to 1, although it can be as high as 2:1, but never inverted to 1:2. A deficiency will cause calcium to be extracted from the horse's bones.


Chlorine and Sodium (Salt)
Function - Help maintain osmotic pressure in body cells. Sodium is associated with muscle contraction and with making bile. Chlorine is required for protein digestion.
Deficiency - Can cause heat stress in warm weather. Can also cause rough hair coat, depraved appetite, and reduced growth and milk production.
Notes - Horses need twice as much sodium as chlorine. Usually must be supplemented as feeds of plant origin are generally low in sodium and chlorine.


Magnesium
Function - Essential component of bones and teeth. Activates many enzyme-related activities.
Deficiency - Often causes horses to be high-strung and jumpy. May cause heart damage.
Notes - Can become deficient if fed lots of grain and little hay. Excess can interfere with metabolism of calcium and phosphorus.


Phosphorus
Function - Important to bones and teeth, also to metabolism of carbohydrates and fats.
Deficiency - As with calcium, deficiency can cause rickets in young horses and osteomalacia in older horses.
Notes - The ratio of calcium to phosphorus is less important when adequate levels of vitamin D are present.


Potassium
Function - Involved in osmotic pressure and muscle activity. Also required in enzyme reaction. Influences carbohydrate metabolism.
Deficiency - Reduced appetite, retarded growth, poor gait, muscle weakness, distended abdomen.
Notes - A diet of at least 50 percent forage usually contains sufficient potassium, although increased activity increases the amount of potassium needed.


Sulfur
Function - Unknown as yet.
Deficiency - Not known to be essential, however some problems have been helped by sulfur supplementation.
Notes - For more information, see our article on Sulfur & MSM.


Cobalt
Function - Required for the synthesis of vitamin B12.
Deficiency - Anemia.
Notes - Some soils may be deficient in cobalt causing a deficiency in the hay produced there. These areas are parts of Australia, western Canada, and eastern United States.


Copper
Function - Necessary (along with iron and vitamin B12) for hemoglobin formation. May also be needed for normal bone development.
Deficiency - Anemia (with low counts of red blood cells and reduced amounts of hemoglobin). Poor bone development in growing horses.
Notes - Like cobalt, some soils may be deficient in copper. These areas include Australia, Florida and the Coastal Plain of the United States.


Fluorine
Function - Needed for proper tooth and bone formation. Helps prevent tooth decay.
Deficiency - Extremely rare.
Notes - Excess is more common. Can cause rough hair coat, discolored teeth, and lameness due to enlarged joints.


Iodine
Function - Needed by the thyroid gland to control the metabolism and heat production. Also essential for reproduction.
Deficiency - Weak and dead foals. High incidence of navel ill.
Notes - Deficiency and excess can cause goiter (enlargement of the thyroid gland) . Excesses cause symptoms very similar to deficiencies.


Iron
Function - Needed to make hemoglobin which carries oxygen to the cells. Also needed for some enzyme systems.
Deficiency - Anemia.
Notes - Milk is deficient in iron, therefore foals should be offered creep feed as soon as they can digest it.


Manganese
Function - Needed for normal bone formation. Helps utilize carbohydrates and fats. Important to enzyme formation. Aids growth and reproduction.
Deficiency - Poor growth. Lameness. Enlarged joints. Crooked legs. Poor reproduction.
Notes - Not usually deficient unless excesses of calcium and phosphorus are fed.


Selenium
Function - Needed to produce an antioxidant enzyme and some amino acids. Conserves vitamin E.
Deficiency - Muscle disorders
Notes - Excess can be poisonous.


Zinc
Function - Needed for normal protein synthesis and metabolism. Needed by the immune system and to maintain healthy skin and hair.
Deficiency - Rough, dull hair coat. Lack of appetite.
Notes - Deficiencies are rare under natural conditions.


Although deficiencies are not uncommon, an imbalance is more likely. One mineral can enhance or interfere with the utilization of another mineral. Because of this it is important not to "play the numbers game" when buying a supplement. In other words, choosing a supplement based on the greatest amount of a certain mineral can be harmful. It is better to buy a balanced supplement.

The information given here is to help you learn more about your horse and not to replace your veterinarian's advice.

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