Mineral deficiencies may well be the most common
cause of disease in horses. The problem is that 1. almost all
pasture is mineral deficient, 2. most feeds are formulated on the
mineral levels of minerals that are necessary in the diet to prevent
overt disease not to maintain top health 3. most grains contain up
to 50% less important minerals than they did 50 years ago. 4. Horses
like humans are individuals and all need different amounts of
minerals particularly when they are stressed, diseased or exerting
themselves a lot.
Subtle mineral deficiency has much to answer for.
It makes immune systems weaker, it increases healing times of wounds
and makes bones, cartilage and ligaments much more likely to break
down and cause arthritis and perhaps most significantly makes
allergies more likely. It is of course always difficult to know what
your horse would have been like if mineral levels had been normal
but you can certainly improve things a lot in the face of disease if
you use a good supplement.
It is always difficult to know which mineral supplement to use.
Most minerals like Chalk or limestone (Calcium carbonate) or Copper
Sulphate are very poorly absorbed. The best-absorbed minerals are
those that are found in food. This is why seaweed is particularly
useful. However seaweed is not balanced for horses and can provide
too much Iodine. One form of minerals that are particularly useful
are those that are protein bound (chelated). Such minerals,
manufactured mostly in America, are about as close to food state
minerals as you can get and should be used when at all possible.
GlobalVite contains high levels of chelated minerals and therefore
is able to correct deficiencies very quickly.
