Salt

I admit failure at persuading Brena to use a salt lick. Doru may enthusiastically consume one salt like after another. However Brena will not lick the block. Of course she will lick my sweaty arms and chew soil. Therefore I have started adding a tablespoon of salt to her evening feed. This evening she licked the rubber bowl to a rare degree of cleanliness, her big pink tongue picking up every salty granule that fell through the feed. So I know that she likes salt. I'll keep on adding a bit to her feed. The old Cavalry Manual of Horsemanship recommends a tablespoon of salt daily so I'll start with that amount.

My course of anti-inflammatory medication has ended, leaving me a bit sorer and perhaps therefore more careful. That said, this evening I helped another rider with her new horse in the arena this evening and managed just fine walking across the sandy surface. It amazes me too how much better my back feels not having uneven hip  joints. I can sleep right through the night again.

Reflecting on the degree of degeneration in those joints, I am glad that I stopped riding professionally when I did. There would have been no surgery available out there, nothing except steadily stronger medication. It would have been a slow and painful slide down into immobility. So there was a silver lining to the end of that career path. Still being able to walk and (soon, anyway) ride: a sobering perspective.

Comments

[Shirley]

I wonder if you had a tub of loose salt for her if she would use it. It would have to be somewhere out of the weather. It would be interesting to see if she would use it as a free choice supplement. I've never heard of a horse not liking a salt lick.
Glad to hear that you are improving.

[Wrexie]

Silver lining, indeed :) Glad to hear you're doing so well.

I have to say that I absolutely love your horse. Everytime I see a picture of her... I ache more for my own. One day I'll ride again as well.

[lytha]

i'm glad you're recovering.

baasha won't lick salt either so i add a few tsps every evening to his mash.

i'm curious - do you guys feed bread to horses up there? i'm totally into it now, and my horse doesn't turn up his nose anymore at our old bread every week.

[White Horse Pilgrim]

Shirley: the trouble here is getting hold of enough loose salt. The feed merchant doesn't sell it anymore. I'll keep looking.

Wrexie: I'm sure that you will have a horse again soon. It will help, I am sure, that Mikey is nearby:) BTW, can you allow me access to your blog?

Lytha: I've never seen bread fed to horses in Britain. Owners are quite conservative with basic feeds here - they're freer thought with the the plethora of addditives available. Leftover household food tends to go to the dogs in our household. Have you ever fed potatoes as treats in place of apples?

[funder]

I give Dixie a fat three-finger pinch of salt with her supplement every night. Sometimes she just scarfs up her pellets and leaves the salt, but sometimes she licks the bucket very clean. If she's licking, I just give her a bit more til she starts leaving it again. It's probably not as ideal as a pan of loose salt, but it can't get wet or knocked over by the goat.

I bought a 50 lb sack at Costco (big warehouse store that sells industrial quantities of normal food.) It's just normal table salt. I overthink a lot of things but I try not to stress about the salt. :)

[White Horse Pilgrim]

Funder: that's good advice, thank you. I'll keep an eye out for when she keeps on licking and when she leaves salt in the bowl. So far she seems just to lick until the bowl is spotless inside. In that case I ought to start adding some more.

It would be nice to find a big sack of salt here. I'll have to look beyond the usual food stores.