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My horse licks the dirt (Grain question)

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grain help
3K views 10 replies 3 participants last post by  KaylaMarie96 
#1 ·
So there have been a couple occasions when I take Koby into the indoor arena and he starts licking the dirt. I don't know what it could be other than a vitamin deficiency. Does anyone's horse do this? Or is Koby a complete weirdo? ;) I also want to switch his grain. Right now he is on a complete feed which is just an alfalfa based grain. I don't think it has very many vitamins. It's super cheap and it was what my old trainer was giving him but now I want to get in to gaming,and I think he needs a little something more...he is an 8 year old and gets turned out every day. He gets about 2 pounds of the complete feed in the morning and grass hay throughout the day. Does anyone know of any highly nutritious grains they think would be good? What do you feed your horse?

Thanks!
~Kayla
 
#2 ·
Safe choice by nutrena is great. They have a few different types for different horses, and so far I haven't heard a bad thing about any of them. Try giving him a salt block maybe, my mare eats dirt too, sometimes I honestly just think they like the taste of it. Many of the bored babies at my farm do it too. None of mine get much grass though, so I'm wondering if that may be part of it also.
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#4 ·
Can you give more details to breed, age, height, weight, activity level, etc? It's hard to recommend something without knowing more information about him.

I've been feeding Nutrena SafeChoice and have been very pleased with it. I LOVE Nutrena's Senior formula and it's working wonders with my hard keeper.

I'm concerned about him eating dirt though. Do you use SandClear with him? I'd highly recommend it so he doesn't get sand colic.
 
#6 ·
Breed: Quarter Horse
Age: 8
Height: 15.3-16
weight: 1500lbs
Activity Level: Right now he is recovering from cancer. He had a tumor removed a few weeks ago and is now cancer free! We will be training for gaming this summer and I plan to ride every day. The barn is about a mile away from my house so he will be exercised regularly.

Hope that helps! :)
 
#7 ·
@CLaPorte432

I have never seen him lick dirt except for 2 times and I am with him all the time so I am not too concerned about him eating too much of it. I was more curious than concerned. :)
 
#8 ·
If he doesn't have any "special needs" as far as diet goes, try the regular SafeChoice. Very nice ingredients in it. Of course you can try something else too if something else catches your eye. I'd stay away from Sweet Feed though. It's nutritiously unbalanced and not good for them.

I feed my horses SandClear for 1 week out of the month from spring-fall (main grazing times for my horses) because as they are grazing, they'll take in small amounts of dirt. Overtime that can build up and cause an intestinal blockage. To many horses, it'll probably never happen, but I'm a worrier. :?
 
#10 ·
Slowly. I transitioned over the course of a week. I started with 80% old grain, 20% new and gradually added more of the new, and less of the old.
 
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