Why is my horse eating dirt?

[JstMyLuck3]

Can someone enlighten me? I know this is some sort of mineral deficiency... and this is the same horse that has thumps. Calcium? I give him some alfalfa 5x per week, as well as Acculytes 1 scoop PM.

Thanks :)

[FraggleRock]

you give him some alfalfa 5 times a week? but what does he eat every day?

[JstMyLuck3]

Alfalfa as a supplement... he eats a bale of hay per day (maybe a flake or two less), 2Q 10-10-10, 2Q Senior (he is only 5 but my vet recommended this to put on weight). He's a TB, been on stall rest w/ minimal turn out (3x per week) for 3 months.

[shall]

Mine used to do that and also wood chew. I gave him Winning Touch Mixed Hay Min-a-vite because of the Selenium as well as the phosphorous-calcium ration he needed with his other feed. He's an easy keeper and was not receiving the recommended commercial feed amount daily, thus the Min-a-vite. The latter comes in a grass hay, mixed hay and alfafla formula and is inexpensive to purchase. It sure helped my guy.

[JstMyLuck3]

Mine used to do that and also wood chew. I gave him Winning Touch Mixed Hay Min-a-vite because of the Selenium as well as the phosphorous-calcium ration he needed with his other feed. He's an easy keeper and was not receiving the recommended commercial feed amount daily, thus the Min-a-vite. The latter comes in a grass hay, mixed hay and alfafla formula and is inexpensive to purchase. It sure helped my guy.

Thank you... I was thinking this might be a selenium related issue. I'll have to get him back on his Vit E and Selenium supps.

[Androcles]

I gave my horse ABC-s 'Detox' when he started eating dirt, and after that he has never done it again. (Now they call it 'M.O.P.').

[LLDM]

Your horse is eating dirt to drive you crazy. Didn't you know?

Seriously though, sometimes they just do that. I only worry if they keep it up for some period of time on a regular basis. If they just do it occasionally, I don't worry about it much. I just try to keep an eye on them and make sure there is nothing else weird going on.

Vitamins and minerals fluctuate with the seasons, as do my ponies.

SCFarm

[cloudyandcallie]

Buy a good feed, like Seminole or Buckeye, and see if the dirt eating stops. When I moved from one barn to another, within 3 months my tb mare starting eating dirt because that barn fed a tiny amt. of purina senior and a lot of beet pulp. I put her on Buckeye and she stopped eating dirt.

[asterix]

here's a cheap potential solution to try - my horse, who lives out 24-7 normally, began eating dirt while being hand grazed on stall rest (so he got hay, but no natural forage, no real grain as he is an easy keeper and was on stall rest)... I bought him a salt/trace mineral block, which he loved. Stopped eating dirt.

[NRB]

My horse, has a salt/trace mineral block and still eats dirt. (it's a large red one) He's also on stall rest, going on week 6. But even when he wasn't on stall rest, say years ago at a different boarding barn, he still ate dirt from time to time. It's not an on going thing, just every odd now and then.

[Yip]

Mine do that every few years.They lick the dirt right beside the barn in one specific place. I think always in the summer. Actually, one has done it off and on for years and the other one never did it to my knowledge - till this summer. Looks like she learned by watching.

I feed Equi-Min every dayand they have 2 different blocks - one a sulfur salt block. This summer when it began, I bought a different brand of mineral block and that helped. But it doesn't necessarily sotp overnight. I think it took a week or more to replenish the needed minerals till the stopped licking the clay.

[Kairoshorses]

Mine did that in Flagstaff....and did it again the next year!

I bought the "free choice mineral supplements" thinking that would help. They DO eat it. But the one still likes that Flagstaff dirt. !

[fivehorses]

this isn't responding to the dirt eating, but questioning a horse on stall rest getting grain.
I was always told that when a horse went on stall rest to lay off the concentrates. Wondering why so many of you are feeding grain to horses that are on stall rest?

[Arab/WBGirl]

I second the "eating dirt to drive you crazy". Sigh. They wouldn't be horses if they didn't do SOMETHING to make us scratch our heads and worry what we are doing wrong. I hope you figure it out and get your guy back to his non-dirt eating self.
Dawn

[tBHj]

Mine used to do that and also wood chew. I gave him Winning Touch Mixed Hay Min-a-vite because of the Selenium as well as the phosphorous-calcium ration he needed with his other feed. He's an easy keeper and was not receiving the recommended commercial feed amount daily, thus the Min-a-vite. The latter comes in a grass hay, mixed hay and alfafla formula and is inexpensive to purchase. It sure helped my guy.

I also feed Min-a-vite. It really enhances their coats.

[JstMyLuck3]

Thank you everyone for the good advice... going to grab him a salt/mineral lick today on my lunch break as well!

[JstMyLuck3]

To answer the question why my horse is on grain while on stall rest, he is a very hard keeper (young OTTB). If I took him off grain he would shrivel up. I think he's been going through a huge growth spurt in the past year (age 4 to 5) and that's why I've been having trouble putting extra pounds on him. He's gotten SO tall! I always find once they hit 7 or 8, they pack on the pounds a little easier, well at least w/ my thoroughbreds.