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Salts, Minerals & Electrolytes as Nutrients for Horses
by Robert N. Oglesby DVM

Introduction

Horse owners often become confused over the difference between salts, minerals, and electrolytes in their horses diet. In the most general sense salts and minerals are very similar and represents mixtures of atoms, some of them metals, combined together to form solids. Electrolytes are the form these salts and minerals take when dissolved in the blood and fluids of our bodies. Consuming salts and minerals is the way your horse gets his essential minerals and electrolytes for good health.

Salts

From a nutritional standpoint we tend to pull out "salts" from "minerals" to mean the specific compounds of sodium chloride and potassium chloride and there is a good reason for talking about these separately. These three elements, sodium, potassium, and chloride are the main electrolytes that support the blood and cellular characteristics of life. This does not mean the other minerals are not essential but unlike the other minerals these "salt" elements do not have a reservoir to pull from yet are in large concentrations everywhere and can rapidly change based on the balance of intake and output. These salt derived electrolytes are lost in urine, sweat, and feces. Sometimes there is not a net loss of the electrolytes that causes disease but shifts in the relative concentrations in the various compartments of the body.

Minerals

Minerals, including the salts, are inorganic elements or metals that, though critical for health, make up only a small fraction of the body weight. On a weight basis, the horse's body consists of 4% minerals. It is important to know that most essential minerals are toxic when fed in excessive amounts and then there are some nonessential minerals that are always toxic. From a nutritional standpoint minerals can be grouped into four categories:

The major or macro minerals, which include salts and electrolytes are:
- calcium
- phosphorus
- sodium
- chlorine
- potassium
- magnesium
- sulfur
Trace, or micro minerals include:
- selenium
- iodine
- copper
- zinc
- manganese
- iron
- cobalt
Trace minerals needed in the diet but for which deficiencies outside the laboratory have not been found in horses include:
- vanadium
- nickel
- chromium
- tin
- silicon
- arsenic
- possibly fluoride.
Toxic minerals:
- excessive amounts of the nutritional minerals
- lead
- nickel
- mercury
- arsenic
- aluminum
- cadmium

In summary, salts and electrolytes are a very important subgroup of the nutritional group of minerals. This article discusses how to meet the nutritional salt, mineral, and electrolyte needs of horses. Signs and diagnosis of excess and deficiency of the nutritional minerals are covered along with scientific reports and links to more detailed articles on the most important mineral nutrients.

~Word Count: 2176 words (The average magazine page contains about 600 words);
~Last Updated: May 28, 2008;

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