SODIUM CHLORIDE

Many horse owners do not fully appreciate or understand the significance of providing adequate salt to their equines diet. In terms of cost to benefit ratio, it would be hard to think of another nutrient with such a low cost and so easily supplied, that provides the benefits that salt does.

Sodium Chloride belongs in a group of minerals called electrolytes. An electrolyte is any mineral present in the body in an unbound (not attached to protein), ionized form. An Ion is a free mineral carrying an electrical charge. A Cation is an Ion with a positive charge (Na+ Sodium) and an Anion is an Ion with a negative charge (Cl- Chloride). The two most abundant ions circulating in the blood and in fluid around cells is the cation Sodium Na+ and a close second, the anion Chloride Cl-.

Sodium is essential for absorption of many nutrients, as well as their entry into cells; normal functioning of all nerve and muscle tissue. It is also the major regulator of water balance in tissues and is what triggers the thirst mechanism in the brain, which also regulates the amount of sodium and water excreted in urine.

Equine diets are naturally low in sodium especially if eating primarily forage. Sodium in required amounts should be provided by feeding salt - sodium chloride. Salt contains 40% sodium & 60% Chloride.

Some signs of salt deficiency can include abnormal licking of soil or other objects, anorexia, lethargy, unsteady gait or loss of skin vitality.

When it comes to sodium, you are better off providing a little too much than a little too little. As long as horse has free access to clean fresh drinking water, extra sodium is easily excreted in the urine. As little as 2-3% dehydration can lead to a 10% drop in performance. However, excessive intakes need to be avoided also.

A 500kg horse at maintenance - no exercise, no sweating - needs 10 grams of sodium which is provided in 25g of plain salt. The sodium requirements of horses in moderate to heavy work are estimated to be twice as high, this does not include even higher sweat rates in super hot weather or climates.

Many horse owners rely on a salt block for their horse’s supply of salt, but there are some disadvantages to offering only a salt block to your horse for its salt requirements. It’s better than nothing, but it is not the recommended mode nor most effecient way of supplementation.

For one, salt blocks were originally designed for the rough tongues of cattle, who can easily lick a salt block and get the salt that they need. On the other hand, horses have softer tongues which make it hard to get their needed intake. If your horse starts biting on the block, it could be a sign that it is not getting enough salt from licking the block alone, so you may want to look at providing salt in other ways.

It has been observed that salt intake is higher when given to horses in a loose form compared to block form, due to the ease of consumption. If a free-choice loose salt feeder won’t work for your situation, providing a regular, white salt block will provide sufficient salt intake along with your horse’s maintenance requirement of salt added to your horse’s daily hard feed.

Chloride Cl- information isn't as prolific as Sodium. The chloride content of the blood and extracellular fluids plays a key role in acid base balance, but chloride does much more than just this. Chloride is secreted as stomach acid, hydrochloric acid. Chloride channels on cells are involved in a lot of reactions that involve maintaining normal pH, fluid volume and electrical conductivity of cells. These anion channels are every bit as important as the cation channels and pumps.

A 500kg horse at maintenance - no exercise, no sweating - needs 40 grams of chloride. The chloride content of forage is higher than that of sodium and tends to increase the more mature the forage. A horse on a high forage diet can come close to, or meet the daily chloride requirement. Together with the minimum maintenance level of 25g of salt being added, which provides 15g Chloride. Grains, seed meals, hulls and brans provide significantly less chloride than forage does.

Unlike sodium needs, Chloride needs for horses at maintenance or light work are likely being met by a combination of chloride in the forage and the chloride in salt being fed for Sodium. Performance horses with high sweat losses and/or high concentrate diets may not be having their needs met.

Horses appear to have some innate ability to gauge their own salt requirements. The brain detects sodium levels in the blood and maintains normal fluid and sodium levels by secreting hormones and triggering the horse to either drink or eat salt. Salt is the only true mineral appetite the horse has.

Horses that have been receiving inadequate salt for a prolonged period, often reach a state where blood volume and blood sodium levels are maintained at the expense of the tissue sodium and fluid. Because blood sodium levels are normal, their brain will not trigger the normal urge to drink or eat more salt even though the horse is chronically dehydrated on a body-wide basis.

No need to source fancy Himalayan or ancient seabed salt. Feeding simple plain fine non iodised ag salt that can be purchased in bulk from the feed store for around $16. Salt doesn't like moisture so it is recommended to store the 20kg bag of salt into a large bucket with a lid.

To ensure over the minimum sodium and chloride needs are met, we recommend feeding salt at:

 10g per 100kg daily in your horses hard feed 

 A 500kg horse would require 10g x 5 (100kg) = 50g salt - roughly x2 tablespoons. 

 This will account for general day to day movement, running around paddock and sweat loss involved.