Sill S, Zhao L, Houpt K. Salt preferences of horses for types of NaCl offered.
Res Vet Sci 2024;
171:105224. [PMID:
38522126 DOI:
10.1016/j.rvsc.2024.105224]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2023] [Revised: 03/09/2024] [Accepted: 03/10/2024] [Indexed: 03/26/2024]
Abstract
Salt (NaCl) is an essential nutrient for horses because their diet is low in sodium and they lose salt in sweat. Given the many types of salt block available, 342 horse owners were surveyed to see what type they offered their horses. The owners most often offered plain(30%) mineralized (29%) or Himalayan salt blocks. Next, adult mares were given two choice preference tests between plain (white) and mineralized (red) salt blocks, between mineralized and selenium (green) blocks, between plain and selenium, between Himalayan (pink) and plain and between Himalayan and selenium salt blocks. The horses preferred plain salt to Himalayan salt, but showed no preference between the other combinations.
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