Vitamin And Mineral Horse Ratio – Part 2, Minerals

There are a lot of different elements that go into making sure your horse has the right vitamins and minerals for the best horse health. But what’s more important than that is making sure your horse has the proper ratio of both.  

Part 1 of our vitamin and mineral blog talked about different vitamins and how those vitamins help with horse health. This blog will delve into minerals and what they do for your horse.

To get the perfectly balanced ratio of vitamins and minerals, try EqVital™. Our original vitamin-mineral supplement was created to give your horse just the right ratio of vitamins and minerals. Trust the team of horse professionals and equine veterinarians at Vetline Equine.

Minerals

Minerals are inorganic substances that play an important role in your horse’s body. In contrast to vitamins, horses need very small amounts of minerals to aid with different functions, including muscle contraction and heart health.

Different minerals can help with functions like:

• Acid-base balance
• Enzyme function
• Energy transfer
• Structural components

The most common example of an important mineral is calcium and its effect on bone strength for horses and humans alike. These minerals are broken into two types: macrominerals and microminerals.

MACROMINERALS

Macrominerals are minerals that your horse needs in large quantities. For proper horse health, your horse will need these minerals measured in grams per day.

Macrominerals include:

• Calcium
• Magnesium
• Phosphorus
• Potassium
• Sodium
• Sulfur

Two macrominerals that have a very important ratio are calcium and phosphorous. The calcium:phosphorus ratio should be between 1:1 and 2.5:1. If the ratio falls below that 1:1 balance, then the absorption of calcium in your horse’s body becomes impaired, causing a deficiency.

MICROMINERALS

As opposed to macrominerals, your horse needs microminerals in much smaller doses with your horse needing mg/day for the right horse health.

Microminerals include:

• Cobalt
• Copper
• Iron
• Selenium
• Zinc

The Zinc:Copper ratio is an important micromineral ratio that should be 1:3. These two different minerals compete for the same transport mechanisms in your horse. If these ratios are off, then they are competing for the same absorption sites and can start to cause problems for your horse’s health.

Organic And Inorganic Minerals

Nutritionists are also noticing a difference between the organic and inorganic forms of minerals and their effect on horse health.

Inorganic minerals (or mineral salts) are not easily absorbed by your horse. In contrast, organic minerals (minerals that are paired with proteins or amino acids) are more easily absorbed.

So, when it comes to choosing minerals for your horse, it’s important to choose the organic compound rather than the inorganic to ensure that your horse is able to absorb those minerals.

Get Minerals With Vetline Equine’s EqVital™

At Vetline Equine, we care about horse health. That’s why we’ve carefully developed a horse supplement that will give your horse the vitamin-mineral ratio they need.

EqVital™ contains many of these minerals to help give your horse the boost they need, including:

• Calcium
• Phosphorous
• Potassium
• Sodium
• Iron
• Copper
• Zinc

Instead of guessing what ratio of vitamins and minerals your horse needs, find a supplement that gives them exactly what they need for the best horse health. Try EqVital™ today!