Horse Natural stone Lick stone specially adapted to a roughage diet
This page is an automated translation of /nl/pnminerals.html and has not been reviewed yet.
In 2008 we conducted a comparative study on horse licks together with people on our forum. It turned out that there are quite a few differences in the composition and that this composition does not seem to be very well thought out and does not fit well with the usual food of horses in the Netherlands and surroundings. Later it also appeared from our online food calculator that the common licks do not optimally match a natural diet where roughage predominates.
Our ideal lick stone did not yet exist, still did not exist 3 years after publication of our findings, so we ended up having this ideal lick stone produced ourselves. Our circulation is smaller than the normal circulation, but nevertheless the price for the consumer is low (only € 1.19 per kilogram!) Because this lick stone is not sold through the intermediate trade.
Composition
- Extra Magnesium
- A lot has been written about the importance of Magnesium on this website. However, the usual licks contain little or no magnesium. Our licks, on the other hand, contain a generous amount of magnesium. Because horses with a disturbed carbohydrate metabolism benefit from extra magnesium, we even produced a special lick for them (the Mg + variant) that contains no less than 10% absorbable magnesium. The Mg + lick stone is also ideal for use in combination with magnesium chelate .
- Extra Zinc
- The zinc content in grass and hay is usually sufficient to keep the horse healthy, but it is, together with Copper, the mineral that is the first to cause problems when the horse eats little or the roughage from less good quality. In addition, the usual iron surplus causes a poor absorption of zinc. The Paard Natuursteen contains a large amount of Zinc. (Zinc is used in more than 100 enzymes and is, among other things, required for the production of healthy hoof tissue).
- Extra Copper
- The copper content in grass and hay is usually sufficient to keep the horse healthy, but it is together with Zinc the mineral that is the first to cause problems when the horse eats little or the roughage from less good quality. In addition, the usual iron surplus causes a poor absorption of Copper. The Horse Natural Stone contains a large amount of copper. (Copper is used for many bodily functions).
- No Iron
- The Dutch and Belgian soil is particularly rich in iron and the ground and surface water also contains a lot of iron. All horses therefore receive an iron surplus. A little bit of iron is needed for the production of the red blood cells, but too much iron is bad for the liver, it prevents the absorption of copper and zinc, it is bad for the hooves, and it belongs to the free radicals: It causes damage to the cells, causes aging, cardiovascular disease and cancer. We therefore found it undesirable to feed horses even more iron using a lick: De Paard Natuursteen is therefore one of the few licks that is completely iron-free .
- No Selenium
- A horse needs between 1 and 3 milligrams of selenium per day, but according to experts, more than 5 milligrams per day can cause symptoms of poisoning. Because the use of the lick stone is very individual, it will be impossible to apply just so much with a lick stone that the horse that licks little does not develop a deficiency and at the same time a horse that licks a lot does not incur a dangerous surplus. It is therefore better to administer selenium separately, in an appropriate dose combined with vitamin E, and only when it has been determined that the horse is not already getting enough selenium through its normal diet.
- No Calcium
- There is an ideal ratio between Calcium, Phosphorus and Magnesium. However, it is unfortunately still unknown to many that this ratio is no longer valid when you increase the amount of this trio. The body has a preference for calcium, absorbs it first and, after saturation, flushes away the excess along with the not yet absorbed magnesium. If there is too much calcium in the food, magnesium is hardly or not at all absorbed, even if the theoretical ratio is correct. Because there is always enough calcium in horse feed, adding extra calcium through a lick is undesirable. Read our article on Magnesium for more information.
- No flavors
- A horse will lick a lick just enough to satisfy its sodium requirement. But as soon as you add flavors to it, it quickly becomes candy, and the nicely regulated sodium intake of the horse is lost. The horse does not stop licking once it has absorbed enough sodium; the whole bag of salty liquorice must be empty. Good for the manufacturer, but not for the horse.
- No carbohydrates
- Molasses is a favorite ingredient, at least for the manufacturer. It's cheap, you can stick well with it, and horses love it, so the owner will soon come back to buy a new stone. We now know that molasses and other carbohydrates are particularly bad for the horse. For his teeth, for his intestinal flora, and for his carbohydrate balance. Moreover, the same drawbacks apply to the addition of molasses as to the use of tasty flavors.
- No dyes
- Admittedly, a salt block naturally has an uninteresting gray color. But we can assume that you are not buying the salt block as a meadow ornament, and the horse is not interested in the color either. Because we are not in favor of unnecessary dyes, our licks do not have a beautiful red or yellow color.
- No organics
- You can of course add vitamins, proteins, seaweeds, algae, fungal treatments, etc. to a lick. Except that this misses the mark a bit (is it still a mineral block or is it a complete meal?), organic substances are not so well compatible with the way in which lick stones are used. Organic substances are poorly resistant to repeated exposure to moisture (licking!), Sunlight, frost, high temperatures, etc. Not only are the vitamins short-lived, measures will also have to be taken to prevent spoilage by fungi and bacteria, and these measures usually consist of the addition of all kinds of preservatives. It is better to just leave the lick a lick, and to provide any other things to the horse in a different way.
- No preservatives
- Salts are very stable and not perishable. As long as a lick consists exclusively of minerals, it is unnecessary to add preservatives. De Paard Natuursteen is therefore free of preservatives.
- Balanced composition
- In addition to the mentioned minerals, the Horse Natural Stone also contains a number of other important trace elements such as Cobalt and Iodine. A conscious choice was made for a low dose: the aim was not to supplement deficiencies, but to compensate for losses due to perspiration.
- Optimal absorbability
- Minerals are always linked to an anion. In the Paard Natuursteen, the most absorbable variant has been chosen for each mineral.
| Composition Horse Natural stone | |
|---|---|
| After: 36.5% | (NaCl: 92.8%) |
| Mg: 4% | (MgO: 6.6%) |
| Zn: 2800mg/Kg | (ZnO: 3500mg/Kg) |
| Cu: 560mg/Kg | (CuSo4: 2240mg/Kg) |
| Mn: 270mg/Kg | (MnO: 350mg/Kg) |
| Co: 20mg/Kg | |
| I: 10mg/Kg | (Ca (IO3) 2: 16mg/Kg) |
| Composition Horse Natural stone Mg + | |
|---|---|
| After: 32.6% | (NaCl: 82.8%) |
| Mg: 10% | (MgO: 16.6%) |
| Zn: 2800mg/Kg | (ZnO: 3500mg/Kg) |
| Cu: 560mg/Kg | (CuSo4: 2240mg/Kg) |
| Mn: 270mg/Kg | (MnO: 350mg/Kg) |
| Co: 20mg/Kg | |
| I: 10mg/Kg | (Ca (IO3) 2: 16mg/Kg) |
Organic/Organic
Don't let anything fool you. Minerals are by definition not of biological or organic origin. Minerals are the parts that make up our earth. For example, sand (Silicon) is also a mineral, and what could you imagine with "pure sand of biological or organic origin"? It is possible to link an element to a protein, you then get a chelate form, but these organic bonds are unsuitable for use in licks because they are sensitive to moisture, sunlight, high temperatures, frost, bacteria and fungi. Only a pure mineral form is used in our licks. Just as horses would absorb it from plants!
To order
We have two licks in our range: the "normal" lick stone and the "Mg +" variant that contains extra magnesium . The first lick will suffice in most cases. Choose the "Mg +" version if you have any doubts about the magnesium content of your grass or hay, your horse has a magnesium deficiency, and/or if you have a horse that suffers from insulin resistance (also incorrectly called Equine Metabolic Syndrome). The Mg + variant also contains proportionally more trace elements: Because the sodium content is somewhat lower, the horse will have to lick more of the stone to get enough sodium and therefore also get more of the other minerals.
The stones are square in shape with a convenient hole in the center and weigh 10 kilograms each. They are available in single and duo packs. If you want to save money, take the duo pack of twice 10 kg. The licks can in principle be stored indefinitely, provided they are kept dry!
| Er ligt nog niets in je winkelwagen. |
Application
Horses need a lick always! Even if they are given a so-called "complete" food, the online nutritional calculator indicates that they are already getting enough sodium, and/or the horse is not necessarily using a lick stone. It often happens that horses that normally do not use a lick stone will suddenly do this unexpectedly. Sometimes because the composition or origin of the food has changed, or because the horse has been perspiring unnoticed, or because of other physiological changes.
The idea of a lick stone is that the horse uses it as needed. It is not the intention to force the lick stone by crumbling it through the food or dissolving it in the drinking water! If the horse does not show a need in the lick stone, he does not need it at that time.
The lick stone is soluble in water due to its intended use, so preferably place the lick stone under a roof.
Horses that have not had access to a lick for some time can very enthusiastically attack a lick. Licking behavior usually normalizes within a few days. Do not remove the lick too quickly, but give the horse time to make up for shortages. If in doubt, consult your veterinarian and show the ingredient label if desired.
Compare licks
About Sodium
When we talk about sodium, we don't actually mean pure sodium. Pure sodium is unsuitable for consumption, to say the least: in contact with oxygen it spontaneously catches fire, and in contact with saliva it explodes.
Sodium is generally consumed as a compound with chlorine. Chlorine is not a sweetheart either: in the First World War it was used as poison gas. But the amazing thing is that the connection between sodium and chlorine produces the very stable sodium chloride. Sodium chloride is the chemical name for ... table salt!
The atomic weight of sodium is 11, the atomic weight of chlorine is 17. If you convert this to percentages, the sodium accounts for 39% of the weight of table salt. The sodium content of a lick stone can therefore never exceed 39%. In most licks the percentage of sodium is 38%. The remainder is chlorine, and then there is only one percent left for the trace minerals and any additives.
Comparing licks is a difficult job. There are several reasons for this:
- Differences in Notation
- Not all manufacturers use the same notation. Take as an example "Salt", the largest component of licks. You can also write "Salt" as "NaCl" or "Sodium Chloride".
But you can also only write "Na" or "Sodium", which gives a much lower percentage. Or you write down in (milli) grams instead of percentage. The English name "Sodium" is also often used for sodium.
You can also link minerals with different anions: For example, you can link Magnesium (Mg) to oxygen (O) or Chlorine (Cl), respectively MgO or MgCl. In the first case, the weight share of Magnesium is much higher.
In our online nutritional calculator , we have converted the composition of the various mineral blocks into a uniform listing, so that you can easily compare both the composition and the effect on the ration. - Marketing nonsense
- Some producers like to use terms like "organic, organic" and/or boast that their salt is millions of years old. In reality, there are no biological or organic minerals, any more than there is any biological or organic sand or water. Minerals are just minerals, the smallest chemical structures where variation is simply impossible. There is nothing special about salt coming from layers of the earth that formed millions of years ago from dried up seas; our Dutch table salt is also mined from soil layers that are millions of years old and originated in exactly the same way. Sometimes there are also fantasies about the composition: For example, salt from seas that have dried up millions of years ago will contain hardly any trace elements, contrary to what is sometimes claimed. The reason is simple: When a sea dries up, the various minerals all fall out of solution at a different time, so that the various minerals are deposited in different layers of the earth. The large salt crystals that then form are proof of a lack of trace elements, which would after all disrupt the crystal structure. This is also apparent from the ingredient list, which apparently nobody reads.
In our online food calculator you can compare different licks and assess their effect on the ration!
Frequently Asked Questions
Are these licks also suitable if I feed beet pulp, alfalfa and/or bran?
Yes. In fact, the benefits of this lick stone are even more effective: alfalfa and beet pulp contain a lot of iron and are very low in copper and zinc.
Why do you use a pressed block and not such a beautiful crystal?
Large salt crystals can only form if the salt mixture is homogeneous, that is, there are few trace elements in the salt that can disturb the crystal structure. Each salt consists of crystals, the salt of our licks also consists of natural crystals, but much smaller ones. The advantage of small crystals is that you can add more trace elements and that the horses don't have to lick the stone as long to get something. It was not our intention to make a meadow ornament but to make good lick stone, where appearance is secondary to the purpose.
What are your licks glued together?
Our licks are not glued but pressed. No additives have been used in the manufacture of the licks. The licks consist exclusively of natural crystals that have been pressed together under high pressure.
Why a lick?
Horses have a great natural need for sodium ("salt"). In addition, horses lose a lot of sodium through perspiration. In the normal crops that horses consume, sodium often occurs in too low a concentration fully meet the need. The solution is found in offering a salt block that horses can lick as needed: the so-called "lick stone".
During perspiration, the horse loses a few other minerals in addition to sodium. That is why it is useful that a mineral block also contains these other minerals. Together with the sodium, the horse replenishes the other lost minerals.
What is the shelf life of the stone?
The licks contain only minerals and they cannot go bad. These minerals are millions of years old and a few more years can save them with ease.
Are your licks resistant to rain?
Luckily not! A rain-resistant lick would inevitably also be a lick-resistant lick. We wanted the lick to dissolve well in saliva, which means that the lick also dissolves in rainwater. It is best to hang the lick stone under a shelter (shelter?).
Do you also sell a lick stone holder?
Not yet, but if there is enough interest we will consider this (add your request as a comment to your order). Our lick stones have a hole in the middle and fit in the widely available lick stone holders.
Is the Mg + stone a replacement for a magnesium supplement?
No, usually not. The lick stone offers excellent support for horses with an extra magnesium requirement, but the amount that the horse will receive with this is smaller than with a specific magnesium supplement. The greatest advantages of the magnesium from the lick stone are the staggered release and the "automatic" application of the magnesium. In borderline cases, the Mg + lick block can provide just that little bit of extra magnesium that the horse needs.
Why do you use Magnesium Oxide (MgO) in the lick stone?
Magnesium oxide is easily absorbed, but less suitable as a targeted supplement because of the limited amount that you can administer without disturbing the intestines. This problem does not arise with a lick stone because the absorption takes place evenly and evenly, and the amount of MgO is lower than in a targeted magnesium oxide supplement. The more absorbable Magnesium Chelate is less suitable for use in a lick stone.
Why haven't you used chelates for the minerals?
Chelates are very expensive, fragile and often unnecessary. Some mineral chelates are less absorbable for horses than normal minerals. In addition, chelates are poorly resistant to UV radiation, moisture, freezing and would not last long in a lick stone. Chelates are especially useful when you want to administer a large amount of a mineral. And that is not the case with trace elements.
Life course of minerals
How long can you keep minerals? How quickly are they consumed?
It might be funny to know that minerals cannot disappear. If a pack of hay has decayed long ago, a powder will remain on the ground, containing all the minerals that were once in the hay. The minerals were there before there was life on Earth. The salt in the sea is billions of years old. There is no way to destroy minerals other than using fusion or fission, but that's not really for beginners. All minerals that your horse eats are released again through its manure and urine. If you keep all of that, plus what's left in his body when he's dead, you'll have back exactly the same minerals you once started with and which he ate during his lifetime. All the minerals in your own body have all been part of countless other animals.
Minerals have an unlimited shelf life. And they are not consumed, but actually only borrowed for a while ...
Do you also sell smaller licks than those of 10 kilos?
No. The costs of packaging and transport would demand a larger share of the total costs, which would make the licks more expensive per kilo. In addition, the last chunk of a lick stone is not easily lickable, proportionally more is lost from a smaller stone. Because licks do not spoil, there is actually no benefit to a smaller lick. By choosing only one format, we managed to keep costs relatively low.
Are your licks also for sale under a different label or are they also somewhere in a store?
No. These licks are specially produced for us and according to our wishes, and are therefore not for sale anywhere else.
Where are your licks produced?
These licks are produced in Southern Europe. In addition to cost-effectiveness, this was also beneficial for the environment: Solar energy was used to dry the minerals. In the Netherlands, on the other hand, natural gas is used for this. The licks were shipped to the Netherlands by container ship, which costs many times less energy than transport by road.
Why are the licks cheaper when I order two at the same time?
Because the manufacturer packed them in pairs for us. If we have to send a loose lick, we have more (unpacking) work and our contribution to the shipping costs is double. We prefer that you order two at the same time, so we reward that with a lower price.
Are your licks worse than the more expensive brands?
No. Despite the smaller edition, our licks have a favorable price/quality ratio because we do not use a distribution and sales network. You buy our licks directly from the importer, as it were, and that reduces costs.
Why did you call that lick a "natural stone"?
We wanted to emphasize that these licks are perfect for a natural diet. We also liked the association with our name "Horse Naturally"!
To order
We have two licks in our range: the "normal" lick stone and the "Mg +" variant that contains extra magnesium . The first lick will suffice in most cases. Choose the "Mg +" version if you have any doubts about the magnesium content of your grass or hay, your horse has a magnesium deficiency, and/or if you have a horse that suffers from insulin resistance (also incorrectly called Equine Metabolic Syndrome). The Mg + variant also contains proportionally more trace elements: Because the sodium content is somewhat lower, the horse will have to lick more of the stone to get enough sodium and therefore also get more of the other minerals.
The stones are square in shape with a convenient hole in the center and weigh 10 kilograms each. They are available in single and duo packs. If you want to save money, take the duo pack of twice 10 kg. The licks can in principle be stored indefinitely, provided they are kept dry!
| Er ligt nog niets in je winkelwagen. |