Have you ever asked yourself… Why is my horse’s coat dull? Maybe the colour looks off, or it just isn’t as shiny as you’d expect. But before you reach for the shampoo and coat conditioner, the answer could lie within. There are many reasons that a horse’s coat might be dull, they may have a worm burden, stomach ulcers, but sometimes it is something as simple as a mineral imbalance.
Why do minerals matter?
Here in Western Australia, our soil and bore water is typically high in iron. That means that our horses are very unlikely to be deficient in iron, in fact they are likely to be well and truly overloaded with iron. So, why does this matter? Well, it all comes down to the fine balance, relationships and ratios between key minerals in our horse’s diet. If iron is high, then that in turn blocks the uptake of copper, which knocks the balance of copper and zinc in the diet, leaving the horse deficient in these key minerals. The problem is often further exacerbated if the mineral supplement that your feeding the horse contains even MORE iron. The consequences of a copper and zinc deficiency can often be seen in the horse’s hoof growth and you guessed it… a flat dull coat.
What can you do?
First step is to evaluate if your horse might be deficient in copper and zinc. The second step is to add a supplement with the correct ratio and amount of these key minerals to your horse’s diet (lucky for you we have that in our BJT Copper & Zinc mix). The third step is to ensure that you horse is properly absorbing all the goodness in their diet – a 1 month course of our Equine Digestion Bars or Equine Digestion Bars Plus can often transform the most lack lustre horse into a shiny penny ❤️
