“Does my horse need electrolytes?”
It is a common question that many equine enthusiasts have wondered while finding the best horse electrolytes.
Before answering, we first need to know what horse electrolytes are.
There are five major horse electrolytes including Potassium (K⁺), Chloride (Cl⁻), Sodium (Na⁺), Magnesium (Mg²⁺), and Calcium (Ca²⁺). They play an essential role in your horse’s body.
Almost all bodily functions require these electrolytes for nerve function, fluid regulation and balance, digestion, and muscle contraction.
In this article, we will give you an in-depth review of the Top 5 Best Horse Electrolytes on the market you should buy and how to use this product correctly.
Top 5 Best Horse Electrolytes Reviews in 2023.
Now, let’s move to the next part, and we will show you an in-depth review of these products.
#1: Finish Line Horse Products Apple A Day
The first on the Best Horse Electrolytes list: Apple A Day is a familiar brand to horse lovers because of its high-quality products.
During daily activities, your horses might lose fluid and electrolytes in sweat.
If they are exercising or doing performances, they even lose up to 10-15 L of sweat per hour. After that, in the cool-down period, this process continues.
At these moments, the horse electrolyte supplement of Apple A Day will help your four-legged friends.
The main ingredients of Finish Line Horse Products Apple A Day are calcium, salt, potassium, magnesium, zinc, and copper.
Apple A Day has built trust and love among customers because there are no fillers, no sugars, and no artificial colors in their products. You will feel secure when feeding your horses with an Apple A Day electrolyte.
How to use: 1 oz. daily (depending on workload/weather).
PROS
- Cost-effective
- The original apple flavor
- Prevents dehydration
- Replenishes electrolytes
CONS
- Only ship within the U.S
#2: Farnam Apple Elite Electrolyte, 5 lbs
Apple Elite Electrolyte is a complete electrolyte formula specifically for sports and working horses.
This product will replace electrolytes lost through sweat, and help your horses in the hot summer months.
Especially, in case they are rugged or do not have access to shade, the Apple Elite Electrolyte supplement encourages healthy water intake during stressful conditions.
With a highly delicious taste, it became a favorite nutritional supplement of many horses. The primary function of Apple Elite is to support muscle function and fluid balance of the body. Its one of the Best Horse Electrolytes you looking for
How to use: Let your horses use proactively it before traveling or doing proactively. You should visit the official website of Apple Elite to find out the most suitable use for your horses.
PROS
- An easy to feed granular base
- No sugars or dyes
- Promotes healthy hydration
- Aids water consumption
CONS
- Results may vary by horse.
#3: Kentucky performance prod.
If your horses need to work hard or often travel for a long time, Kentucky is an ideal product for equine enthusiasts.
Why do many customers select Kentucky electrolyte supplements?
The essential reason is that it provides sodium, chloride, potassium, and magnesium to your beloved horses.
Also, it supports your horses to drink more water. Without the slightest signs of irritation, your horses will feel comfortable when using this product.
Kentucky is highly recommended for horses that have a mature body weight of 500kg. Before purchasing this electrolyte supplement, don’t forget to consider the weight of your horses carefully.
How to use: Before traveling for 2 hours, your horses can use half to one tube. For more details, you should visit their website.
PROS
- Easy-to-administer oral paste
- Stimulates thirst responses
- The buffered formula for oral and gastrointestinal comfort
CONS
- More suitable for horses in competitions or traveling
#4: Horse Health Apple-Dex
One of Best Horse Electrolytes list is Horse Health Apple-Dex, a carefully formulated electrolyte that provides additional electrolyte salts that may be lost by dehydration.
Do you know that:
When your horses lose essential nutrients like sodium, potassium, and so on by sweating, it can bring serious consequences.
Muscular weakness, overheating and fatigue will destroy your horses’ health.
Horse Health electrolyte supplement will provide sodium, calcium, potassium, and trace minerals to the body.
How to use: Feed 1-2 oz daily in the horse’s feed.
PROS
- Maintain body fluids
- Help replace electrolytes lost during strenuous activity
- Highly palatable supplement
- Recommendation for all classes of horses
CONS
- Pricey
#5: REDMOND Rock Crushed Loose Mineral Salt
Undoubtedly, Redmond is a well-known brand with excellent horse care products.
They exploit a salt deposit in Redmond, Utah to find out pure sea salt and produce Redmond Rock Crushed.
This electrolyte supplement, like other products, provides essential trace minerals to your horses. It supports the natural trace mineral balance and encourages water drinking.
There are more than 60 trace minerals in Redmond Rock.
PROS
- Not too salty
- Spur the thirst
- Created by nature
- Bring horses back into balance
CONS
- Your horses might not like this taste
How To Choose The Best Horse Electrolytes?
It is evident that each horse has individual dietary needs.
If you want to find out the most suitable horse electrolyte supplement for your beloved friends, make sure that you know what your horses require as well as the basic knowledge about nutritional supplements.
In this article, I will show you some factors you should take into consideration before purchasing horse electrolytes.
Whether your horses need supplements or not?
If you are taking care of a retired horse that stands all day in the field, maybe that horse doesn’t need electrolyte supplements.
In other cases, if your horses are in training courses or reproductive state, join in competitions, do performances, or travel regularly, they will need extra energy for work.
However, daily activities and hot weather will loss the of electrolyte in the body through sweat.
If you realize that your horses don’t want to drink, sweat too much, feel tired or exhausted, lose weight, or show a drop in performance, you should check their health condition carefully.
My advice is to do blood tests which will show you whether your horses need electrolyte supplements.
Consider product label
When choosing the best horse electrolytes, you need to read and check the product label carefully and define what your horses are lacking.
However, most electrolyte supplements on the market now are a combination of different nutrients instead of only one particular type.
The essential factor you should verify is whether this electrolyte supplement includes too much sugar and other fillers. Those substances will dilute the number of electrolytes in the product, which lead the ineffective use.
Types of electrolyte supplements
Each type of horse electrolyte has its features, so you should consider what your horses are working on and some other factors to find out the best electrolyte supplement.
● Electrolyte powders
These products are useful to provide a balanced daily intake of electrolytes.
Daily activities will require your horses to replace the electrolytes lost through sweat. Therefore, equine enthusiasts usually add electrolyte powders daily to the feed of horses.
The horses excrete excess electrolytes in the urine. An ideal way to use is by feeding half the dose in the morning and the same amount in the evening.
However, remember that not all electrolyte powders are suitable for daily supplement dietary. Ensure that you have read the product label as well as follow guidelines from the manufacturers before using these products.
● Liquid electrolytes
After prolonged exercise or long-distance transport, liquid electrolytes become a considerable choice.
It will replenish lost body salts and spur the thirst responses to replace lost body fluids.
Always take notice of your four-legged friend to check whether he or she drinks an adequate amount of water for a day.
Also, it is more difficult to replenish their electrolyte losses when dehydrated horses often lose their appetite. In these cases, you should consider more supplement dietary.
● Paste electrolytes
Many horse owners let their pet use paste electrolytes for recovery after strenuous exercise or long-distance transport.
Traveling may cause stress and strain for your horses, which leads to a mild state of fluid and electrolyte depletion. Paste electrolytes will support your horse to drink and recover quicker.
There is no particular horse electrolyte that can meet the different requirements of every horse in the world. Also, each horse has its favorite as well as its health condition.
You can refer to some suggestions above, however, remember to base on the unique features of your horse and of the specific product to find out and purchase the best horse electrolytes.
FAQs About Horse Electrolytes
Q1: Can you make the best horse electrolytes by yourself?
Yes, of course.
A basic electrolyte supplement usually includes table salt (NaCl), KCl, and NaCl.
If you want to add more minerals, you should search on the internet and find out detailed information on trustworthy websites.
My advice is to refer to the professionals as well as check carefully before feeding your horses homemade electrolyte supplements. Make sure that your product is safe and useful for your health.
Q2: How to manage the electrolyte consumption of your equine?
Feeding your horses the same amount of electrolytes every day is an ideal way.
Do not let them eat electrolyte supplements just on the day of competition or on harder work days.
It is not the solution for a long-term deficiency.
Your horses cannot store electrolytes in their body. They will excrete what is unnecessary. Extra electrolytes will not help your horses to have better performances.
After a competition, do not forget to supply your horses with electrolytes for 2 to 3 days for enhanced recovery.
All you should do is ensure that your horses have what they are supposed to have.
Q3: Is it better to topdress on feed or add your electrolyte to water?
When feeding electrolytes, equine owners usually mix it in water.
Replacing sweat also helps replenish the horse’s hydration or lost water. With the combination of electrolytes and water, you will achieve two goals at the same time.
Your horses will absorb both nutrients and water in the fastest way.
Wrapping Up
Among the best horse electrolytes mentioned above, my choice is Redmond Rock Crushed.
With an affordable price, Redmond product helps replace electrolytes lost during strenuous activity. It stimulates thirst responses and encourages my horses to drink more water.
Besides, manufacturers use natural resources to create Redmond Rock Crushed. It is very safe and secure for the horse’s health.
In this article, I have shown you some helpful information about electrolyte supplements and provided an in-depth review
I hope that it can assist you in finding and buying suitable horse electrolytes for your beloved horses. There is no wonder that health is always the most critical aspect of a horse you should take care of.
Like and share this article if you find it informative, and leave your comment below to tell your stories or your experience about horses.
If you are looking for more information about horse care, you can refer to our website:
Reference:
- https://castlehorsefeeds.com/electrolytes-for-horses/
- https://www.purefeed.com/horse-electrolytes/
- https://au.virbac.com/health-care/horse-electrolytes/choose-the-right-electrolytes
- https://equusmagazine.com/management/when-your-horse-needs-electrolytes-8509
