Supplemental

For horses, as for humans, there is a long list of vendors peddling a seemingly endless variety of miraculous nutritional supplements. I autonomously choose to ignore most such products in my human diet, striving instead just to eat whenever/whatever I find appealing (rarely McDonalds). For the dogs I maintain a philosophy of balance in the long-term, supplementing their raw chicken/turkey/lamb/pork diet with the occasional vitamin pill/dose of salmon oil/suspect item from the fridge. Horse nutrition is newer to me, but all my research suggests that good grass hay, some alfalfa, some fat (sunflower, flax..) and the occasional treat should do the trick for our horses when accompanied by free access to salt and mineral blocks. My decision to take alfalfa off the equine menu effectively removes calcium from this diet, so I have decided to compensate with Hoffman's Horse Minerals. The manufacturers suggest allowing free-choice access to the powdered mixture, but I'm pretty sure that Tonka would eat the whole bucket in one shot. For now they are getting the recommended ~200 g/day. Raven gets it in her grain, and Tonka is so happy to get something while Raven is eating that he will devour it straight.