[AshsStorm]

I am currently caring for a 30 yr. old mare called Peaches. She is in the process of gaining back to 450 lbs. she lost at her former home. I had her in the paddock the other day and I heard a slirping (sp?) noise. I looked up and saw Peaches taking huge chucks of dirt out of the ground. She was eating it like candy! Does anyone have any idea why a horse would do this? She's got me stumped!

[CrazyHorse]

They usually do that when they're lacking salt &/or somethng else in their diets. Does she have a salt lick?

[AshsStorm]

Yeah, she has a salt lick. I never see her licking it though.

[wyldterv]

She's most likely lacking in minerals, that's usually why horses eat dirt... Also if she's starved (needing to gain 450lbs sounds like she was starved) she may just consume ANYTHING available.

Make sure she has 24/7 access to a salt/mineral block and make sure she has free choice fed hay 24/7 as well.

[AshsStorm]

She was starved. It's a long story but basically the man left her with his friend to take care of when he moved until he could find a place to keep them. Well, while she was there, she already had a calcium deposit in her knee and it got worse so the people called the vet out and the vet said for her to drop 450lbs. in order for her legs not to break (they are bowed). This is crazy, I know. Her owner came back to get them and saw her and when she got to my barn, I vollunteered to feed, groom, and care for her and her 16 yr. old daughter.

Anyways, I was just clarifying the reason she lost that much weight.

We are feeding her 3 scoops twice a day with corn oil, bute, and molasses in it by the vet's orders. Sometimes, she won't finish all of it but she still eats dirt. It's wierd. She is in a paddock with hay and water and grass yet she chooses to eat the dirt.

[MissBandit]

My TB used to eat earth also. Only in spring though, really bizarre. A farmer told me to let him do it as he was getting what he needed out of it. He had a salt/mineral block that he used. Just something about that time of year.

[wyldterv]

Originally Posted by MissBandit

My TB used to eat earth also. Only in spring though, really bizarre. A farmer told me to let him do it as he was getting what he needed out of it. He had a salt/mineral block that he used. Just something about that time of year.

Something to do with the lengthing of the sunlight hours up here maybe? Caused some type of mineral or vitamin imbalance???

[naughtygirl]

they mostly do it cos they r lacking minirals/salt

[AshsStorm]

Thanks for the input! She has both a salt and a mineral block in her pasture. I guess she just likes the taste! She's wierd!

[harli36]

I always thought that this was a mineral imbalance too but the vet that taught the class I took last spring said that recent studies seem to have disproved this theory but that more research needed to be done. She said that when horses eat dirt rather than it being a mineral imbalance it is more likely a problem that the horse either doesn't have enough, or the wrong kinds of bacteria in his hindgut. This is a common problem with horses that have been starved or neglected. The fact that they are either getting no food or bad quality food kills off the bacteria that they need to digest their food. This is also a behavior seen in horses that are on antibiotics. The antibiotics kills whatever bad bacteria is bothering the horse but it also kills the good bacteria in the hindgut. The solution to this problem is simple...feed probiotics. The probiotics are a dose of good bacteria that will help replenish the stores of good bacteria in the hindgut. After that has happened the behavior of eating dirt will go away.