Here's a mind-boggling statistic - 50 years ago, carrots had 75% more magnesium than today
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15637215
Just one example of how our soil nutrient levels have significantly depleted over the years due to industrial agriculture (see the UK Soil Observatory website). The problem is compounded - whether horse or human, we get less minerals from our food than we used to, due to chemicals like glyphosate sprayed on agri-crops, with our ultra-processed diets, pharmaceutical drugs, and inflammatory lifestyles depleting our bodies of the minerals we can get.
Us humans are armed with the knowledge to select an appropriate vit/min supplement off the shelf for ourselves, alongside upgrading our diet accordingly to add back the missing nutrients into our bodies. Our horses, however, rely entirely on us to get it right for them. This is why we need a balanced mineral solution to help provide our horses with an effective nutritional foundation.
Let's put it into perspective. Imagine randomly removing 50% of the nuts and bolts from your car, then trying to drive it. How far do you think you’d get? Some might just about rattle and roll, but imagine the stress on your car engine. Chances are, you wouldn’t risk even putting the key in the ignition.
In our human world, if we’re eating the standard western C.R.A.P. diet (not me being rude - it stands for Carbs, Refined, Artificial, and Processed), health nuts report that our own machinery is missing a staggering 80% of our essential nuts and bolts. Just as our car won’t function properly, neither will our body, which is why such a high percentage of the western human race is so sick.
Put simply, we need all of the essential components for the body to work properly. And not unsurprisingly, it's the same for our horses.
FACT - Our UK grasslands are deficient in many of the essential minerals, and way too high in others, namely calcium, iodine, iron and manganese.
FACT - Changes in the chemistry of grass cause changes in the chemistry of the horse, with many chronic health issues being due to unbalanced micronutrients.
FACT - Most alleged 'behavioural; issues will resolve by feeding minerals balanced to our known UK forage deficiencies, which balance the horse's chemistry.
And then there's the feedbowl:
FACT - Micronutrient deficiencies are guaranteed since the advent of mass agriculture, because mass-produced food is synonymous with low micronutrient food.
Along with hay, water and salt, the right mineral supply is the nutrient foundation of the diet, and in the perfect world, how we supplement our horses should be adapted to the mineral content of their regular forage and their feedbowl content. However, unless we grow our own hay or know the source of our hay's supply, there's no sense in having the mineral content of each hay bale analysed, as the values can swing from day to day, depending on the weather, the environment, and changes in the soil values. For example, hay grown on sandy or moorland soils will usually have significantly lower mineral content than hay from other soil types.
That said, there are certain standard values for mineral supply, and our EquiVita/VitaComplete mineral balancer matches the recognised standard nutrient deficiencies in our UK grasslands and forage.
Introducing EquiVita/VitaComplete
Our EquiVita range is milled for us by Premier Nutrition, who are committed to manufacturing safe, compliant feed independently audited by, and certified to, UFAS, FEMAS, BETA NOPS, and ISO 22000, so you can be confident in the product you receive.
A carefully balanced multi-mineral nutrient solution specific to our UK grasslands.
Balanced to the NRC guidelines based on known UK forage deficiencies, which means it provides the correct ratios of the deficient minerals and micronutrients to balance the equine dietary requirements.
No fillers whatsoever, just the composition your horse needs to balance the diet, and none of what it doesn't (calcium, iodine, iron, manganese) based on the known UK forage deficiencies as per the NRC guidelines, and measured to the RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowance - set based on preventing deficiency) to nutritionally balance the diet.
3 Ranges
Our standard
EquiVita range is ideal for all-round maintenance
. EquiVita 'A' range
- wth 10g daily added Spirulina, one of the highest protein-rich foods in the plant kingdom. It supports metabolism, muscle building, and an excellent gut mycotoxin-binder and deacidifier, useful if feeding
haylage.
VitaComplete - combines our EquiVita range with 100g daily micronised linseed, and 10g daily certified organic and unrefined salt as a convenient 3-in-1.