Madalyn Ward, DVM shares her answers to specific holistic horse care questions from clients.

Q – How do you know if multivitamins and minerals are synthetic? I give my equines Horse Tech’s Red 7 (multivitamin and mineral) and Glanzen 3 (for hooves and coat). Do you know if they are synthetic and unnecessary if I also am giving them Essentials Blend?

A – Great question. The first thing to do is look at the ingredient list. If no actual foods are listed then you have a product that is 100% synthetic vitamins and formulated minerals. If only foods are listed then all vitamins and minerals are coming from those foods. Many products have a food base with added vitamins and minerals. In that case, you will have foods listed followed by a list of added synthetic vitamins and formulated minerals.

I prefer the majority of my nutrition to come from whole foods. Much lower amounts are needed when vitamins and minerals come in their natural form. Co-factors that are needed to activate the enzymes systems in the body are part of the whole food complex. Essentials Blend has a wide range of food based vitamins and minerals and will go a long way towards providing for your horse’s needs. There are exceptions for some situations where a horse might need additional vitamins and/or minerals. Injury, heavy work and illness increase the body’s needs for nutrition. Also, you can have actual deficiency in the overall diet for macro minerals such as magnesium.

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