Summer —
25 September 2025
Elektrolytes for horses
Electrolytes are essential minerals such as sodium, chloride, potassium, and magnesium. Your horse mainly needs them to maintain fluid balance in the body. They also help regulate acidity levels and ensure proper functioning of muscles and nerves. If your horse becomes deficient in these minerals after a period of heavy sweating, the result can be severe muscle soreness or cramps, sometimes even tying-up. A shortage of electrolytes also causes prolonged fatigue and increases the risk of dehydration.
When should you provide an electrolyte supplement?
A horse that does light or no work and sweats little or normally does not need an additional electrolyte mix. Such horses obtain sufficient minerals to replenish their needs from their daily concentrate feed, possibly supported by a salt lick for some extra salts and minerals.
It becomes a different story when horses literally start dripping with sweat. This can happen in the following situations:
- Very hot and/or humid weather
- Very heavy exertion (such as endurance, eventing, long rides, marathons, etc.)
- Long-distance transport
- Illness
- Prolonged exercise
Adequate fluid in a horse’s body is essential for keeping many processes in balance—including restoring mineral deficiencies. Minerals are transported through body fluids, while at the same time electrolytes are needed to maintain fluid balance. Electrolytes stimulate water transport throughout the body. Water and electrolytes are therefore always inseparably linked.
the balance between water and electrolytes
A healthy average horse weighing around 500 kg generally drinks between 20 and 30 liters of water per day. The need for water increases when:
- the horse works hard
- the horse is nursing a foal
- the horse sweats heavily due to high ambient temperatures
Under normal sweating conditions, a horse loses about 6 liters of fluid per hour through the skin. If your horse is literally dripping and foaming with sweat, it may lose as much as 10 to 12 liters per hour. Along with that sweat, around 10 grams of electrolytes per liter of water are lost from the body. If this continues for long periods, the total loss of minerals can become substantial.
Voermeesters electolyte mash
When horses perform heavy work and sweat heavily, their fluid balance often gets disrupted. As a result, they may lose appetite and interest in drinking water. Naturally, you want to prevent dehydration and muscle cramps, and support recovery. The solution lies in water and feed containing extra electrolytes.
But then you stand there with all your good intentions and your electrolyte supplement… and your horse flat-out refuses everything you offer. Now what?
Then there is Voermeesters Elektrolytenslobber. This mash replenishes lost minerals such as sodium, chloride, potassium, and magnesium. In addition, it provides a wide range of vitamins and trace elements. With it, you give your horse the most essential elements for recovery, while avoiding unnecessary worries about your horse refusing other feed.
In 2018, Elektrolytenslobber was awarded Horse Product of the Year in the Supplements category, by both the professional jury and the public. Developed by our experts, the mash was designed to literally entice horses and ponies to consume what they need most after excessive sweating. The jury of Horse Product of the Year praised how readily horses eat and absorb it, even after heavy exertion. They also highlighted how effectively it boosts water intake when fed.
We formulate slobber, just like all our feeds, using only natural ingredients. Complete and very easy to use. It’s clean and convenient to take along: simply mix with water on the spot, and you’re ready to care for your horse. The smooth, palatable texture of Elektrolytenslobber sits right between water and dry feed, which makes it appealing even for very tired horses. At the same time, it allows you to easily provide a substantial portion of warm or cold water “unnoticed.”
Is to much electrolyte intake possible?
In principle, no, certainly not if you stick to the recommended amount on the packaging, based on your horse or pony’s weight. This assumes healthy animals with normal kidney function. Electrolytes should always be provided only at the right times. What’s the right time? Always immediately after horses or ponies have sweated heavily. In cases of long day rides or endurance competitions, providing them in between is, of course, also an option.
If you give electrolytes when the body doesn’t need them, the excess minerals are simply excreted. The electrolytes pass through the blood to the kidneys and are then eliminated from the body through urine.
Always ensure sufficient water
Excreting electrolytes through the kidneys places a slightly higher burden on them than if this weren’t necessary. For healthy horses that receive plenty of water to “flush” the kidneys, this is no problem, provided your horse drinks enough! Unsure how much water it’s really drinking? Try offering water in buckets for a while; this lets you see exactly how much fluid your horse is taking in.
Would you like personal and professional advice about providing electrolytes to your horse or pony? Request a free feeding advice,or contact our Voermeesters team directly.