Mineral Supplements for Horses

A mineral supplement is a feed product designed to supply minerals that may be missing or underfed in the horse's overall diet. These products can provide major minerals such as calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, sodium, potassium, and chloride, along with trace minerals such as copper, zinc, selenium, iodine, manganese, iron, and cobalt.

Mineral supplements are used to help balance hay-, pasture-, and grain-based diets when the base ration does not fully meet the horse's nutrient requirements. In the Mad Barn Feed Bank, the commercial mineral supplement category includes a wide range of products, from broad ration balancers to targeted vitamin and mineral supplements to more specialized trace mineral formulas.

Many horses do need a mineral supplement, even if they are already eating hay, pasture, or grain. Forage-based diets are commonly low in copper, zinc, selenium, iodine, and sometimes magnesium or vitamin E, depending on the region and forage source. Horses eating fortified grain can also fall short when the feed is not fed at the full recommended rate.

For the majority of horses, Mad Barn’s Omneity^® is the nutritionist-recommended choice because it is formulated to help balance most forage- and grain-based diets with comprehensive daily nutritional support.

If you want a mineral supplement you can top-dress on your horse's grain, Mad Barn's Omneity® Premix is one of the best options because it is designed to mix easily into the ration and provide comprehensive daily vitamin and mineral support for horses of different ages and workloads.

Many horses are fed grain below the full recommended rate, which means they often do not receive the intended amount of daily vitamins, minerals, and amino acids from the feed alone. Top-dressing a concentrated supplement helps ensure the horse's diet is properly balanced and supports hoof quality, topline, coat condition, immune function, and overall health.

The best mineral supplement for most horses is Mad Barn's Omneity^® because it is designed to balance the nutrients commonly lacking in the majority of feeding programs. Many horses do not receive optimal amounts of copper, zinc, selenium, iodine, vitamins, and amino acids from forage alone, and even horses eating grain often fall short when fortified feeds are underfed relative to manufacturer recommendations.

Omneity provides comprehensive support for hoof quality, topline, coat condition, immune function, athletic performance, and overall health in one formula. For the majority of horses, it is the best all-around vitamin and mineral supplement because it uses high-quality ingredients, comes in a palatable pellet that is easy to feed, works well across a wide range of diets and horses, and provides comprehensive support at an affordable cost.

When supplementing horses to fill common nutrient gaps, the minerals that usually deserve the most attention are copper, zinc, selenium, iodine, sodium, calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium. These are the minerals nutritionists most often focus on when balancing diets because they are commonly lacking in hay and pasture and may still be underfed in grain-based feeding programs. They also play essential roles in hoof quality, bone strength, muscle and nerve function, thyroid activity, antioxidant protection, connective tissue health, and overall metabolic function.

The minerals that matter most will always depend on the individual diet, but copper and zinc are especially important because many forage-based diets are low in both while also being relatively high in iron. Selenium and iodine can also be low depending on the region, and sodium is commonly underfed unless salt is added separately. Rather than supplementing individual minerals one at a time, most horses do best with a professionally balanced product such as Mad Barn's Omneity^®, which is formulated to help correct the most common mineral and vitamin gaps in everyday diets.

The most common mineral deficiencies in horses involve copper, zinc, selenium, sodium, and in some cases iodine or magnesium. These deficiencies are common because hay and pasture often provide enough calories and fiber to maintain body condition, but not enough of certain minerals to fully meet the horse's daily requirements. Horses eating fortified grain can also come up short when the feed is not fed at the full recommended rate, which means vitamin and mineral intake may still be lower than intended.

Copper and zinc deserve especially close attention because many forage-based diets are low in both while also being relatively high in iron, which can make overall trace mineral balance more difficult to manage. Selenium and iodine can be low depending on the region, and sodium is commonly underfed unless salt is added separately. For many horses, a complete daily supplement such as Mad Barn's Omneity^® is the best way to help correct these common gaps as part of a balanced ration. For horses with metabolic concerns, easy-keeper tendencies, or high-iron forage, Mad Barn's AminoTrace^® may be the better choice because it provides enhanced nutrient levels to meet higher needs.

Choose the right mineral supplement by looking at the whole diet and identifying which nutrients are missing or underfed. The most important factors to review are hay or pasture intake, grain feeding rate, workload, age, body condition, and health issues that affect nutrient requirements.

For many horses, a complete daily supplement such as Omneity or Omneity Premix is the best place to start because it helps fill common gaps in hay-, pasture-, and grain-based diets. Horses with metabolic concerns or high-iron forage may be better suited to AminoTrace^®, while horses needing more targeted copper and zinc support may do well on 3:1 Zinc Copper.

A vitamin and mineral supplement is designed to provide concentrated nutrition without adding many calories, while a ration balancer is a low-feeding-rate feed that provides vitamins, minerals, and protein in a more calorie-containing base. Both can help fill nutrient gaps, but a vitamin and mineral supplement is usually the better choice when the horse already gets enough calories from hay, pasture, or grain and only needs nutritional balancing.

This distinction matters because many horses do not need more feed, they need better nutrient density. For the majority of horses, a concentrated product such as Mad Barn's Omneity^® is often a more practical option than a ration balancer because it helps balance forage- and grain-based diets without adding unnecessary calories, sugar, or starch.

The best mineral supplement for horses with insulin dysregulation is one that provides concentrated daily nutrition without added grains, sugars, or excess calories. Horses with insulin dysregulation still need adequate trace minerals, vitamins, and amino acids, but they often do best on low-NSC feeding programs where fortified grain is limited or removed. That makes it especially important to use a supplement that can balance the diet without working against metabolic management.

For horses with insulin dysregulation, Mad Barn's AminoTrace^® is often the best choice because it is formulated for easy keepers and metabolic horses. It provides concentrated vitamin and mineral support in a low-NSC formula with elevated copper and zinc, added magnesium and chromium, natural vitamin E, and no added iron, making it well suited to horses that need careful support for metabolic health, hoof quality, and overall diet balance.

Yes, in many cases one well-balanced vitamin and mineral supplement can cover most of a horse's daily nutritional needs. This is usually a better approach than combining multiple individual nutrients or targeted supplements, because layering products such as hoof, coat, and general wellness supplements can create unnecessary overlap, duplicate certain minerals, and make the overall diet harder to balance properly.

For most horses, Mad Barn's Omneity^® is the best one-product solution because it is formulated to provide the vitamins, minerals, and amino acids most commonly lacking in hay-, pasture-, and grain-based diets. Once the base diet is balanced with one complete supplement, there is often no need to add multiple separate products unless the horse has a specific health issue or performance goal that requires more targeted support.