It has been an extremely humid summer here in Atlanta, Georgia. As a result, my horses have been consuming their fair share of salt. Towards the end of June I noticed that the old salt block had been reduced to a few broken pieces in the bottom of it’s tray. Oh great, almost time to lug that impossibly heavy salt block up the flight of stairs that lead up to my pasture, then all the way up the hill to my barn. Have I ever mentioned that my entire property is one big hill? It didn’t take much convincing to decide those few broken pieces would surely hold for a week before they would need replacing….
So, the next time I was at my local Tractor Supply picking up feed, I was reminded of the dreaded task. I literally stood in front of the pallet of unnaturally heavy cubes of salt for a few minutes, cursing this chore of horse ownership. Just before I had resigned myself to hefting one into my cart, something on the shelf caught my eye. It was a block of Himalayan Pink Salt on a rope. It was so small ( at only 7 lbs) and convenient. So I put that little gem in my cart instead!
I rushed home and my husband helped me install it in our run in barn. We decided to hang it from a rafter with a heavy chain. I wanted to make sure it would stand up to any abuse my horses dished out, and wouldn’t be able to entangle them like rope could. I used one length of chain and tied the block (with the rope provided) to the chain. We placed it about wither height to the horses. We secured the chain to the rafter with a clamp (well out of the reach of the horses.) There are no loops in the chain or rope for the horses to get hung in.
So, how do my horses like it? They love it! They routinely play with it, and it is usually wet from licking when I feed them in the morning. It has definitely gotten smaller since we put it up. My one gelding, Indy, loves to play tether-ball with it!
Best of all, I will NEVER have to lug that old miserable block of salt up that hill again! If you are interested in trying one out yourself, here is a link:
