Redmond Supplements for Horses: What Does 60+ Trace Minerals Mean?

June 2, 2023

Here at Redmond Equine, we often use the phrase “over 60 trace minerals” when describing our natural horse mineral supplements. But how do we really know how many minerals are in our products, and why does it matter? More specifically, why does it matter to your horse?

Let's look at where Redmond's minerals originate from, how we know how many minerals are in our supplements, and how they enhance your horse's performance and help prevent health problems.

Where Do Redmond's Horse Minerals Come From?

Because minerals continuously leach from the Earth’s surface (due to wind, precipitation, and erosion), seas are a treasure trove of life-sustaining minerals. Here at Redmond, we feel blessed to have one of those—an ancient seabed, that is!

Redmond’s minerals are harvested from the crystallized remains of a Jurassic period sea that’s protected by a volcanic bentonite clay cap. This rich mineral salt and clay deposit—located near our headquarters in central Utah—is geologically unique and serves as the foundation for all our soil and livestock products, including your horse's Daily Gold, Redmond Rock, and Crushed loose minerals.

Mineral Testing

As an ancient sea deposit, Redmond’s minerals clearly contain a few different valuable salts. However, one glance at the natural color variations show there is so much more, including dozens of naturally chelated minerals.

To learn more about which specific minerals are present in our deposit, we submitted samples to ISO-rated Advanced Labs in Salt Lake City, Utah. Let’s talk about what they found and how they measured results.

How Does Mineral Testing Work?

Mineral testing labs use various methods to find which elements are present in each sample submitted. Not only do they drill down on the chemical composition of these samples, but also their concentrations—or how much of a certain element is present.

Advanced Labs uses specialized instruments that excite the atoms of the sample with plasma. Once heated, the elements give off waves of electromagnetic radiation, with each element owning its own signature wavelength. The scientists then use instruments to identify each element by their wavelength and measure each atom’s mass to find out how much is present in the sample.

Pretty heavy stuff, right? Now let’s zero in on what elements they found in Redmond’s samples.

Redmond’s Test Results

Advanced Lab’s measured the different minerals in Redmond’s sample down to parts per million. They found that Redmond’s mineral profile contains over 60 different minerals in varying quantities. Curious to know what exactly they are? Check out our mineral salt analysis and mineral clay analysis! Most of the minerals are present in very small amounts and are referred to as “trace minerals.” These trace minerals are contained within a carrier of delicious salts that horses and other animals love.

Reading a Mineral Analysis

A reliable mineral analysis differentiates between a guaranteed analysis and a typical analysis. This allows the mineral report to accommodate for the concentration variations that naturally occur in mineral deposits. So what’s the difference between the terms “guaranteed” and “typical” on results?

• Guaranteed Analysis: Minerals that are present in every package according to the levels listed.
• Typical Analysis: Minerals that are typically present in every package according to the levels listed.

Parts Per Billion vs. Parts Per Million

Now let’s talk about how minerals are measured. Redmond requested a mineral concentration test down to parts per million (ppm) because these units are familiar and readily used in the equine industry. However, if a parts-per-billion (ppb) test was conducted (which would put Redmond’s sample under an even closer microscope), even more minerals would be discovered!

Some companies test their products down to ppb, which allows them to inflate the advertised number of minerals in their products. However, these minerals aren’t present in significant enough quantities to matter for soil and animal uses. In fact, it would take 1,000 parts per billion to equal 1 part per million.

• 1 part per million = 1,000 parts per billion.

Still confused about how much that is? Let’s compare it to something we can wrap our heads around. According to the EPA:

“A way to visualize one part per billion (ppb) in water is to think of it as one drop in one billion drops of water or about one drop of water in a swimming pool. One part per million is about 1 cup of water in a swimming pool.”

Why Do These Minerals Matter?

Even though they are only needed in very small amounts, trace minerals provide a wide range of health benefits for all living things. The mineral profile naturally found in deep sea water, has been a point of interest for medical researchers for a long time, especially for Maynard Murray, MD.

He devoted the bulk of his career to studying why ocean life was devoid of the degenerative diseases that plague land animals, including humans. Dr. Murray discovered that the mineral profile of deep seawater was mirrored in the elements and concentrations found in healthy blood, specifically plasma. His book, Sea Energy Agriculture, explores how using deep sea minerals can eliminate trace mineral deficiencies. He said:

“The discovery of these facts led to researching the effects of sea minerals applied to soils and plants for healthier food. The results were astounding—plants grew faster and healthier, were more disease resistant and maintained higher nutritive value. Animals also preferred to graze on the treated pasture land.”

How Trace Minerals Help Humans

Medical researchers have also noticed that human health suffers when trace minerals are deficient or missing from our diets. The National Institute of Health has researched deep seawater and discovered some fascinating health benefits. Their tests have shown that deep seawater can be used to:

• Lower cholesterol
• Protect against cardiovascular diseases
• Prevent artery plaque
• Reduce blood pressure
• Reduce obesity
• Regulate blood glucose levels (treat diabetes)
• Treat skin conditions
• Improve liver and kidney health
• Reduce fatigue
• Treat ulcers
• Prevent cancer cell growth
• Treat cataracts
• Strengthen bones and reduce osteoporosis

Did you know Redmond has human and culinary products featuring our expansive minerals? Try our Redmond Real Salt, seasoned salts, or Redmond Clay facial mud.

One-minute video exploring where our human and equine mineral supplements are mined.

How Trace Minerals Help Horses

Now you know where Redmond's minerals come from, how we know the quantity in our products, and how minerals help humans and animals. Now what can our expansive array of 60 essential minerals specifically do for your horse? 

This Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences article states: 

"When it comes to enjoyment and quality of life, a horse’s true fitness may mean more than just a pasture and some oats. While most horses get the majority of their nutrients from pasture and grain, many may not be receiving the mineral nutrition needed for optimum health."

Foremost, horses need salt, calcium and phosphorus for healthy bones, teeth, and lactation. Magnesium and potassium are vital for muscle and nervous tissue function and cellular health. And additional smaller (trace) amounts of minerals like cobalt, copper, iodine, iron, selenium, and zinc are also necessary to maintain healthy, productive horses.

Today, many of these important horse minerals are absent or lacking in typical feeds and pastures because of depleted soils. Dr. Glennon Mays, clinical associate professor at Texas A&M noted:

“Well-balanced mineral supplements should be provided for your horse to ensure quality health. The horse is a grazing animal with a unique digestive system.  It has a relatively small stomach and a large hindgut that holds fibrous matter which bacteria work to digest. Therefore, forage should be the first food of choice. However, forages do not provide sufficient amounts of minerals for horses, so supplements are necessary.”

Tricia Aldridge runs an equine training facility in Texas and struggled to find quality supplements with simple ingredients that met her horses' mineral needs. When she found Redmond, she made it her brand of choice. Read her story below.

Mineral Brand of Choice for Red Hot Running Horses

I own Red Hot Running Horses out of Sanger, Texas, where we compete, sell, and breed futurity and open-level barrel horses. Taking care of our horses is a top priority, which includes supplying them with quality feed and essential minerals.

Before I discovered Redmond products, my horses were always lacking in sufficient minerals and I was always coming up short in finding a quality horse supplement that I was comfortable with. 

I truly feel you can supplement one to death with all the options out there. I felt many of the supplements on the market had too many added ingredients in them, and I was looking for something simple yet effective for my horses.

For me, Redmond became my brand of choice. Redmond horse supplements are natural, clean, and have no fillers or additives. The natural Crushed sea salt and 60 trace minerals help complete a balanced diet and replenish minerals my horses lose in the Texas heat or by running on Lasix.

Since discovering Redmond six months ago, I’ve been using their products on every horse in our barn! Daily Gold Stress Relief has been especially important for our 2020 futurity gelding, Sinaloa Stinson, aka “Casino.” Casino has won $35,000 in his first 60 days competing. He runs on Daily Gold paste and gets the Daily Gold powder two times a day.

Casino can be a silent worrier—he doesn’t show any outward signs of worrying, but can back off feed and show the signs of ulcers. The stress of competition can make that worse, and Daily Gold has really made a big difference in keeping Casino stress-free.

With Redmond, I feel like my horses are much better balanced overall—and they look and feel great. Including Redmond supplements with a good diet program has helped me get the most out of my horses.

— Tricia Aldridge, Red Hot Running Horses

Redmond Horse Mineral Supplements

Here at Redmond, we’re proud of our goal to nourish the world from the ground up with our thoroughly tested and expansive mineral profile of 60+ trace minerals. Our minerals support humans, healthy farming and livestock operations—and they’ll also help your horse live healthier and perform better. Click below to shop our natural Redmond Rock salt licks, digestive support products, crushed loose minerals, and entire lineup of equine mineral supplements!