Can I give my horses copper lick blocks for cattle

yes, just make sure there is NO urea in them. Read the block itself, the feeding directions, etc. and it will tell you if it is bad for horses.

The problem with the cattle blocks is not copper, it is UREA! Urea-containing supplements can be dangerous when formulated or used improperly, & they r not made for horses. Urea or ammonium salts r added to protein supplements as non-protein sources of nitrogen (NPN), which can be used, under the right circumstances, by ruminant livestock to provide up to 40 percent of their protein nitrogen requirements. NPN sources such as urea can be converted to protein & amino acids by rumen microorganisms in NPN-adapted ruminant livestock when energy intakes r adequate. They r commonly used because they r often less expensive than natural protein sources. Horses do not have a rumen, & r therefore more prone to NPN toxicity.

So to answer ur question, no u can not. I would definitely move the blocks when ur horses r in that particular pasture.

Yes horses love copper and sweet iron.

The problem with mineral licks that have salt in them is that animals may get too much of the minerals in search of the salt and vice versa. I always have a lump of rock salt or a container with plain salt in the paddock so they have a choice.

Our horses graze with cows and they have the blue salt licks. It is never affected their health so I think that you will be fine

Yes, it should be fine. The mineral blocks also have salt mixed in, so the horses will get their salt from them. The mineral should not cause any harm.

Edit: I searched the internet & found this one caution. If there is high iodine content, it can cause goitre in horses, especially foals. I found this exerpt from this website: http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/hrs3243
Most horse owners know the various salt products by colour: white, red, brown & blue. In general, ''white'' salt is plain sodium chloride. ''Red'' salt is sodium chloride with added iodine (also known as iodized salt, which is similar to our own table salt). ''Brown'' salt usually contains trace minerals, such as copper, zinc, manganese, iodine & cobalt, & may or may not contain sodium chloride. ''Blue'' salt contains sodium chloride, iodine & cobalt. While the colours help us identify these products, variations in colour & content do exist—best to read the label.

When buying a salt block, the motto seems to be ''red is for horses, blue is for cows.'' Is blue salt harmful to horses? NO. In fact, the only nutritional difference between red salt & blue salt is the added cobalt in the blue salt. Both contain sodium chloride & both contain iodine. The blue cobalt-added salt was designed for cattle & other ruminants. The bacteria in the rumen use cobalt to synthesize vitamin B12. Similarly, the bacteria in the hindgut of the horse also use cobalt to synthesize vitamin B12. However, horses do not appear to require lots of extra cobalt in their diet to benefit from adequate B12 synthesis.

Although the level of cobalt in blue salt is higher than what they need, it is not harmful to horses. In fact, there has never been a reported case of cobalt toxicity in horses, nor have researchers been able to produce toxicity by deliberately feeding high levels of cobalt. Furthermore, there is no direct link between blue salt consumed by pregnant mares & the subsequent birth of hairless, deformed or stillborn foals. When nutrition is implicated as a cause of these defects, it usually stems from inadequate or imbalanced mineral consumption by the mare during pregnancy. This is especially true of pregnant mares that do not receive adequate iodine or selenium. Blue salt is not the culprit of these neonatal defects.

The other concern with blue salt is the small amount of paint dye used to make the product blue in colour. True, we do not know if this dye has any long-term effects on horses. However, the red & brown salts also contain colouring agents—iron oxide (rust) is used to make red salt red. These colouring agents have been used for years without being harmful to animals.

All horses should be provided with free-choice access to a salt product. Because feeds r also low in iodine, I recommend selecting an iodized salt product—either red or blue salt. However, avoid using ''high boot'' cattle blocks with horses, as the high iodine content has the potential to cause goitre, especially in foals.