Influence of an organic supplement of copper, zinc and manganese in feed rations on concentrations of these elements in the coat of Polish Konik horses

The aim of the study was to determine the effect of an organic form of mineral supplement containing copper, zinc and manganese on the concentration of these elements in the coat (hair) of Polish Konik horses. Possible impact of the rearing conditions of 24 Polish Konik foals (which originated from stables and nature reserves), their sex and duration of the supplementation on the coat’s mineral composition was considered. The research included 24 horses: 12 stabled (six fillies and six colts) and 12 captured in a nature reserve (seven fillies and five colts). Ten samples of fodder and 60 samples of coats were analysed. The influence of the rearing system on the concentration of elements in the coat was observed, for example stabled horses had a higher content of copper in the coat while the content of zinc and especially manganese was lower. All horses, both reared in a stable and from the nature reserve, showed higher copper concentrations in their coat (P ≤ 0.05) after supplementation with copper, while an increased amount of zinc was observed only in animals reared in a stable. All horses (both stabled and wild ones) demonstrated an evident change in the manganese content of their coat after supplementation with a chelate. The content grew significantly (P ≤ 0.01) with the supplementation time. An interaction between the sex and chelate supplementation time was observed only in the case of manganese administered to animals reared in a stable.