A small snip of mane hair reveals 42+ minerals and heavy metals — the imbalances and toxic exposures quietly driving your horse's coat, energy, behavior, and performance issues. Stop guessing. Test, then act.
A hair mineral analysis (HTMA) is a lab test that measures the mineral and heavy-metal content stored in your horse's mane hair. Because hair grows slowly and locks nutrients in place as it forms, a single sample acts like a 90-day metabolic record — something a one-time blood draw cannot show you.
Bloodwork is a snapshot. It tells you what's circulating in the moment a needle goes in. Hair is a recording. As the mane grows, it incorporates whatever the horse is absorbing from feed, water, soil, and environment. That makes hair the right tissue for spotting:
The sample is collected non-invasively — about an inch and a half of mane hair, snipped close to the crest. Lab analysis uses ICP-MS (inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry), the same gold-standard equipment used in human clinical and environmental testing.
Most equine "mystery" problems aren't mysteries. They're mineral stories nobody has read yet.
If any of these sound familiar, you're not alone — they're the most common reasons horse owners reach for a hair test:
Bloodwork comes back normal but the horse isn't right. Hair fills in the long-term picture blood can't show.
Old barn lead paint, treated fencing, well water, downwind from agriculture — heavy metals leave fingerprints in hair.
Slower recovery, lost top end, muscle tightness, "tying up" episodes. Often a selenium, magnesium, or copper-zinc story.
Dull, faded, slow-shedding, brittle mane and tail, bleached patches. Coat is the body's billboard for mineral status.
Spooky, cranky, won't focus, won't tie. Magnesium, copper, and heavy-metal burdens all leave behavior fingerprints.
Stop guessing which scoop matters. Test, then supplement to the gap — not to the marketing label.
Equine medicine in 2026 is still mostly reactive. Symptom shows up → diagnosis happens → treatment starts. That's fine for an injury or an infection. But for the slow-burn issues — the dull coat, the unexplained anxiety, the chronic soreness, the horse who just "isn't himself" — symptom-chasing burns money and time.
A hair test moves the conversation upstream. Instead of asking "what symptom is this?", it asks "what's the body short on, what's it carrying too much of, and what's likely causing the downstream signs?" That's the question worth answering once a year for any horse you actually care about.
$49.99 kit ships in two business days. Lab-grade analysis. Plain-English report.
You don't get a wall of numbers and a goodbye. You get a clear, color-coded picture of what your horse needs more of, less of, and what's silently in the way.
| Tier | What It Measures | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Essential Minerals | Calcium, Magnesium, Sodium, Potassium, Phosphorus, Sulfur, Copper, Zinc, Iron, Manganese, Selenium, Cobalt, Chromium, Boron, Molybdenum | The fuel and structural inputs for muscle, bone, hoof, coat, hormones, and recovery. |
| Mineral Ratios | Calcium/Phosphorus, Sodium/Potassium, Calcium/Potassium, Zinc/Copper, Sodium/Magnesium, Calcium/Magnesium, Iron/Copper | Single numbers lie. Ratios show how nutrients actually compete for absorption and metabolic use. |
| Toxic Heavy Metals | Lead, Mercury, Arsenic, Cadmium, Aluminum, Antimony, Beryllium, Uranium | The hidden burdens — usually too low to flag in routine blood, but loud and clear in stored hair tissue. |
Four steps. About a week of total elapsed time. No needles, no vet visit required.
Order the $49.99 hair & mineral analysis kit from Mane Metrics. Resealable collection bag, pre-labeled return envelope, plain instructions.
2 business days to arriveSnip about 1.5 inches of mane hair close to the crest. Drop the sealed envelope in any mailbox. Total time at the barn: under 5 minutes.
~5 minutesPartner lab runs ICP-MS analysis across 42+ elements — essentials, ratios, and the heavy-metal panel.
5–7 days at the labEmail-delivered report with color-coded findings, plus a follow-up phone consultation to walk through results and supplementation suggestions.
Email + voice debriefA hair test only matters if the answers are actionable. That's why every Mane Metrics report comes with two things most labs skip: plain-English interpretation (no chemistry-major required) and a follow-up voice consult so you can ask the actual question on your mind — "okay, but what should I feed?"
Roughly 9 to 12 calendar days from the moment you click order to the moment you have answers.
| When | What's happening | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| Day 0 | You order the kit on manemetrics.io | Confirm horse name, age, breed, and main concerns at checkout. |
| Day 1–2 | Kit ships to your address | Watch your mailbox. Kit arrives in ~2 business days. |
| Day 2–3 | You collect the sample | ~1.5 inches of mane, near the crest. Seal in the bag, drop in any mailbox. |
| Day 4–5 | Sample arrives at the lab | Nothing — you're done with the work. |
| Day 9–12 | Analysis complete (5–7 days after lab receipt) | Watch your inbox. Email report lands first. |
| Shortly after | Voice debrief with solution suggestions | Bring questions about your horse's diet, environment, and any current supplements. |
Plain-English summary: kit in two days, sample collection in five minutes, results inside two weeks. That's faster than most vets can schedule a follow-up.
Order the kit now. We'll handle the rest. Questions? Call (972) 284-1878.
Equine hair mineral analysis is supported by a growing peer-reviewed literature — particularly for detecting heavy-metal exposure and tracking long-term mineral patterns. Here are the studies worth reading.
The questions horse owners and trainers ask most often before ordering their first kit.
A hair test for horses, also called Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA), is a lab test that measures the mineral and heavy-metal content stored in your horse's mane hair. Because hair grows slowly and locks nutrients in place as it forms, a single sample acts like a 90-day metabolic record — something a one-time blood draw cannot show you.
Peer-reviewed research shows equine hair analysis is most decisive for detecting heavy metal exposure (lead, cadmium, mercury, arsenic) and tracking long-term mineral patterns. Studies including Brummer-Holder et al. (2020) demonstrate that elements like lead and chromium can be detected in mane hair even when undetectable in blood. Hair analysis is best used alongside, not in place of, traditional bloodwork.
About 1.5 inches of mane hair, snipped close to the crest. Total collection time at the barn is under 5 minutes. The process is non-invasive — no needles, no vet visit required.
The kit ships in approximately 2 business days. After you mail the sample, the lab takes 5-7 days to complete analysis. Total elapsed time from ordering to receiving your detailed email report is approximately 9-12 calendar days.
The test measures 42+ elements across three tiers:
The Mane Metrics Hair & Mineral Analysis Test Kit is $49.99. The price includes the collection kit, pre-labeled return envelope, lab analysis of 42+ elements, a comprehensive email report, and a follow-up phone consultation.
No. Hair mineral analysis is a wellness and nutrition assessment tool, not a diagnostic test. Findings suggest, indicate, or may correlate with conditions and are designed to guide diet and supplementation decisions. Always partner with your veterinarian for diagnosis and treatment of illness.
For horses with identified mineral imbalances on a corrective supplement program, retest every 6 months. For maintenance and baseline tracking, annual testing is typically sufficient. Performance horses in heavy training may benefit from more frequent testing.
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