Article on magnesium and eventing accidents

Quite TGM not a company with a vested interested in rubbishing the use of magnesium based calmers - which only make any difference if the horse is deficient in the first place.
I feed a fair amount of mag, obv n=1 but it hasn't made Frank any difference in attitude or quick thinking/surefootedness.

booboos, I think they like to think they are science based in reality I have concluded that they have a product to sell and desperately try and work the science around that :p All of the papers they cite and their own research has huge flaws and they have never been able to convince me otherwise.
 
I'm glad it wasn't just me who thought it was insensitive scare mongering in order to boost product sales.

It's a shame because in essence it COULD be a worthy avenue of research if done properly and appropriately. After all, we ALL want to find ways to make our sport safer. But to do it in this way with not a single shred of proper evidence is wrong.

I was also very dissapointed to read one of our decent young eventers responses to it too - wholly gone down in my estimation sadly :(
 
He has just posted on FB not trying to cash in, genuinely concerned for rider safety bla bla. But he has no idea what people are feeding their horses! Astounding!
 
merlinsquest said:
He has just posted on FB not trying to cash in, genuinely concerned for rider safety bla bla. But he has no idea what people are feeding their horses! Astounding!
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He is totally missing the point! If he had written an article on the lines of 'Are magnesium supplements safe for event horses' without mentioning the rider deaths, then it may have caused some people to question his research, reasoning etc., but wouldn't have caused this level of outrage. But to lead his article by highlighting the recent deaths, giving the impression that magnesium is to blame for those specific accidents (although he gives no evidence that the horses were given magnesium at all) must be deeply upsetting for the families of those concerned.
 
teapot said:
I know nothing about the science behind, so has anyone who understands this stuff read the research paper at the bottom of this link? http://equifeast-shop.com/are-high-magnesium-diets-safe-for-horses/

If that bad science too? Genuine question here :smile3:
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Have only skimmed but in short As Ester said it's certainly not good science! Study group is only of 3 ponies and they admit to having mucked up the dosing in one of them, I think further reading would reveal further flaws too...
 
So, in the paper the ponies were kept in Metabolism crates , so unable to move yes? So of course it would build up would it not as they are not free to move and thus metabolise the magnesium.
My understanding (and it may be flawed!) is that magnesium can be depleted through stress and activity. And if a defecit is reached then it can lead to a flighty stressy animal?
 
Equifeast's adverts have always been full of holes and based on some very poor science. Unfortunately it works for some people. Always surprises me how many people take feed manufacturer advice as gospel and never think to question it.
 
I saw this on Facebook this morning as well, read the first paragraph and exited swiftly. What a load of bull, and to use the recent deaths as proof is unbelievable.

I'm surprised he hasn't blamed brushing boots for the riders deaths. After all, if a horse has boots on then obviously there is a heavier weight so can't pick their legs up as well. And probably has a side effect of dulling their reaction in front as they can't feel anything hitting front of leg due to the boots.
 
almostthere said:
Good to see the Event Riders Association of Great Britain have formally requested a retraction and will be complaining to Trading Standards and Advertising Standards.
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This is good to hear. I thought this was completely an insensitive advert using the tragic deaths of these young people in a disgusting way by Equifest and I said so when it appeared on my FB newsfeed!
 
Elsbells said:
Surprised that Lucinda Green endorsed it too!?
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But did she really? I think he says that Lucinda Green 'asked' him to write it. Could be that he had been ear bashing LG with his theories, and she just said 'you should write an article about it'!
 
Just to clarify, the NRC 2007 edition recommends 7.5 g (grams) per day for a 500kg horse out of work. The daily amounts for light, moderate and heavy work are 9.5, 11.5 and 15.0 g per day. However the ability to absorb magnesium does vary between horses so these are average recommended amounts and could result in slight over-supplementation for some horses and under-supplementation for others. The amount of calcium in the diet can also influence uptake :)
 
Those of you following this thread may be interested in the following:

MEDICAL USES OF MAGNESIUM!!!!!

Equine Medical Uses of Magnesium
(intravenous or oral)
-For correcting abnormal heart rhythm
-For correcting acid-base, electrolyte imbalance
-For correcting magnesium deficiency due to GI disease,endotoxemia and excessive sweating with or without low magnesium intake
-To draw water into the GI tract (osmotic catharsis)

Common Human Medical Uses of Magnesium
-eclampsia and preeclampsia
-arrhythmia
-severe asthma
-migraine

Possibly Also Effective in
-lowering the risk of metabolic syndrome
-improving glucose and insulin metabolism
-relieving symptoms of dysmenorrhea
-alleviating leg cramps in women who are pregnant
-constipation
-dyspepsia

NO MENTION OF MAGNESIUM AS A SEDATIVE?

Magnesium is used in human medicine along with anaesthetic agents BUT not on its own!
 
I now feed magnesium for my bf horse as instructed, and actually, given that my horse is practically horizontal in his attitude anyway, the one thing I DON'T want is a calmer! Although I do need to figure out the dose I give, as I've no idea how much the 1/3 teaspoon I give actually weighs....

Thanks for the feedback, I did repost on an aussie friends page who had linked to the article :)
 
stencilface said:
I now feed magnesium for my bf horse as instructed, and actually, given that my horse is practically horizontal in his attitude anyway, the one thing I DON'T want is a calmer! Although I do need to figure out the dose I give, as I've no idea how much the 1/3 teaspoon I give actually weighs....

Thanks for the feedback, I did repost on an aussie friends page who had linked to the article :)
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A teaspoon is around 5ml. If the density was 1 then that means 0.33*5ml = around 1.65g :)
 
The only experience I have of deliberately supplementing a horse with extra magnesium (one of the commercial mag paste oral syringes) as a bit of an experiment with a reasonably tense/reactive dressage horse resulted in an undesirable exacerbation of the behaviour (read bouncing off the walls in an incoherent manner). N=1 and who knows what other coincidental thing might have triggered it, but I wasn't rushing back to try the calmer syringe again !!

I find the entire calmer debate quite fascinating to be honest.
 
stencilface said:
I now feed magnesium for my bf horse as instructed, and actually, given that my horse is practically horizontal in his attitude anyway, the one thing I DON'T want is a calmer! Although I do need to figure out the dose I give, as I've no idea how much the 1/3 teaspoon I give actually weighs....

Thanks for the feedback, I did repost on an aussie friends page who had linked to the article :)
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I think it only works as a calmer if lacking.
Honestly Frank gets fed much much more than that (equimins) I also wouldn't want a calming influence and seen nothing of the sort! :p He's the same spooky welsh know it all ***** he ever was :p
 
Veterinary science has a long way to go when compared to human science. The studies are usually only small and not controlled (ie. useless!!) and even if a result is not statistically significant (ie. nothing happened) the authors still trying to conclude that a product/treatment is doing something good, even the unbiased ones!
I'm currently doing an internship at a veterinary science(ish) company and can't wait to get back to human science because at least then you know the science is sound.
 
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