Feeding Magnesium

Persephone

Persephone

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Those of you that feed Magnesium, could ou tell me why you decided to do so?

What are the pros and cons of feeding it, and would there be any benefits of feeding it to a 3 y/o

Thanks!
 
We feed ours magnesium as our grazing is deficient in it.

Feeding magnesium could well offer you benefits (better hoof growth, less spooky behaviour, better tolerance of spring grass, correct muscle relaxing response etc) if your grazing is deficient - which alot of UK grazing is. If you feed it for several months and your horse isn't actually deficient in magnesium then you will most likely see no change, your horse might become a little loose or (much less likely outcome) your horse may become more spooky if he is actually dificent in calcium (adding magnesium would reduce the available calcium further) which has similar symptoms to magnesium deficiency - in which case you can just stop!

If you decide to feed it (I would) then use magox as it is less grainy and more accepted by fussy types than cal mag. Pro hoof on ebay is a good, reasnobly priced source.
 
I have only just started feeding a calmer (magnesium) supplement to my new horse. He only arrived wednesday and by Thursday i had him standing up on hs back legs as he was getting quite excited/stressed about his new surroundings. He is still a baby at 4 1/2 yrs old. He also had to be stuck in his stable for a couple of days. so thought it best to help give him something to calm him down and help him take in his new surroundings without him either hurting himself or me! Him being stressed is only going to stress him out even more.

Since feeding it. He has started to relax a bit more and has chilled out a bit more (although the start of turn out probably heped with that!) He has only had it for the past 4 days so it will take a little while to get truely into his system but the calmer claimed that some of the ingredients started to take effect after a few hours, and i can say i did see a difference come the following morning from his first dose.

I will probably keep him on it until the tub is finished (supposedly a months supply) So hopefully he will be more settled by then and used to his routine and new home. If i do not feel that he is settled as well as he could be then i may continue it for another month, just play it by ear.

I think if your horse is prone to being a stress head and struggles to cope with some exciting things that can happen during each day then there would be a reason to feeding it.
 
A friend swears by the Carl Hester syringes as a calmer. Other than that, as already said, it may be useful if your grazing is deficient.
 
I feed a small amount of Feedmark steady up, which has magnesium and also pro and pre biotics, also tried a bit of magnesium oxide from ebay, but was worried I would irritate bowel with a pure chemical, so again kept it to a minimum.
We are in a magnesium deficient area. I can increase the Steady up if I feel he is getting anxious, or is kept in his box for more than a few days.
My horse is on a barefoot diet, in summer I feed Fast Fibre for his main mineral needs, in winter he gets more sugar beet [non molassed] so I feed more minerals including magnesium. I feel it is important to make sure they are getting a balanced mineral diet rather than adding one mineral on its own.
 
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I have to say, she is generally laid back, but when she blows! boy it's something to see :p

Am I right in thinking it helps them to metabolise sugars more efficiently too?
 
I've fed it to a lami prone shettie I had on loan for daughter. Our grazing is actually ok but his was very restricted due to previous severe attacks in earlier life. We used a magnesium lick on recommendations of farrier & knowledgeable feed merchant. May have had a calming effect on him too but was a chilled little thing anyway so hard to judge. Although I have seen it used purely as a calmer in others with good effect.
 
As far as I know there are no cons. I started feeding magnesium oxide because there were an increasing number of reports from people with barefoot horses that it stopped the horses becoming footie, especially in spring.

I now feed it because my research tells me that most spring grass is low in magnesium, which is why horses behave badly in spring and also why magnesium calmers work for those horses. Further, it has now been identified that in both humans and horses magnesium can be used to treat insulin resistance and type ii diabetes, exactly the issues that make barefoot horses footie on spring/summer grass.

For those feeing calmers, save yourself a ton of money. Buy magnesium oxide from eBay or buy calmag (25 kilos for about a tenner) from a farm supplies shop.
 
cptrayes said:
As far as I know there are no cons. I started feeding magnesium oxide because there were an increasing number of reports from people with barefoot horses that it stopped the horses becoming footie, especially in spring.

I now feed it because my research tells me that most spring grass is low in magnesium, which is why horses behave badly in spring and also why magnesium calmers work for those horses. Further, it has now been identified that in both humans and horses magnesium can be used to treat insulin resistance and type ii diabetes, exactly the issues that make barefoot horses footie on spring/summer grass.

For those feeing calmers, save yourself a ton of money. Buy magnesium oxide from eBay or buy calmag (25 kilos for about a tenner) from a farm supplies shop.
Click to expand...

That's great info, thanks! Any particular supplier on ebay? There seem to be a few!
 
Persephone - I'd go with Progressive Earth on ebay. The heavy mag ox is purer so u feed less.
As cptrayes said though - Cal mag from an agricultural suppliers is far cheaper, even though u feed double the amount. Get a little bag off ebay to check your horse will eat it - some find it too gritty & will only eat the pure stuff. Just introduce whatever u decide to feed gradually :)
 
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