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I recently heard of a farmer's wife who saves a small fortune by feeding straight magnesium in small quantities rather than the stuff marketed for horses and their owners, who feed manufacturers seem to think have unlimited cash!

She gets it from countrywide stores in a large bag, apparently its fed to cattle, I gather she's a pretty knowledgable lady but does anyone else have any thoughts/experience?
 
I wonder if it's CalMag she feeds? You can give this to the neds, and many do, especially those with lami prone ponies, although obviously it can be fed for it's calming properties too.

You can also feed Magnesium Oxide which is finer than CalMag(which is quite gritty) and is fed in smaller quantities.

Don't know if that's any use to you?

Bethxx
 
Hi, I buy magnesium from countrywide, Or should I say bought, I'm still on the first bag
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. They sell cal mag in 25kg bags, much cheeper than the magox I was buying before, 25kgs would have cost a bloomin fortune (£200 or more?)
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The cal mag cost the total of £10 quid or there-abouts... I was recomended it by our farrier to help strengthen my two mares feet. Has also chilled the nutty mares temperament quite considerably.
Cal mag is 52% magnesium so you have to feed double what you would feed of mag ox. Another thing to consider is the courseness of it, some horses/ponies stomachs get irritated by it, first sign of that is squidgy droppings in which case mag ox would be a better option.

Its usuall use is for sheep and cattle to prevent grass staggers I think...
Hope this has been of some help.
EC
 
I have not heard of people doing this before.
Thoughts: Magnesium absorption may be helped by mixing it with other things? Hence why calmers may have more than 1 ingredient?
I can see how it makes sense to feed magnesium this way but I would be worried that I was getting the dosage right. I wonder if it can be toxic in the wrong quantities....
 
Its not recomended to be fed over 60g pure magnesium, a supplementry rate is 30g, so a safe distance away. I was told that by the farrier, I don't know whether he varies it for smaller ponies, my two are both horses. The first sign of mag overdose is loose droppings I believe but I could be wrong.
With calmers I think they try to find more than one way of calming the horse, magnesium will only work if the horse was previously defficent in it?
I don't think magnesium absorbtion is a problem, I was more worried about the other things that are in cal mag itself and at what level theyre fed at. I believe cal mag only contains calcium and magnesium. Would be intrested to find out more info on the feeding levels of calcium. But I'd say that so far we've not had any adverse affects from the cal mag. Only positives, one mare who's feet were awful when we got her is developing a tighter white line and the other is much calmer in her behaviour (whizzy tb) and her feet have gained some concavity.
I checked all my other feeds before putting them on cal mag, as there are tiny levels of mg in horse feeds.
Apparently most pastures in the UK are defficent of magnesium, hence the big surge in supplementation at the moment.
EC
 
I feed CalMag. You'll find the sack marked Calcined Magnesite. It's the same active ingredient in NAF Magic. The difference in price though is mega.
 
I used to give calmers to a Gelding I had. They are really expensive! I read somewhere to try Epsom salts which are Magnesium sulfate. You can buy a 25KG sack on ebay for really cheap (good to put in your bath as well!). They worked better than the calmers. I fed a small measure a day (about 40g I think).
 
I always suggest Magnesium Sulphate(epsom salts)- but usually people ignore my posts- but our eventers get it and it does the trick (takes the edge off) and its cheap! Personally I wouldn't touch other calmers, or syringe calmers either.
 
Thanks everyone a few of us are thinking of buying a large bag and splitting it between us I would imagine 30g is about 2 tablespoons I probably wouldnt use more than this. Willow has below average feet, is susceptible to laminitis and whilst he is pretty laid back gets tense at competitions.

With calmag how big are the containers/bags and what would the dosage be for a 480kg horse?

He's quite a fussy feeder but knows what he likes if you know what i mean, is it palatable?
 
We feed magnesium tablets from the chemists or sainsburys!! we just give between 3-5 depending on size of horse and generally just when needed eg the night before a show or if needed regularly we give 1-2 a day. Have never had any problems. We had a really nervous horse literally scared of his own shadow(bless!) and he had a few a day for about a month and is now off them as he has calmed down and is practically sane, although that shadow still jumps out at him occasionally!!!
 
[ QUOTE ]
With calmag how big are the containers/bags and what would the dosage be for a 480kg horse?

He's quite a fussy feeder but knows what he likes if you know what i mean, is it palatable?

[/ QUOTE ]

The bags are about half the size of a feed sack but weigh a ton - it's like buying a bag of sand or cement!!!

I feed about a dessert-spoon twice a day. A sack will last forever so splitting it is a good idea - you can "decant" into an old supplement tub.

As others have said, it's gritty. If your horse has a sensitive tummy you may need magnesium oxide. I think there's someone on the Enlightened Equitation Barefoot site that sells it, otherwise I don't know a retail outlet. Calmag is available at good animal feed stores.
 
Re tablets from the chemist I take it you mean the supplements counter? This is what I really could do with as dont really want to use it all the time. Does this work for you when given just before shows/parties?
 
I'm interested in trying epsom salts or Mag Ox , which one is best or both about the same, how much would you give to a HW cob 15.2 approx 600kg.

Best places to get it from. Looked on Ebay but not sure which one looks best.

Need it for calming and I see it could help with feet.

Any advice, gratefully received.
 
I sent a query into either Spillers or Dodson & Horell a long time ago about this as the price of equine calmers was ridiculous. They said that the farm magnesium, as fed to cattle, would be fine....& as alot of you have said it is far cheaper (doesn't have 'equine' on the label you see)
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Thats very interesting. D and H came to a talk for our horsewatch a few years ago and said their sure grow was virtually identical to blue chip/equilibra etc but £8 a bag at that time. A friend who is really into looking at the ingredients did a comparison and found it to be true. It's still 1/3 of the price of its competitors but beacuse it's not aimed at thet niche in the market they dont charge the inflated prices!!
 
[ QUOTE ]
Thats very interesting. D and H came to a talk for our horsewatch a few years ago and said their sure grow was virtually identical to blue chip/equilibra etc but £8 a bag at that time. A friend who is really into looking at the ingredients did a comparison and found it to be true. It's still 1/3 of the price of its competitors but beacuse it's not aimed at thet niche in the market they dont charge the inflated prices!!

[/ QUOTE ]

I use Suregrow as a balancer and SWUO looked really well on it...am using it for my little newfie too....I think it cost about £9.25 for a 20kg sack...way cheaper than BC or Topspec etc!
 
Ive mended my preferences - I dont know why the button was switched to off - I must have been having a play one day and accidently pressed the wrong bit - story of my life
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Would be really grateful if you would have another go.

Thanks

Sparky
 
I was under the impression that magnesium had to be chelated to be absorbed...

has anyone with any kind of nutritional degree got any primary references as to the absorption of these things from the equine gut? (bearing in mind that cattle are ruminants and you can put a lump of neat magnesium in the rumen and it'll be absorbed in due course. - won't work at all with horses)

just curious

E
 
Eceni, that is my understanding also, especially as only 50% of Magnesium fed is absorbed.

When I was studying Equine Science we were told to beware of feeding Epsom salts on a regular basis. It draws water from the gut, hence producing a laxative effect. It can deydrate your horse and long term lead to mineral imbalances.
 
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