Have you used magnesium and calcium supplements to calm?

Has anyone used magnesium and calcium to calm their horse? We started giving Griffin a magnesium and calcium supplement and he has calmed down dramatically! He was super alert all the time and bolting and bucking and now he is calm. I can canter him easily and he reacts like a "normal" horse now!

Tags: calcium, calming supplements, horse care, horse health, magnesium, preventative care, supplements

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Permalink Reply by Jan Jollymour on May 20, 2010 at 8:07pm

Hi, Mary:

I have used pharmaceutical grade magnesium for years on hot horses, and it really helps. I'm very careful about supplementing with calcium though...

An equine nutritionist put me onto the magnesium thing about 12 years ago, and I've used it ever since, on hot horses and on horses prone to developing ulcers. Along with alfalfa/grass mix hay it does wonders!

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Permalink Reply by Geoffrey Pannell on May 21, 2010 at 7:42am

Hi Jan, where do you get pharmaceutical grade magnesium? From the chemist i'm guessing duh. Have used Epsom salts in the past, need to be careful with that though as it can give them the squirts.

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Permalink Reply by Jan Jollymour on May 21, 2010 at 10:12am

Hi, Geoff:

I can order it from the pharmacist, but usually I buy it on eBay. It costs about $60 US for a year's supply. It used to be hard to find the powdered stuff (don't use the feed grade magnesium the feed stores sell, the molecules are too big to be absorbed by the gut, and can produce diarrhea), so I used to use magnesium glucoheptonate, in gallon jugs, meant for human consumption. The horses loved its orange flavour!

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Permalink Reply by Mary H on May 28, 2010 at 11:39pm

What is the problem with calcium?

He is getting Allay from Adeptus. Others at the barn said it worked well to calm your horse. Griffin definitely needed calming.

It contains Magnesium carbonate, calcium carbonate, corn distiller's dried grains with solubles, yeast culture, licorice, and propionic as a preservative.

Ingredient Per Serving Per Pound
Crude Protein, minimum 10% 10%
Crude Fat, minimum 1% 1%
Crude Fiber, maximum 4.5% 4.5%
Calcium, minimum 5.3 g 9.3%
Calcium, maximum 6.2 g 11%
Phosphorus, minimum 0.2 g 0.35%
Sodium, minimum 0.01 g 0.02%
Sodium, maximum 0.04 g 0.07%
Magnesium, mnimum 2.8 g 5%

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Permalink Reply by Catherine Chamberlain on May 29, 2010 at 9:01am

I've just put the horses I ride on magnesium, they are both a little wild at shows, and this weekend they have been perfect so far! I definitely think it works. :)