Has anyone ever used borax to supplement your horse with boron? If so how much did you give? It is suppose to help horses more efficiently absorb magnesium and calcium and help with joint stiffness. I have a PSSM gelding and also a lamantic gelding.
I’ve seen this on the alt. medicine sites I’ve visited to help with certain endocrine- or gene-expression conditions. I’ve never heard of it given to horses. Posting so I can easily circle back to see what other answers you get…
I keep reading bourbon. Borax or bourbon? No contest.
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Where have you read that adding boron helps increase Mg absorption?
I have seen newer research that suggests supplementing both boron and magnesium can help with headshaking, but don’t recall anything with that which said the boron improved Mg absorption.
Mg absorption is reasonably documented in horses. What exactly are you trying to accomplish? From what I’ve read, a boron deficiency in horses is almost unheard of.
According to the head shaking study, I believe that it is simpler that the boron accentuates the Mag absorption. I am currently looking for a source of Boron Citrate Powder also!
You’re right, I didn’t remember that part of the study, but it does say that the horses treated with both boron and mg had bigger results than the other 2 groups (which also had increased results over their baseline, for what that’s worth)
https://thehorse.com/172201/managing-headshaking-in-horses-magnesium-boron-supplementation-might-help/
So OP, you might want to look into that study to see how much of those magnesium and boron supplements were given. Note that they were both the citrate form, which may impact results.
There is a book from 1989 called Natural Horse Care, written by Pat Coleby, an English woman living in Australia. She writes about needing boron as a trace mineral to aid both magnesium and calcium absorption, and that it was particularly important if dealing with any arthritis/bone issues. She said that the soil in many areas of Australia was deficient in boron. She recommended soil testing and supplementing with 2g-3g per week of borax (sodium borate) if needed. She also warned that feeding too much would cause damage to the liver.
Debating her ideas seemed to be a thing in Australia on the early horse forums. At that time there were certainly plenty of horse owners who fed borax without issue. These days I would be cautious about where the borax originated from, and would avoid cheap imported products.
I just got off the phone with UCKELE, I am going to see if they will custom produce a combination of magnesium citrate and boron citrate to be identical to the quantities used in the study. Platinum performance headshaking compound is $56 per month, I told them to beat that price.
I know there is another company I think called Horsetech? That will do individual compounded stuff… Does anyone know the name of that company? I tried to find it but I think I have the name wrong.
It is indeed HorseTech 
And yes, Rod is fantastic to work with :yes:
https://horsetech.com/
And great idea to see about a custom mix. PP is a pricey company in general.
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I’m on the same page as JB. HorseTech is a terrific company. It is truly a family-owned operation and they recently marked 20 years in business. Rod is terrific and can help you determine what will help your horse.
I sent him a detailed email about adding a joint supplement. He recommended a HylaSport formula with soft tissue support and sent a generous sample to try first. What I found interesting is that he added liquid silica. The bioavailability of silica is not very good as a dry ingredient so he recommends the liquid form. It comes in an easy measure bottle which makes it very easy to manage. That is the kind of service that I value.
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