Not sure how fertilizing would decrease magnesium content–anyone bothering to fertilize is going to soil test and add Mg is needed–and it’s most commonly added as high Mg limestone, so easily enough done while adjusting soil pH.
Plants don’t grow without magnesium–it’s part of chlorophyll, as well as being necessary for biosynthesis of ATP.
It’s pretty common to use nitrogen fertilizers yearly or twice yearly without testing to boost foliage growth at a rate of 50lbs per acre. N, P and K are the largest supplemented. Not too many people consider magnesium. I don’t think it was even listed on the soil tests I had, and since ph was spot on I didn’t lime either.
One of my bodyworkers suggested putting one of my horses on a magnesium supplement. Within about a week he started getting hiccups (or, I suppose, “thumps”). Pulled him off of the magnesium and within about 24 hours it went away. Tried it again and had the same result. So that horse no longer gets any magnesium supplementation. I have read that thumps can be brought about by an electrolyte imbalance, so presumably just adding magnesium can bring about that imbalance in a horse that is (again presumably) not mag deficient.
YMMV, but my lesson out of that was the big reminder that “even water has side effects” 
With that being said, I used to order a custom blend of Glanzen supplement that had 10mg-per-serving Magnesium, and then also additional Selenium and Vit E. I think the Mg was a smaller dosage than the MagRestore supplement. Seems like all of my horses did really well on that supplement.
I purchase Mag-Ox 58% from my local Southern States, in 50 lb bags, with a picture of a cow on the bag. :eek: Read the ingredients: it is exactly the same as the smaller buckets available for horses. Cost is about 5% of the horse version.
How effective is magnesium for calming down spooky horses? would they eat it with nothing else mixed with it? Just curious have two fatties that don’t need any extra calories. They get ADM growstrong & hay wondering if adding more mag to diet would help them.
[QUOTE=grayarab;8936328]
How effective is magnesium for calming down spooky horses? would they eat it with nothing else mixed with it? Just curious have two fatties that don’t need any extra calories. They get ADM growstrong & hay wondering if adding more mag to diet would help them.[/QUOTE]
It only works if they have a deficiency. So… it depends. Some of the magnesium supplements are pelleted and palatable alone.
[QUOTE=grayarab;8936328]
How effective is magnesium for calming down spooky horses? would they eat it with nothing else mixed with it? Just curious have two fatties that don’t need any extra calories. They get ADM growstrong & hay wondering if adding more mag to diet would help them.[/QUOTE]
Mine would definitely eat the SmartCalm Ultra by itself. IME, it can help with spooking, but as others have said, it only works if they are deficient - my young horse was twitchy, easily startled by things that really shouldn’t have startled her that much, and often tight in her back. Magnesium significantly improved all three things. However, it didn’t prevent genuine spooks when there is something significantly changed in her usual environment or a grouse jumps out of the grass.
Sorry to revive an old thread, but wondering how those who started their horses on Magnesium supplements (seemed a handful of you, reading back) are faring?
What did you choose and how is your horse doing?
Well, I had her on Quiessence for a few months and didn’t notice a difference…but to be fair, we’ve recently dug into the issues she was having further and turns out she has pretty bad arthritis all throughout her neck, back, and hocks 
Soooooo that may be why the magnesium supplement didn’t really make a difference for her.
Sorry to hear about the arthritis, and thanks for the update. I’ve wondered whether horses couldn’t get arthritis in neck, shoulders, back, same as humans. (have only seen it mentioned with regard to legs).
[QUOTE=CenteredRiding;9022224]
Sorry to hear about the arthritis, and thanks for the update. I’ve wondered whether horses couldn’t get arthritis in neck, shoulders, back, same as humans. (have only seen it mentioned with regard to legs).[/QUOTE]
Thanks…and yeah apparently they can we took radiographs and found it all throughout her neck, back, and hocks. And it’s probably elsewhere too but those are just the spots we x rayed.
I really love smart calm ultra.
Horses get arthritis anywhere there is cartilage and a joint- neck vertebrae, etc. If they have it one place they probably (??) have it many places.
I’m using MagRestore, both on my nut cases and on my IR horses. It calms the savages for the trimmer, and, although I don’t know whether it’s effective on the IR horses or not*, I haven’t had any laminitis while it’s been in use.
The IR horses have controlled diets, grazing muzzles, etc,
Does anyone here use magnesium topically? A friend just started using a powder orally and now is also using a magnesium oil that she rubs into the muscles. The seller of the product advised her to do this. I’ve never heard of such a thing. I’m also an RN and have never heard of this being used for people either. Has anyone tried this?
Magnesium oil for people has a large following of ardent supporters.
I can’t even imagine how that’s effective on horses, though, with their haircoat.
[QUOTE=Shenandoah;9042129]
Does anyone here use magnesium topically? [/QUOTE]
I use epsom salts when I take a bath.
I couldn’t find any really compelling evidence that they dissolve through the skin, although plenty of people claim they do.
Mostly, I find they feel nice and tingly when they are dissolving and I like the scent of the ones I use. Beyond that, I don’t find I feel any better when I use them vs. when I take a regular bath.
On horses, I suspect the massage has more effect than any trace salts that might or might not be absorbed through the skin.
