Had a great ride on Cerise today and I credit this to increasing the level of magnesium in her diet. Who would have thought that feeding a horse extra magnesium would make such a difference but for the past several months Cerise has been tense and tight when I worked her. I actually contacted my animal communicator friend, Leta, to see if Cerise was unhappy in her work.

Cerise was not unhappy in her work but said her stomach hurt and she did not feel good overall. This was very frustrating considering that she was out on grass 24/7 and looked wonderful. I had been suspecting stomach issues because of her overall attitude and chronic midback tightness.

I was completely at a loss until on of our HHH forum members posted an amazing story about her mare. This mare had a problem for many years similar to Cerise but much more severe. Her owner found a very easily assimilated form of magnesium and started her mare on it. Within days her behavior changed dramatically and has continued to improve. I immediately ordered the di-magnesium malate and started all my horses on it.

I had been giving Remi magnesium oxide for over a year and he had responded well to it as far as his hooves but he still had some body tightness. Tess, my 29 year old mule, has been acting more insecure and spooky than usual. I think all my horses were magnesium deficient due to the rain we have had over the summer. The grass has been growing fast and that lowers the magnesium levels in addition to increasing the sugar levels. Not a good combination.

While feeding a horse extra magnesium is not a panacea for all horse problems it can help with any of these conditions:

Inability to relax mentally or physically
Trouble with collection
Excitability that increases with work
Random spooking
Tying up
Painful heat cycles
Sensitive skin
Inability to respond to body work or adjustments don’t hold
Teeth grinding

Under normal conditions, most horses get enough magnesium from their feeds but there is no harm in feeding a horse 30 to 60 grams a day if deficiency is suspected. If no improvement is seen in 2 weeks then low magnesium is not the problem then discontinue it or try the di-magnesium malate. It sure seems to be helping Cerise. Madalyn

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