I've recently read an article (Equis?) on stones and sand colic in horses. The article said that Magnesium correlated highly with presence of stones. Southern California, where I now live with my endurance horses, is known for high incidence of sand colic/stones. This was enough to make me think twice about a magnesium supplement. Comments? Carolyn Hock Riverside, California
----- Original Message ----- From: Karen Standefer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Susan Garlinghouse <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, April 22, 2002 7:57 PM Subject: Re: [RC] Electrolytes and Magnesium Intake > Dr. Elleanor Kellon is one of the Dr.s who feels that > all horses are lacking. It doesn't really seem to > matter about the area of the country. I think I've > read somewhere that the soil is now defficient because > of acid rain over the past century. > > Wasn't really speaking of evaluating magnesium in the > blood panels. I was curious if supplementing adequate > amounts (after determining through lab tests on the > food intake) would affect the blood panel for other > values. > > I don't feed any alfalfa or legumes. But, my pasture > does have quite a lot of clover which ups the calcium > (I believe......it's been a while). My horses get > 24/7 pasture (Pacific NW, so much of the year it's > pretty rich), Timothy hay, Vits/Mins and Flax Seed > (more calcium there, too). I came across the mag. > defficiency thoughts last year when my horses got very > cresty on their pasture. Dr. Kellon suggested making > sure the calcium/magnesium was balanced for my horse's > food intake. I did that and the crestiness went away. > The, I started reading more about calcium and have > started supplementing myself. I notice a big > difference in several areas of my life after trying to > balance my intake, also. My boyfriend, who is a > marathon runner, has also noticed a HUGE difference in > his performance as well as alleviating muscle cramps > that he use to experience, since upping his magnesium > to match his calcium (men have different requirements > than women). > > I do believe there is a pretty strong downside of > feeding too much magnesium. It does cause greater > calcium absorption and *can* cause the soft tissues > (blood vessels and organs) to calcify. Although, it > does take quite a lot to do that. > > Sorry for the sloppy paraphrasing below. I was in a > bit of a hurry :-) > > Karen > > > > > > --- Susan Garlinghouse <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > wrote: > > > I know most horses are deffecient in Magnesium > > (many, > > > severely). > > > > There are certainly some horses that would be, > > depending on the ration and > > area of the country, but why do you feel most are? > > And, just out of > > curiousity, what would you consider to be severely > > deficient? > > > > > > Since ATP bonds to magnesium and ATP is > > > what supplies energy to the muscles, I'm wondering > > if > > > supplementing magnesium on a daily basis would > > help, > > > in anyway, to improving blood panels on horses at > > > endurance rides. > > > > Well, blood is actually a fairly poor indicator of > > magnesium status. Hair > > analysis only works even halfway reliably for a very > > few heavy metals, and > > is also a poor indicator for magnesium. Tissue > > biopsy is pretty much the > > only *really* reliable method of evaluation and > > understandably, most > > endurance riders wouldn't be wild about someone > > poking a harpoon into their > > horse's liver or muscle during a ride. <g> So, it's > > really kinda hard to > > evaluate magnesium status other than by clinical > > signs---primarily > > neuromuscular signs that look alot like colic or > > tying up. And yes, those > > horses would certainly benefit from magnesium > > supplementation, assuming the > > colic/muscle problems really were caused by a > > magnesium deficiency. > > > > > > My suspiscion is that a horse with > > > better mag. levels to begin with would be in a > > much > > > better situation to remain balanced in > > electrolytes > > > than a horse starting out with a mag. deffeciency. > > > > That's pretty much true of any electrolyte, although > > there are variables > > between individuals (kidney, thyroid and parathyroid > > function, dietary > > variables, vitamin D supplementation, etc) that can > > affect magnesium > > absorption and excretion. And that would make it a > > little more difficult to > > compare two horses straight across the board. But > > certainly as a general > > rule of thumb---yup, the horse that starts the ride > > with better electrolyte > > status **and has that electrolyte status maintained > > throughout the ride** is > > going to be in better shape than a horse that > > doesn't and isn't. If that > > makes sense. :-) > > > > > > > I know, after doing the lab tests on my hay, > > pasture > > > and supplements, I have to supplement 1 tablespoon > > a > > > day of 58% magnesium oxide in order to maintaing a > > 2:1 > > > balance between Calcium and Magnesium for my > > horse. > > > That's a LOT. I don't remeber how many grams it > > > ended up being, but seems like I remember it was > > about > > > 17g. > > > > That is a lot. Since a mature horse at intense > > work's requirement is only > > about 13 grams total, why so much? How much is your > > horse's total daily > > intake 9just curious here)? Are you feeding > > alfalfa? Do your horses have > > specific muscle problems that have responded to > > additional magnesium? > > > > OTOH, there's no particular downside to feeding that > > much, except it tastes > > lousy (which is why it's usually mixed in with salt > > or sugar or grain or > > summat). Magnesium does increase calcium > > absorption, which is a useful > > thing. > > > > Susan G > > > > > > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Games - play chess, backgammon, pool and more > http://games.yahoo.com/ > > =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. > Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp > =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. 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