MAGNESIUM PROVEN TO WORK

The long-awaited proof that magnesium can potentially help calm horses has now been found. New research, conducted by the WALTHAM® Equine Studies Group and Australian collaborators, to be presented at the Equine Science Society (ESS) in Florida in May, has shown that magnesium can significantly slow reaction speed responses.**1

Evolutionarily the horse is a prey animal and as such is a creature of flight. Today when the flight reaction is felt to be excessive some owners opt to use calming supplements, usually containing magnesium. However, to date there has been no published evidence to show that magnesium can have a calmative effect in horses.

The addition of 10g of magnesium to a roughage (clover/ryegrass hay) diet, which already provided the recommended daily intake of magnesium, reduced the average reaction speed response in the horses by more than a third. Without the supplement the mean response time was 5.3 metres per second and with the supplement it slowed to 3.1 metres per second.

Clare Barfoot RNutr and the research and development manager at MARS Horsecare UK said: This research is particularly exciting for our T.E.N. Supplements brand. Although the benefits of magnesium have been well documented anecdotally, this study provides the first scientific evidence that magnesium aspartate, which is found in some behaviour supplements such as our own T.E.N. Positive Calm Behaviour Plus, may influence behaviour.”

 1 Jessica Dodd, Greg Doran, Patricia Harris, Glenys Noble (2015) Magnesium aspartate supplementation and reaction speed response in horses - to be presented at ESS, Florida in May 2015.