[RC] Magnesium question - second try - Lani M Olson
Hi! I'm going to try asking one more time in case my question got
overlooked, as I'm really trying to do what's best for these horses. Lots of
magnesium info in the archives, but can't find the answer to this.
Last year my horses tested deficient in magnesium. I am in a high selenium
area of the country - they tested in the normal range there. The horses were put
on a vitamin/mineral supplement of my vet's recommendation. Some time later the
horses were eating (not cribbing) an old board fence and eating dirt. I put out
a magnesium block (they also have a white salt block and red mineral block
available) which they ate a lot of, and the fence- and dirt-eating have at this
point discontinued. At this point neither horse is being worked much and one has
just been bred. My question is would it be better to supplement their feed with
measured amounts of magnesium oxide or continue free access to a mag block? Can
they overeat on the magnesium? We've been in drought for about five years which
I presume is affecting the minerals in our area. They are on 20 acres of native
grass 24/7 (western South Dakota).
