# Mare Magic in Geldings?!



## gssw5 (Jul 30, 2013)

Since mare magic is for mares to help with their cycle and is primarily raspberry leaf, not sure it would help a high strung gelding. I would find a supplement made for high strung horses that has Valerian root and magnesium in it. You can give him valerian root purchased from any drug store it is inexpensive, works in about an hour and lasts a good 4 or 5 hours. Start by giving 2 or 3 and see if you notice a difference and adjust, but never more then 5. Some horses it works great, others not so much. You also have to take into account his diet and his breed, some bloodlines within certain breeds are more high strung then others its there nature and you may just have to work with it. Make sure your not feeding a diet high in sugar and starch, his diet should be forage based. Also take into account his level of activity and management, is he out 24/7 and able to move around with access to forage, or is he stalled a lot of the day. Plus he is young, 4 years old is not very old he may grow out of it as he ages and matures.

I have also read about adding magnesium to their diet as it is supposed to have a calming effect, but you have to give it them every day, whereas valerian root you can give it an hour before you ride and don't have to use it everyday for it be effective. It will just take the edge off. I have posted about valerian root on here before and others have posted on other calming type supplements so you can do a search for more suggestions as well.


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## amgThoroughbreds (Aug 14, 2013)

Mare magic is pretty much just raspberry leaves. You can buy them cheaper in bulk from a natural herb store. A local rescue that takes in stallions uses it and have seen a change in behavior. Just note that a supplement alone will not cause a huge change in how high strung he is. His environment can play a key role.
What kind of feed is your gelding getting? That can be a contributing factor to his behavior


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## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

The only real research I've ever found on raspberry leaves was that it had some success in reducing pain in human childbirth and is said to have some effect on the uterus and female hormones so not sure it would work on gelding or a stallion and its not a sedative 
Valerian actually does work as a sedative so you need to be careful of how much you give
I'm not convinced that magnesium works as a sedative or if it helps ease ulcer problems that will cause a horse to be fractious and tense - because its usually sold as Magnesium Carbonate or Oxide which have an antacid quality.
I would be looking at reasons for the over reactive behavior as well as trying out various supplements


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## verona1016 (Jul 3, 2011)

Mare Magic is primarily thought of as a supplement for mares (duh... it's in the name ;-)) but if you look at the packaging they market it as "To help influence a quiet disposition in mares and geldings":










Definitely look into magnesium as well. I recently switched my horse's feed and noticed he got crabbier. Comparing the feed labels, he went from getting 11g magnesium in his old feed to just 2.7g in the new one, so I started him on a supplement of 6g daily (so 8.7g total daily now) and he's more like his old self.


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## CLaPorte432 (Jan 3, 2012)

Raspberry leaves are full of Mg. Mg have great effects in smooth muscle relaxation and helping to relieve pain.

Yes, Mare Magic can be used for geldings, and had been know to have great effects.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

So how much magnesium is in the recommended dose because I can't find anything in their specs that gives a breakdown and how does that compare in price to just buying a straight magnesium supplement if its just the magnesium that's having the calming effect?


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## Janskee (Nov 16, 2013)

A woman at my barn gave mare magic to her 4 year old OTTB with success at calming him down a bit, so I tried it on my gelding and it really didn't seem to make a difference. I use Vitacalm instead. I started giving it to him when I bought him and moved him to my barn, because he was showing some anxiety due to the move and I thought it might help. It did seem to make him calmer, but of course who knows, he probably would have calmed down on his own anyway.


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## QtrBel (May 31, 2012)

I've never seen a breakdown for the amt of magnesium in red raspberry leaf products. Most likely because there is no standardized level for loose product. RRL uptakes large amts of magnesium from the soil it is grown in. Amts in the soils will vary. It is something you can try but it may not have a consistent effect. You'd be better off with a magnesium supplement in my opinion.


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## verona1016 (Jul 3, 2011)

I never knew raspberry leaves were high in magnesium. It makes sense then that it would work on both mares and geldings.

I used to feed my horse Triple Crown 30% Supplement which contains 2.4% magnesium, or ~11g magnesium for the recommended 1 lb ration. I swapped to Nutrena Empower Balance (my horse seems to like it more, even though _I_ prefer TC30) and it's only 0.4% magnesium, or ~3g magnesium in a 1.5 lb ration. I ended up adding a magnesium supplement at 6g per day because I noticed some behavioral changes (he was uncharacteristically grumpy). He's back to his old self now. Supplementing at around 5-10g daily should be safe and worth trying (be sure to count up whatever he's getting in his feed already)


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## frlsgirl (Aug 6, 2013)

If you feed mare magic to your gelding, be sure to also buy him a pink saddle pad Sorry, couldn't resist.


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## womack29 (Oct 30, 2011)

I think it is worth a try. I use mare magic for my mare and have heard of people using it for geldings. I am a big believer in whatever works. Get a small bag and give it a try


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## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

If it the magnesium that's having the effect then it isn't worth a try because there's no data available that gives a consistent level of magnesium at any time - so one bag could have more than another
When you feed something for a specific mineral or vitamin you really need a guaranteed daily dose to have a real effect - and to be able to adjust that does if needed
As with most things magnesium does have a toxicity level in horses and can cause imbalances so IMO its important to know exactly how much they're getting


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## CLaPorte432 (Jan 3, 2012)

I don't know the specifics of what MM contains as they don't list percentages. But raspberry leaves have more then just Mg in them...more vitamins...and something else that is supposed to help "calm" their behavior.

I googled it last week but forgot it...
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## QtrBel (May 31, 2012)

Red raspberry is rich in iron and calcium, potassium, and vitamins B, C, and E in addition to the magnesium. There are no guaranteed levels though due to differences in soils and growing conditions. Both magnesium and B vits can have calming effects.


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## Nikkibella (Mar 10, 2012)

I used to use mare magic for my high strung gelding. Worked wonders , my grumpy old man horse was relaxed and calm. Only reason he's not on it anymore is because I'm pumping him full of other supplements so I decided to drop the mare magic. 

I do think that if you use it to just buy the raspberry leaves because they are much cheaper but I always remembered that I needed more when I was in the tack store so I kept buying MM
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## deserthorsewoman (Sep 13, 2011)

I use MM in my mare and one of the geldings, mare was an emotional mess and constantly in heat, gelding was convinced he was not a gelding. Now I can barely detect heat in the mare and gelding I'd just that,a gelding. So for that purpose MM definitely works.
I agree with checking his diet first, and also keeping in mind that your dealing with a highly sensitive horse, more sensitive than a purebred ( my personal experience). 

Magnesium is a possibility, after diet glitches are taken care of, since most soils are deficient, and so are the feedstuffs grown in it. Supplementing up to 10g daily is safe, overdose shows in loose poo.


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## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

It had no effect at all on either of my two overly flirty mares - which maybe does highlight the fact that the levels of mineral and vitamins in it are inconsistent.


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## serendipitygirll (Mar 10, 2014)

I actually put him on Calm & Cool by Seminole Feeds! Hopefully this will help. But thank you all


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## Palomine (Oct 30, 2010)

Giving magnesium without having CBC done to see if it is lacking, can be dangerous, it is best to have tests in hand to see if horse is lacking in something, so you have a baseline to work with.

And what is gelding getting in way of feed and hay? It could be the feed/hay is too hot for him and is making him like this too.


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