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> From the Biography of James G. Penland, PhD which can be found at:
http://www.gfhnrc.ars.usda.gov/scientist/penland.html
Dr. Penland supervises the Mineral Element Nutrition, Neurophsychological
Function and Behavior Research Laboratory also known as the Psychology
Research Group. Dr. Penland's formal training is in experimental cognitive
psychology AND HE HAS STUDIED THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN NUTRITION AND
BEHAVIOR FOR MORE THAN 15 YEARS. Dr. Penland directs a comprehensive
research program to study the effects of mineral nutrition on a broad range
of human and animal neuropsychological function and behavior.
He performed a study that "Determined that marginal magnesium deprivation
(daily intakes < 120 mg for 6 weeks) of healthy postmenopausal women
results in a generalized increase in brain electrical activity consistent
with increased CNS irritability observed in individuals with clinical
hypomagnesmia. This was the first study to quantify brain hyperexcitability
subsequent to experimental magnesium deprivation."

For those of you that don't know, hypomagnesmia means low magnesmium level
in the blood, and yes, there is plenty of studies (of which the above
referenced snippet is just one; admittedly one done in humans) that suggest
that one of the symptoms of hypomagnesmia is hyperexcitability (i.e.
"spooky").

So, yes, it is possible that one of the reasons your horse is spooky is
that it has a magnesium deficiency, and if that is the case, then all the
training in the world isn't going to fix your magnesium dificiency problem
(although it may help make your horse less "spooky" by teaching it to deal
with its CNS irritability in a different way).

AND, if your horse is magnesium deficient, the fact that this might make it
a bit spooky is the least of your problems, since some other symptoms
include (but are not limited to) ataxia, disorientation, seizures and
death.  Additionally, there is even one study (actually done on horses)
which suggests that some of the neurological symptoms of hypomagnesmia are
very sub-clinical.  I am still waiting for the full paper to come to see
what they really found, but the abstract can be found here:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Ab
stract&list_uids=12061532&query_hl=2
And the "CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE:" from the abstract were:
"None of the horses had classical signs of hypocalcemia and hypomagnesemia.
In contrast, all horses had spontaneous activity in the measured muscles
indicative of nerve hyperirritability. Calcium and magnesium deficits
appear to have consequences, which may be subclinical, affecting functions
of the neuromuscular system. This is of interest for equestrian sports in
which hypocalcemia and hypomagnesemia are expected, such as during
endurance rides."

It might be as inappropriate to assume that your horse's "spookiness" is a
training problem (rather than a physiological problem) as it is to assume
that your horse's refusal to pick up the left lead canter is a training
problem and not because there is an underlying physical cause (often, that
is one of the first symptoms of lameness in the right hind, which would
otherwise be considered sub-clinical).

It is WELL DOCUMENTED that changes in diet have an effect of behaviour both
in humans and in horses (such that there is at least one place, the
Neurophsychological Function and Behavior Research Laboratory, devoted to
its study).  So dismiss all behaviour problems as training problems is
fatuous to say the least.  And just as a trainer might be able to get a
horse that has a pathology in its right hind to pick up the left canter
lead anyway (horses being the agreeable creatures that they are are
frequently willing to overcome their physical discomforts and preferences
to accommodate their human handlers), you might also be able to train the
spookiness out of your horse even if the underlying cause of its spookiness
is a magnesium deficiency.

But, to answer some of the original poster's questions:

> So....given the above, I'm wondering if additional magnesium
> would help....he already gets alfafa in the morning, which I
> believe has a high magnesium content, so it might be pointless
> to try.
Yes, magnesium MIGHT help make your horse less spooky (if your horse is
magnesium deficient, and, BTW, a blood test is not a reliable indicator of
this, although I have been doing some reading that suggests a urinalysis
might be).

But no, your belief that alfalfa hay has a high magnesium content is not
necessarily correct, as it is very much a function of where it is grown. 
Additionally, alfalfa IS high in calcium, which competes with magnesium for
uptake, so the alfalfa (and the calcium in it) MIGHT be the CAUSE of any
magnesium deficiency your horse has (if it has one).

kat
Orange County, Calif.

p.s.  My balance between solving behaviour problems with looking for
physiological explanations and addressing their underlying causes v.
assuming it is a training problem and solving it with schooling goes
something like this:

1. Look for any obvious physical problems before trying any schooling,
since physical problems can be masked by the shooling of stoic horses.

2. Try some mild schooling (no drilling allowed) to see if the horse's
behaviour problem comes from lack of understanding.

3. Work the horse a little bit more so any mild physical problems may
become more obvious, or consider some mild physical problems and have them
checked and ruled out.

4. Only after all physiological explanations have been pretty much ruled
out do I start in on a concentrated program of "shooling" the problem away.

or

4. If a physiological explanation is discovered, but cannot be
physiologically fixed either a) retire the horse or b) school around it.


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