Dear Dr. Getty,

I have my 4 yr old Quarter Horse gelding on Quiessence and couldn't be more pleased. It has been only 14 days and his wood chewing and cribbing have diminished by more than 90%! He seems more relaxed and happy. I had tried everything; feed changes, Quitt, Chewstop; and nothing had worked. I also put his pasturemate, my 6 yr old Paint on Quiessence. They are both on the plump side (ok, overweight)and have orchard grass hay free choice, white salt block and pasture (with run in)24/7. Right now, there is nothing to eat in the approx. 4 acre pasture. They do not receive grain. We pick up the manure in the pasture almost daily and they are on a good deworming program. My question - since being on Q, there has been a change in the manure. Both horses' piles are half the size, they manure more frequently and sometimes the pile is a lot smaller, 3 or 4 balls. But no more "full size" piles. They are each receiving 2 scoops once per day. What do you think? Is this typical? Does the dose need to be adjusted? I am a bit worried. Thank you!

Where are you from? Powhatan, Virginia

How did you locate this forum? Internet search

Hi Wendy,

I am so pleased to hear how well your horses are responding to Quiessence. You're doing fine -- the change in manure is very normal when magnesium is added to the diet. Magnesium will often cause loose and more frequent stools. This will change as your horses become more accustomed to it. One thing you can do is give them one scoop, twice a day, rather than both scoops at the same time, if this is feasible for you.

Once they lose the weight that they need, you can reduce the amount to one scoop per day. And, as long as one scoop is correcting the wood chewing problem, you can stay on this maintenance dosage. But, for now, two scoops is best since they have some "plumpness" to lose.

Thanks for the update!

All the best,

Dr. Getty