Advice needed - Calmers

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Hope you can help. Please can you let me know what calmers you have used and your experience?

I am looking for a calmer to take the anxiety out of travelling and arriving at competitions. My young mare is a bit overwhelmed by it all and wants to see everything that's going on. Making it difficult to tack up and get on. Once at work she settles down nicely so wouldn't want anything to interfer with her performance. Just to take they edge off so she can relax and chill out like a seasoned professional ;-)

I have owned her for approx 5 months and she is quite green so I am sure this will improve the more we go out but wondered if this might help us in the short term.
 
I have used Blue Chip Karma liquid in the past with success, for what you describe I would start adding some to the feed the day before and carry on using until you are back from competing. It is legal and does not knock them out.

If you were looking for something to regularly feed I would recommend WinningEdge Gold, super stuff that can be altered for specific problems.
 
I've used the NAF Magic one before (a syringe) when my youngster had to travel from Hants to Cornwall... I have no "baseline" to say whether it worked or not, but she walked straight on and travelled well despite not having been in a big box before, so I'd say it's worth a try. I gave one the night before and one on the morning.

By the way, all youngsters are horrid at shows to start with, but the more you do the better she'll get ;0) If you aren't going far maybe stick the bridle on at home and travel her with the bit in (take the reins off and a headcollar over the top as normal). It takes the stress out of tacking up a wee bit!
 
I use Nupafeed on my youngster who is hyper and it does appear to work, I tried relax me by horse first and it didn't make any difference to her.
 
LJR said:
I have used Blue Chip Karma liquid in the past with success
Click to expand...

we use this on our current warmblood who is very sharp to exercise/hack and it just takes the edge off him on a day to day business.

we have also used nupafeed syringe magnesium calmers just before travelling on a TB horse we used to have that was very stressy about travelling - worked a treat
 
My warmblood mare is on Magnitude on a day to day basis - it works well on her and is better value than most daily calmers. She also has a Carl Hester 30ml calmer syringe before we travel and compete and they seem to work well too. She is still herself but she is a bit more chilled and generally easier to manage.
 
The main ingredient in day to day calmers tends to be magnesium oxide, which you can buy separately much cheaper (on ebay and various sites). From memory I think you can give up to 80g a day which is a much higher dose than the calmers have in them. It can make a big difference if the level of Mg in your feed is low.

No idea about the syringe type, have never tried those.

Can you go to clinics, RC schooling etc rather than comps to get her used to new places without the additional pressure of competing? It is really just a case of getting mileage on the clock. Also have you thought of working her before you go, and travelling with the saddle on already. (and bridle if there's nothing she can get caught on in the box). Makes life a lot easier if you can just get on and go, then give her plenty to do to stop her obsessing about being in a new place.
 
Thank you all for you help and advive. Lots of handy points to consider.

On a rainy day last week we went for a lesson and she let me tack up in the trailer (first attempt) without pinning me to the walls - hugh improvement!!!

It is comforting to hear she is not the only one that gets over excited at shows and will settle as she get into the swing of it.

Here's to an exciting year - bring on the warm weather!
 
sounds to me like its just practise to be honest the more she does it the better she gets. Can you travel her with Saddle on and so you are ready meanign when you get somewhere you put bridle on and away you go??
 
Yes will try travelling her in the bridle next time. Have travelled her in the saddle with rug over it to local venue but left her bridle off so she could eat her hay - Stupid really, she didn't eat any hay.

Then I'll just need to try and volute on mounted games style. Once on board she's ok because she can go off exploring.
 
Have a look at Equifeast, we have used their supplements for years on a variety of different horses with great success. Don't be put off by the price, it actually works out quite reasonable to use and Malcolm who runs it is very approachable, very knowledgeable and will tailor the supplements to suit your horse
 
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