Calmer Recommendation for Bored Horse

[Squeak]

With the loss of competing, arena hires and even jumping my eventer is getting very bored. She's getting more headstrong and exuberant to ride no matter how much work I put in to her.

She also has an annoying habit of running around the field and rodeoing when she gets bored, which wouldn't be so bad if she didn't cut and bang her legs doing it.

Usually she's really well behaved and easy but with no competing or jumping in sight I'm thinking of trying a calmer. What would everyone recommend for this type of situation?

ETA: I'm using long hacks to get some of the energy out of her and to give her variety, it does help but it's not the same as jumping and competing.

 

[Equi]

Has she been cut back on hard feed? Would she possibly free jump if you set it up along the arena (if you have one)

my friend swears by “magic cookies” but I don’t have any first hand experience (bar what I’ve seen it do to her horses)

 

[flying solo]

I used valerian root for my gelding, it didn’t dope him. Just made him more level headed and willing to listen. We tried a couple of things but this was the only thing I felt that made a difference without costing £50+ a month

 

[isobels07]

you can buy magnesium oxide at a good price, around £4 for 1kg. Most of it is absorbed through the gut walls and whats not is excreted. Its also almost impossible to overdose a horse on it as when they dont need it their stomachs dont absorb it.

 

[K95]

I used ProKalm on my unhandled horse for loading. I gave powder for a week and then gave the syringe on the day of loading. It made him lye down and be quite chill so it must have had some effect. But then having to walk him past other horses in the field wound him up and he galloped all the way down the channel. So I think (as I’ve heard other people suggest too) that it Was effective for general life and day to day but in terms of something new and possibly scary he just totally overrided it.

 

[My equine life]

is she out 24/7. being cooped up won't help. take off sugary feeds and go for a fibre and fat based feed is needs the weight gain. something like alfa a oil/ speed beet, lots of linseed and a bit supplement.

 

[Squeak]

Has she been cut back on hard feed? Would she possibly free jump if you set it up along the arena (if you have one)

my friend swears by “magic cookies” but I don’t have any first hand experience (bar what I’ve seen it do to her horses)

I've heard of the magic cookies but had forgotten about them, I'll look them up again, thank you

Unfortunately our school is boarded rather than having fencing so we'd have no hope of being able to keep her in it.

 

[Squeak]

I used valerian root for my gelding, it didn’t dope him. Just made him more level headed and willing to listen. We tried a couple of things but this was the only thing I felt that made a difference without costing £50+ a month

you can buy magnesium oxide at a good price, around £4 for 1kg. Most of it is absorbed through the gut walls and whats not is excreted. Its also almost impossible to overdose a horse on it as when they dont need it their stomachs dont absorb it.

Thanks both, I'll see if I can find one with both magnesium and valerian in. There's so many to choose from it's a bit daunting but this will give me something to look out for

I used ProKalm on my unhandled horse for loading. I gave powder for a week and then gave the syringe on the day of loading. It made him lye down and be quite chill so it must have had some effect. But then having to walk him past other horses in the field wound him up and he galloped all the way down the channel. So I think (as I’ve heard other people suggest too) that it Was effective for general life and day to day but in terms of something new and possibly scary he just totally overrided it.

I might keep that one on my 'to try' list further down the line, it sounded good when I looked it up but is quite pricey!!

 

[Squeak]

is she out 24/7. being cooped up won't help. take off sugary feeds and go for a fibre and fat based feed is needs the weight gain. something like alfa a oil/ speed beet, lots of linseed and a bit supplement.

She's now out 24/7 but still likes to go for a hoon at least once a day That's pretty much the exact feed she's on, alfafla, balancer and fibre. She's usually really manageable on it but just can't cope with not going out and doing things.

I would just chuck her out in the field and leave her be but the injuries just escalate the longer she's left

 

[Tash88]

The magic cookies are good but v expensive. Magnesium calmers rarely work because not many horses are deficient in magnesium.

I think if you have turned out and reduced her feed, and is still not happy then go for valerian as you don't need to be competition legal. It's the only thing that has kept my mischevious horse reasonably quiet during his current 6-month turnout period after arthroscopy; in fact he is in a bespoke herbal mix of valerian, skullcap and chamomile which is expensive but works. When I couldn't get it for a couple of weeks over Christmas I used sedalin before turnout and he was much better on the valerian; it was as if he was a 'nicer person' on valerian and 'fizzy yet physically dopey' on the sedalin. I'm not saying that sedalin would be suitable for your situation at all, just want to show how effective valerian is!

 

[Shay]

Valerian does work - but you need to allow 30 days withdrawal before competeing. Obviously not a problem in the current climate! Also if you don't plan to compete this year you could also rough her off a bit so she isn't so fit. Obviously as others have said stop any hard feed.

 

[Squeak]

The magic cookies are good but v expensive. Magnesium calmers rarely work because not many horses are deficient in magnesium.

I think if you have turned out and reduced her feed, and is still not happy then go for valerian as you don't need to be competition legal. It's the only thing that has kept my mischevious horse reasonably quiet during his current 6-month turnout period after arthroscopy; in fact he is in a bespoke herbal mix of valerian, skullcap and chamomile which is expensive but works. When I couldn't get it for a couple of weeks over Christmas I used sedalin before turnout and he was much better on the valerian; it was as if he was a 'nicer person' on valerian and 'fizzy yet physically dopey' on the sedalin. I'm not saying that sedalin would be suitable for your situation at all, just want to show how effective valerian is!

Valerian does work - but you need to allow 30 days withdrawal before competeing. Obviously not a problem in the current climate! Also if you don't plan to compete this year you could also rough her off a bit so she isn't so fit. Obviously as others have said stop any hard feed.

Thank you both, I've just ordered a bottle of the Hilton Herbs Calm & Collected Liquid with Valerian, Chamomile and other herbs. I think you're probably right about magnesium not helping in this scenario because if she was deficient in it then she would have a 'problem' the whole time not just when she's bored.

I'll let you know how she gets on with it

Thanks again all for your help, hopefully we'll get through this isolation without the vet on speed dial!