Calmers again sorry!

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Seahorse

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I know this has been done to death already, but is there a calmer on the market that actually works?
Axel is incredibly highly strung and while he's not silly he gets very nervous, he's more or less scared of the whole world. Today out hacking he was scared of a rock, some grass and when a twig snapped in the woods he span round and almost dumped me!

If he was a person he would be on valium I'm sure! Is there a horsey equivalent?
 
Hiya, the only one i have found that works realy well is NAF Easy Going, its excellent! NAF Magic is cheaper and it kind of 'takes the edge off' but Easy Going is excellent!
 
I think the reason that some calmers are recommended by some, and then other ones are recommended by others... is that they all work on different horses in a different way.
It can get very expensive... but it really is a bit of trial and error.
Also... there's no substitute for good schooling ... and if your horse is spooky out hacking... a companion may help?
BTW... we use Magic too... it works a treat on our little 13.2 mounted games pony... but didn't help at all with our 14.2 SJ mare!!! ( In fact we never did find a clamer that helped her... it was all down to re-schooling!!)
 
Hi Seahorse - no the Easy Going is not magnesium based, i have known some magnesium based calmers to make horses worse!) Yes you can use Valerian if not competing affiliated, i think robinsons or ride away used to sell it.
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I use valerian cordial and it seems to work - it kind of takes the edge off the silliness.

My friend recommended Nupafeed, Oxyshot and Tempralax. She used them on her highly strung TB to good effect, but they are quite expensive.
 
Trial and error.

I have tried almost all of them on my anglo - the only one that did anything was the Global Herbs TB calmer and I still use it to take the edge off (otherwise he is terribly spooky in high winds etc). Now he at least can be reasoned with, but he is still as sharp as ever.
 
I've tried so kalm by american equine and NAF magic, and didnt really notice a big change in Henry. However since hes very spooky at the moment I think I'll start him on one of them again to see!
 
[ QUOTE ]
I think the reason that some calmers are recommended by some, and then other ones are recommended by others... is that they all work on different horses in a different way.
It can get very expensive... but it really is a bit of trial and error.
Also... there's no substitute for good schooling ... and if your horse is spooky out hacking... a companion may help?
BTW... we use Magic too... it works a treat on our little 13.2 mounted games pony... but didn't help at all with our 14.2 SJ mare!!! ( In fact we never did find a clamer that helped her... it was all down to re-schooling!!)

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I hack him out in company mainly, I put him in front and when he see's something he finds scarey he spins, the other horse goes in front and he will happily follow. If I'm out on my own he is mostly fine and know's that he has to get on with it.
Today he seemed to be on 'high alert' most of the time looking for things and generally being very jumpy. Other day's he's like an old plod and won't look at a thing. It's this unpredictable behaviour that is making me feel like I should give him something.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Trial and error.

I have tried almost all of them on my anglo - the only one that did anything was the Global Herbs TB calmer and I still use it to take the edge off (otherwise he is terribly spooky in high winds etc). Now he at least can be reasoned with, but he is still as sharp as ever.

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I have tried that one before but he was still the same. Unfortunately he's always been the same even as a baby. Probably nothing will help I'll just have to accept that's the way he is.
 
I was finding that my young horse was having an extreme (charge off bucking!) reaction to spooky things, and did a lot of research into possible solutions. I changed his feed to Winergy Equilibrium Low Starch, they claim that it improves behaviour, and I am really pleased with the results. He is much calmer and less anxious, and also looks really well on it. He's been on it about 3 months. It seems quite espensive (a sack is between £9 and £10 which lasts about a week) but it is a complete feed and you don't need to add anything else. He seems to love it.
 
My ex racehorse is exactly the same as yours (anxious and spooky), just finishing a pot of Global Herbs Thoroughbred Calmer but don't think its really helped, think i'll try Mag Calm next, if you find one that does the trick please let me know!
 
I've used blue chip karma to great effect. However....I tried everything on my old mare, nothing worked. I came to the conclusion that you start at a base level of equine-sanity and the calmer will only improve marginally on that, therefore if something is loony-tunes, no calmer in the world will turn it into a quiet hack. If on the other hand the horse is generally chilled and well mannered (like my horse now), the calmer may just take the edge off those opinionated moments, which avoids you spiralling into an argument with them.

Not sure that helps at all, but I hear loads of people on here saying calmers don;t work when it is apparent from what they are posting that a bucket load of ACP probably wouldn't work either!
 
I gave Blu tempralax when he went out to his first XC that took the edge off him and I know equimins tranquility is really good as I know a pony thats mad I know lives on it to make safe
 
I wouldn't feed him any feeds that contain cereals or sugars - so definitely no mixes! Wendals Herbs make Special Calmer this contains valerian and is aimed at Arabs (as well as all other breeds). I know quite a few people who have tried it with success, it is also one of the cheapest on the market
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I have also read about something called "cool, calm and collected" which is supposed to help - try googling it. I havent tried it myself, but I did speak to the people there and it was the next thing on my list after the GH TB calmer as I had tried everything else. I had tried simple systems but if anything that made him worse so in the end stuck to hi-fi lite, fibre nuts and speedibeet.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I have also read about something called "cool, calm and collected" which is supposed to help - try googling it. I havent tried it myself, but I did speak to the people there and it was the next thing on my list after the GH TB calmer as I had tried everything else. I had tried simple systems but if anything that made him worse so in the end stuck to hi-fi lite, fibre nuts and speedibeet.

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I did have him on that ages ago, but I dropped the whole tub on the floor and was so upset I couldn't bring myself to buy anymore! He did improve on that but when he came off it he was still really chilled out and has been up until recently. I might try him on it again, but it's a pain having to feed it 5 days out of 7 etc.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I wouldn't feed him any feeds that contain cereals or sugars - so definitely no mixes! Wendals Herbs make Special Calmer this contains valerian and is aimed at Arabs (as well as all other breeds). I know quite a few people who have tried it with success, it is also one of the cheapest on the market
cool.gif
.

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He is 1/2 Arab so that one might work!
 
[ QUOTE ]
I've used blue chip karma to great effect. However....I tried everything on my old mare, nothing worked. I came to the conclusion that you start at a base level of equine-sanity and the calmer will only improve marginally on that, therefore if something is loony-tunes, no calmer in the world will turn it into a quiet hack. If on the other hand the horse is generally chilled and well mannered (like my horse now), the calmer may just take the edge off those opinionated moments, which avoids you spiralling into an argument with them.

Not sure that helps at all, but I hear loads of people on here saying calmers don;t work when it is apparent from what they are posting that a bucket load of ACP probably wouldn't work either!

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He has been very chilled up until now, but yesterday was incredibly windy so I might give him the benefit of the doubt. Rode in the school today and he was perfect, forward and relaxed, no problems at all not even a hint of an argument!

I think the trouble is maybe I don't hack him out enough so when he does go it's very exciting
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Yeah, I tried the Wendalls herbs one as supposed to be good for arabs - didnt do anything for my anglo but agreed it was really cheap, I think about £14 so worth a try.
 
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