Calmers - brewers yeast or magnesium or other?

[tobiano1984]

My ex-mental-showjumping pony has come on leaps and bounds and is off to his first Intro dressage next week. His schooling is going great, whereas previously he would buck/leap/prance/head in the air. Now he is in a lovely outline with consistent paces, however about 1 day a week he has a massive mood and you can tell the moment you get on him, doesn't want to go in an outline, does his prancing/head up/jumping invisible 5ft jumps.

We've ruled out pain issues as much as possible, and the fact that it only happens some days and not most others suggests it not a pain problem I think.

I thought about trying him on magnesium oxide and/or brewers yeast. I've used the yeast before with TB show horses to great effect, to calm them down on the day - and MagOx with an permanently-excited cob. However the pony in question isn't like these, he's very straightforward to hack I think he just gets wound up sometimes in the school. You can tell when he's in a good mood and you know he'll work well, but other days you can see on his face he's p***** off about something and throws all the toys out of the pram. When he's in a mood it's the pressure of schooling he hates, the moment you drop the reins and free walk he calms down straight away.

Any ideas on what to try?

 

[lelly]

I am using Valerian cordial by Lincoln at the minute with good results. I have a young horse who's had a very bad start in life and was extremely nervous. It has calmed her down and I can handle her safely now. She even allowed the farrier to trim her front feet on Monday. It's not too expensive and you only give a teaspoon a day.

 

[windand rain]

valarian isnt competition legal mag ox and brewers yeast are. I use both but for different reasons the mag ox for a potential lami pony and brewers yeast for digestive and fly problems both fairly palatable and mostly readily accepted the lami pony wont eat brewers yeast though without a lot of feed to disguise it which kinda defeats the object of the exercise

 

[lelly]

Ah yes, sorry I forgot about that as I don't compete now.

 

[L&M]

I find brewers yeast and 2 tbsp's salt help's mine keep on an even keel - mag seems to make him more hyper for some reason, and I know a few others on here have found the same.

I have tried both global herbs and magic instant and found they did nothing other than drain my bank balance, but again could have been because of the mag base.

The only problem with any supplements, except for valerian and the instant shots, is that they take a few days to get into the system, so you need to make a decision pronto. It took a good week for my lad to settle on brewers yeast and salt.

Hope you find something that helps!

 

[rowan666]

I use brewers yeast although it worked well on my mares, it has no effect on the geldings!?

magnesium is only going to work if the pony in question magnesium defficent.