Calmers, do they really work? Long sorry.

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Louby

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Question at the bottom if you cant be bothered to read it all :D:D

Im not one for spending on things like this as Im sceptical that they work but I really have to try something or just throw the towel in :(:(
My horse is irrationally spooky, Ive posted before about him so wont bore you to death but hes been awful this week. Spring is in the air and I do think it makes a difference but yesterday he went sidewards/backwards down a ditch just because a man was on the hill with 2 dogs and he just wont calm down afterwards. Hes on hyper alert!. Tonight I went to stroke him over the stable door and he flew backwards, whacking his head and then looked at me with them insane 'Ive lost the plot' eyes. He spooked at someone walking past the stable and Im so fed up of him. I love him to bits but its no fun anymore. I wont take him to comps because of his irrational behavour, I dont enjoy hacking him out as I feel so limited on where we can go, what will he see etc. Im not scared of him so I dont think I transmit any fear but I need to try something.
So Im having his eyes checked when he has his jab, teeth done. Im going to work him harder to try and get his brain in gear and I wouldnt mind trying a calmer to try and calm his nerves. He isnt a typical joggy horse, hes quite lazy but over reacts to the most stupid 'normal' situations.

Said I wasnt going to go on so sorry but anyone had any success with calmers and which one?
 
i use naf magic and i really think it is ace, give him a double dose to start of, it works fab on my really crazy mare, shes really sharp, and makes her a lot calmer, defo try it!!!
 
I use global herbs supercalm. I wouldn't say it's a miracle cure, and it won't change a horses personality, but I do think it takes the edge off my horse.
However, friends have tried it and found it had no effect. I know someone who uses chaff with an added calmer (chamomile I think - ?mollichaff) and finds it helpful.
I've never really thought the oxygen ones could work, as a medical person I'm not aware of the calming powers of oxygen! But I have never tried them so could be wrong.
 
I have used many different calmers on my boy who also totally overreacts to next to nothing and then takes ages to calm down afterwards, my current successful one is Prokalm which is not magnesium based and doesn't need to be fed constantly, you can use it just as and when you think you will need it.
 
Different things work on different horses had good results with tryptophan calmers(Good as Gold,Carl Hester's one) with a couple of horses definitely took edge off them so they would listen to you.Didn't do anything for nutty showjumping pony tho .Naf one did nothing for any of them.
 
I've tried everything and anything for my mad beastie - he too has the wild look and can be totally irrational when wound up. I can recommend Nupafeed. It has worked wonders and even though they reccommend it is fed constantly I have found that I only need to load when he is under a lot of stress, i.e. competing or changing his turnout routine and use the syringes.
 
Awww thanks everyone. Ive tried Magic but it was a few years ago but off to have a look at the others. Anythings got to be worth a try.
Thanks again
 
I use Cool, Calm and Collected, by Equifeast, which is a magnesium based supplement and it does exactly what it says it will do. It doesn't dope or make the horse sleepy, it rather makes it less excitable about things that would excite him anyway. It's not a miracle cure, it takes a while to load, you do need to vary the dose depending on what is happening with the grass, but I find it makes a huge difference with my spooky chap.
 
Relax Me by Horse First is getting a great reputation. I spoke to the guys who make it recently as I'm going to start stocking it and they were really helpful. He said that he has only had 2 horses that it didn't work on and if you don't see the results when expected you can call him as you may need to play around with the loading dosage which he will hlep you with.

Good luck with your horse, I haven't read your previous posts but I have been there myself a long time ago with horse that is so spooky it becomes dangerous and it can be so disheartening. Keep yourself safe.
 
What sort of grazing is yours on? Mine gets as you describe if he's on loads of clover. If I had to graze him on that again, I would not get on. He's not safe on it!

I used the Wendal's calmer on my lad when I first had him. He was really nervy. Like you I didn't think those things would do anything, but after a particularly hairy hack a friend presented me with a tub of it, lol! I do believe it made a difference, as twice I ran out of it and both times he went all stupid again.

Agnus castus is also good I think xx
 
I was told by my vet that the magnesium based calmers will only work on horses with a magnesium deficiency. This will be why things such as NAF Magic work on some horses on not on others.

I think there could also be a slight placebo effect in that if we think the horse will be calmer we will be less stressed which can result in a calmer horse.

My sharp horse is much easier to ride when he lives out at night and is just in for a couple of hours in the day.
 
Thanks again, lots to go at now.
Theres minimal grass at the moment but we have had rain so I suppose it is possible theres been a slight splurge in it which would coincide with his stupid behavior. He is normally a spooky horse but this weeks been awful. Tonight I threw some haylage over his door and he shot to the back of the stable again, snorted then was normal again. Theres definately no way that hes being abused in any way, so its either him being daft or his eyes. I will definately get them checked as I need to know theres no cause for his behaviour.
 
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