Calmers, do they work?

[Toby_Zaphod]

Do you use a calmer on your horse & does it work?
Have you used a calmer & abandoned it because it did nothing for your horse? Just interested on your experiences?

 

[bkeeble]

Sister has 17yo JA pony that was really nervy/anxious when we got him. Step-Mum put him on calmer (not sure which one sorry) looks a bit like pot-pouri! and he has gained weight as he is not so stressy and has really chilled out. Would not go near strangers before and run to back of stable whereas now he is first to look out over door to see anybody walking down yard. Mind you not slowed him down at all but defintely taken nervous edge away.

 

[Accy]

I used a magnesium based calmer on a previous horse and it did help, i would use one again should i need to

 

[chestnut cob]

Yes and no. I've tried several in the past with mixed results (thankfully my horse no longer needs them).

NAF Temprelax (sp?) is rubbish. I could have given the whole bottle and seen no difference.

Equine America stuff is excellent but v strong. Mine only needed a third of the recommended dose and it made him sleepy.

Topspec calmer is fab. Sorted my horse out and he managed to see through his madness. He was so nervy and stressy it more or less stopped him having heart failure. Was on that for about 3 months, gradually reduced the amount he was on (took about 3 weeks to see a difference from the start of the course) and he hasn't had it since. Great stuff

Have known other horses given the stuff herbal Feedmark do but never seen a difference.

 

[Nic]

NAF 5* Magic calm is fantastic.

 

[sillygillyhorse]

I use Nupafeed for one of mine and have to say yes it does work, think it took slightly longer than the loading period to have effect.

 

[piaffe]

I have been using on topspec calmer on my very stessy 5 year old. Im not sure if its worked. He is a lot calmer but am not sure wether its down to the calmer or continuation of his training.

 

[cazcrazyjonty]

i used Top spec carlmer last yr when jonty was in work and it was fantastic......................

Have also tryed magic thats also good............ but it was on a different horse

 

[_daisy_]

i tried a few off the shelf but no luck on working with my 4yo mare. Decided to try one from the vet - works wonders - Equiliser.

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

I used Naf Magic & it did nothing for my boy at all.

I've found that more schooling has done alot to calm him. It's taken a long time but it seems to have worked. Before he was ready to compete I also took him to shows just for him to take in the atmosphere. This all seems to have taken most of the stress away.....& it was cheaper than the calmer.

I may be wrong but I think alot of the time we all look for a quick fix & think that there's a potion out there that will sort out our horse's problem when really more patience by us is probably needed.

I don't decry calmers, from your posts they work for some horses but with mine it didn't & something else did.

Thanks for all your posts, it was interesting.

 

[star]

my horse is on Tranquil, packed full of valerian at the moment. he's on box rest so no worries about it being a banned substance. i do think it's calmed him down a bit - he's certainly not going nuts on his in-0hand walking.

 

[Tufty]

I have tried "so calm" and it was a quick fix that was detrimental to the horse it made him unable to jump so I think it is better to work out the problem and try and fix it

 

[Andy66]

Calmers do work for most horses. We have used NAF Magic and it has been very good. Also had good reports about So-Kalm. The active ingredient is magnesium so shop around for magnesium based calmers.

Andy

 

[RLF]

Hi
I used tempralax, and it does work - very expensive for the amount you get if you use it regularly, but it had dramatic results, my horse was calm relaxed, and it did not affect her performance at a ODE she behaved beautifully in the dressage, then jumped as normal, wasnt dopey or slow.
costs about £17 for250ml. and you administer 50ml night before and 50ml in morning feed so doesnt last very long - only downside

 

[AmyMay]

Well I never thought that they did. But having seen first hand this summer a very hyper mare become an angel after being put on a Top Spec calmer - have to say that I am a convert.

I believe that it's a magnesium based calmer.