Calmers that work?

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Ahrena

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I've just had my horse scoped and we've found some grade 2 ulcers.

Due to the way I keep her and the fact she has been showing signs now and not previously, the trigger seems to be competing and related stress.

The vet has advised me to try a calmer amongst other things to help make it less stressful from a long term management point of view.

I've never really found Calmers to be particularily effective so was hoping people could recommend something?

Must be FEI approved :)
 
Does she have any tb in her? If so magnesium based can make them worse, found out by feeding one of mine when on prolonged box rest and she went a.bit hyper. She was half tb.
The one that worked for her was super solviatex calming formula and I've had a look and think its okay.

The other one is gobal herbs tb calmer or their supercalm if magnesium doesn't affect her.
 
Also how much fibre does she have access to when at shows?

A lady I know gives her dressage horse a bucket of grass from halleys horse feeds along with her haynets when at a show.
Lines the stomach with fibre so will help absorb any over production of stomach acid that splashs up into the top of the stomach.
 
I've used Bluechip Super Concentrated Calming Balancer and found it really helped my 4yo - didn't make him dopey just seemed to help him deal with things better.
 
Thanks, I don't think she is magnesium deficient as had bloods run a couple of months ago for suspected virus and they tested if she was lacking anything too as I had seen her eating mud and everything looked fine.

She always always has hay or haylage (depending on what Miss Fussy wants) available but doesn't tend to eat much, prefers to pick at grass so I'll try some bagged grass too and see if she'll eat that.

Thanks, will look into those calmers
 
The bottom line is that if it really did work then it would be banned - like valerian.

But that said changes to feed can assist and we use D&H Placid for our stressy eventer which is NOPS approved.
 
I have a TB and I can tell you that Global herbs TB calmer and Magic didn't work for him. I feel more confident about recommending Hack Up but again this didn't work consistently, so sorry not much help as like you I don't find calmer to be very effective and it's expensive and time consuming to keep buying different ones and trying them.
 
Ahrena said:
I've just had my horse scoped and we've found some grade 2 ulcers.

Due to the way I keep her and the fact she has been showing signs now and not previously, the trigger seems to be competing and related stress.

The vet has advised me to try a calmer amongst other things to help make it less stressful from a long term management point of view.

I've never really found Calmers to be particularily effective so was hoping people could recommend something?

Must be FEI approved :)
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I use Magic on my son's horse but she still spooky and we talked to our trainer who recommended Relax me Horse First so we are giving that a go.
 
turnbuckle said:
Valerian is cheap and easy if not comp legal. May work may not, won't cost much to try.
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It cannot be used when competing so is not going to be any help for the OP.

The slightly ulcery horse I had here was helped immensely by a change of diet to Calm and Condition, for it's tummy friendly formula rather than any conditioning benefits, he maintained a more level condition when he went onto it that he had previously and did seem more relaxed in general, I also gave him some alfafa pellets daily and took some ready soaked to events so he could have a little between phases, we made no other changes to diet or management, I think the key was having his tummy really settled at all times so no need to give a calmer, which may or may not work, on competition days.
 
thatsmygirl said:
What do u mean by "the way you keep her" can't you change her routine to make it mare horse friendly and less stressful
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She gets 8-10 hours turnout a day, ad lib forage, company and there's only a few adjustments I can make to her diet to make it more ulcer friendly. She's now out 24/7. She's had the same companion for 3 years.

I've had her 3 years and this year is the first year she's been competing regularly and the first time she's shown ulcer signs so it seems linked to competing.

Completely open to other suggestions of how I can make her more relaxed.

Vet also suggested taking a companion or putting a mirror in the lorry for competitions - she's a competition horse so we need to try and find a way to balance it.


Thank you so much everyone for all the suggestions. I suppose all I can do it start working my way through them and see if any have any effect.

How long does it generally take for these to have effect?
 
If you're needing something for just competing I can recommend confidence eq gel , chills my boy right out for the dentist, it wouldn't work as an everyday thing, but if you just need it when you compete it could work. It's a gel you put in their nose and it's got equine appeasing pheromone it in, so doesn't affect her stomach at all
 
Are you sure that the ulcers are not symptomatic of another underlying condition as they so often are? Especially if your management is ulcer friendly and natural. They were in my WB he had just 2 grade 2 ulcers one in the pyloric region and was soon afterward diagnosed with chronic sacro illiac dysfunction.
 
Agree with this, had a horse whose regime was ulcer friendly and he had terrible ulcers in the glandular part of the stomach, his stomach was found not to be emptying properly.
 
It's certainly something I'm bearing in mind.

I had her scoped due to some minor behaviour problems so if those don't go away once the ulcers have been dealt with then I'll investigate further.

The vet gave her a quick check over and couldn't see anything obvious but I know that's a possibility
 
Ahrena said:
I've just had my horse scoped and we've found some grade 2 ulcers.

Due to the way I keep her and the fact she has been showing signs now and not previously, the trigger seems to be competing and related stress.

The vet has advised me to try a calmer amongst other things to help make it less stressful from a long term management point of view.

I've never really found Calmers to be particularily effective so was hoping people could recommend something?

Must be FEI approved :)
Click to expand...

I wish people would get the notion out of their heads NO calmer is legal to use in FEI competition full stop.

Under the rules any substance that is used to effect a calming response is expressly banned detectable or not . It is the intent of calming the horse thats against the rules. You ask any supplement supplier to guarantee that you will not be violating the rules the best you will get back is well our product does not contain any prohibited substance however that is not the point.
Thats the Reason JP and Km were so slow coming forward with an explanation at Burghley as they had to admit to breaking the rules to get them off a more severe charge.
 
I really like the Top Spec calmer which is a daily addition to feed. My mare is like a different horse on it and I notice when she's not had it for a few days. Equibox do a good price and deliver it to your door.
 
I had very good results from Equifeast Cool, Calm & Collected on my mare. She can be a stress head, and that took the edge off her :)
 
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