Calmers

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chipsy

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What calmers would everyone recommend? My horse gets ridiculously over excited at events especially before xc to the point where within minutes of being in the warm up he's dripping in sweat and just don't know what to do with himself 🙈. Anyone have any recommendations for something to take the edge of him??
 
Think it's a case of trying them until you find one that suits.

I've tried quite a few daily ones with my horse and none of them have worked at all.

Have just bought some equi nutrive herbal stuff. She eats it. Wether it works or not I don't know
 
Depends if you want a long term one that needs a daily dose or just a short term help at the show.
I've used the NAF Magic syringe calmer on my gelding who can be a bit quirky and full of himself. He's fairly new to me and I had little knowledge of what he's like at venues away from home so I've used it a couple of times to take the edge off him so we had an enjoyable experience with no risks or drama.
First time I got a whole syringe down him but in hindsight it was too much as he came off the lorry a little too relaxed but we had a great experience and he was foot perfect. Second time I reduced the dose so which worked better as I had a calm and focussed horse with a bit more oomph.
I'll definitely be keeping some in stock in case I need some "help" in future as it works relatively quickly and as a one off.
 
How do you warm him up? I have found training to be by far the best and most cost effective calmer out there.
My pony loves XC, will happily go around like an energiser bunny on crack for hours when he knows it is XC day. I walk him around xc warm up for about 45 mins. That's all we do. I walk away from the warm up jumps, away from the competitors and away from the mayhem until there is about 5 min left. We do a little trot, a little canter and 3 jumps before hitting the start box.

With calmers you have to be careful... What works for one horse, might not work for another horse. The competition legal ones contain B vitamins (thiamin, niacin), Magnesium, Tryptophan and Vitamin E. If these are effective, then your horses excitable behaviour is probably the result of being deficient in one of those ingredients and for longer lasting results, look at your feed and make sure you have adequate levels of ingredients in your horses diet - that way you won't need to use a calmer before competitons. :)

Calmers that contain Chamomile, Valerian and Vervain (a lot of herbal calmers) should not be used in competition. Chamomile contains Bisoprolol which is banned in competiton, Valerian contains Valeric Acid which is banned in competition and Vervain is a relaxant and anti spasmodic which is also banned in competiton.
 
Training is the main thing i.e. getting him used to the competition environment etc, but some horses are just going to be nervous/excitable, like some people when it comes to public speaking etc. We all need a little help sometimes. Super so kalm is great and I think it comes in a syringe for just before a competition as well, or it is advised to double up on the dosage of the supplement for a few days before a competition/stressful experience. It's the only one I've found that contains magnesium (which has a very limited effect on my horse), L-tryptophan and calcium.
 
I use the NAF Magic powder, my gelding gets some in his breakfast (or if I have a show another time of day I'll mix it in a handful of feed, having given him less feed the last proper meal he had) it works a charm:)
 
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