calmers?!......

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cwindle1

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What calmers have worked for you? Have tried several including 'calmer' 'magnitude' 'equinox' and a Valerian based product (I know its not competition legal!!!) and many more but nothing has worked. Looking for something to take the edge off and make him concentrate more. He is like a ticking time bomb at times no matter if he's in lots of intense, hard work or no work at all.

Nothing with magnesium in work as he doesn't have a magnesium deficiency. (have tried LOTS of magnesium products that haven't worked or even sent him loopy!)

My horse in a TB ex racer so could possibly have some ulcers but nothing serious. Someone has mentioned 'comfort gut' that may take the edge off or if he does have some small ulcers could make his tummy more comfortable also...? He has had all the checks so not in pain!

Any calmer recommendations and experience would be great :)
 
We are currently trialing cool, calm and collected, a calcium based calmer on a livery pony who is generally lazy but has his spooky moments which have become worse over the winter and he has scared his owner a few times, he has only been on it 2 weeks but I have noticed a change to his general demeanor he is usually very greedy, filthy in his box and can be a bit grumpy, ulcers have been considered but he is not insured and we wanted to try this first.
He has slowed down his eating, his box is less of a pit and he does seem a little more relaxed in himself, she took him out for a hack this afternoon and came back smiling so whether it is working or not it seems to be helping his owner, it is supposed to take 4 weeks to really know if it works but so far so good, magnesium made no difference and he is already on a low sugar/ starch ad lib hay diet with daily turnout so there was not much left to change.
 
I've been using Lexvet which has really calmed my WB ,making him so much easier to manage. Use it on my Section D too as she can be stressy. A friend also trailed it on her daughters BS Pony with good effect. None of these horses benefited from magnesium but Lexvet has been brilliant.
 
I tried every thing on the shelf for my ex racer and made no difference at all. When his addrenaline kicked in, no amount of powder in his feed would help. It was just his nature. Especially in the winter. Much easier in the summer with a belly full of grass and the sun on his back.
 
I have tried several calmers on my little man and none seemed to work. My vet suggested Regumate which he is now on and touch wood this seems to be working.
 
My mare has been on Hack up calmer for just over a week now - it does seem to be working for her. We've had 2 outings in the lorry to strange places since she's been on it in a much more civilised pre-Hack up!
 
I use top spec calmer and it works great on all of ours except the one that really needs it! Nothing works for him and I've actually found that valerian and mag ox make him more excitable :(
 
ossy said:
Regumate would be on my list to try also, but isn't competition legal for male horses.
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No calmer is competition legal. I wish people would realise this! All substances administered to have a calming effect are not allowed full stop in any affiliated competition. The fact it cannot be detected is imaterial the offence is in the intent.
 
Whilst some horses have sharper temperaments than others I have found over the years that the rest of their behaviour is related to what they eat. As a result all mine are on sugar free diets. They are also on hay not haylage. Steamed. One of mine has very upset stomach on haylage. I have come to the conclusion that acidosis of the gut is far more common than we have ever realised. Despite all my measures my big lad still suffered from the equine equivalent of leaky gut. He carried weight. Good coat, but always had a tendency towards a dirty bottom. I originally put him of Feedmark's Ulcer Calm as was, and this certainly rectified his dirty bottom. However I have recently put both him and my hot boy onto Hack up bespoke supplements. They both have stomach element, but my hot boy has the addition of their calming supplement in his mix. I have to say the difference in only a few days is marked. I rode him on a windy day this week which would normally have him on extrememly high alert, spooking at every rattle and bang. A settled and focused horse. Thrilled. His bed too is tidier. Will be interesting to see the difference when I next compete. Recommend giving their products a try.
 
The only one I've found that actually works is horse first relax me. It seems to be the powdered equivalent of a deep breath in that it has a calming, not sedating, effect. Fab stuff 😊
 
Thank you everyone for a few suggestions, will look into them and see what I can get :)

He isn't fed much as have cut all food back to see if that was the problem. He is on a handful of chaff and his joint supplement, cortaflex (which is great if anyone wants to try a joint supplement!) and as much hay as he wants, soaked. I can't feed any sugary diets, obviously, so not quite sure what is making him so hyper!
 
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