Calming cookies - unexpected reaction or something else?

Aimzz

Aimzz

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Heya,

Has anyone used calming cookies and had an unexpected reaction?

My mare has been a shouting, buzzy idiot for the past few days. The only thing I can think of that has changed, is I have been trying calming cookies.

She has never been shouty or clingy with other horses before, but I had to bring her home from an in-hand walk yesterday as she was being a total moron - screaming for the feral Dartmoors, her field mate, bouncing around, pulling, snorting, spooking, even struck out with her front legs when told to get a grip and walk on... Really not like her! She's been out of ridden work, so we've done lots of walking and long lining over the moor, and she's always been pretty chill. Today I turned her field mate out (it's literally a few steps from the stable, she can still see him and never usually bats and eyelid), today she was calling, pacing, digging..

Could it be the calming cookies?
 
What made you try the calming cookies in the first place? I’d suggest whatever was winding her up that made you try them, is still bothering her and the cookies aren’t working?
 
This is going to sound like a weird question but have her bowel movements changed at all since on the CC and does she seem more restless in the field?
 
I've only tried them on one of mine and found that 1 cookie made no difference to him but 2 made his behaviour worse. I don't know whether it was a reaction to an ingredient or if they made him feel 'doped' and he didn't like it but either way it defeated the purpose of why I was using them so I stopped and went onto a daily calmer with an extra instant calmer boost if necessary.
 
Few years ago I decided to change the feed I used for my horse from ordinary mix to cool mix…and it changed him from a slightly excitable horse, to a fire breathing monster….and that was after just one day…
 
Could it be the magnesium? I'm not sure of the levels as PE always seem a but vague on their ingredients lists but calming cookies are stated as having magnesium in them. Magnesium can be a 2-way street, if the horse is deficient in it then topping up levels can help with behaviour, but if they aren't deficient in the first place then feeding excessive magnesium can actually make them more spooky and anxious due to the way it impacts the nervous system. I've seen it quite a few times with people piling magnesium based calmers into spooky horses and just seeing their behaviour deteriorate more... so they up the calmer and the cycle continues etc.
 
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