Considering a calmer, help?

Rosepup

Rosepup

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Hi all, just wondering if anyone could give me their experiences with Naf magic calmer? I am considering using this on my 15.1 connemara as he gets very wound up at shows. We have been trying to do one day events and I have tried everything.. I've tried getting there extra early to ride him around before my class, lunging him, schooling him anywhere and everywhere but nothing has helped.
I've cut down feed, tried different feed, ridden him the day before. You name it I've probably given it a go.
He's great for his SJ and XC but we are losing massive marks for dressage. All the judges comments are "tense, tense, tense" one even wrote "if you could ever get him to calm down you could do a lovely test" LOL.

I am interested in other people's experiences with this calmer as I'm worried that he has a fair bit of jumping to do after his dressage so am unsure if I should start messing with calmer or just power on.

Thanks in advance.
 
Any calmer will only work if the horse is deficient in the minerals used, most are magnesium based so may work if the diet is lacking, they will not have a sedative effect so should cause no problems for jumping, the only time I tried the Magic calmer paste, on a connie who also got tense in dressage at ODE,s , he went the worst he ever had so it is worth trying when it doesn't matter too much to see how it works with yours.
He may be best having a low level of magnesium every day or it may be worth getting a full profile done so you know what, if anything, is lacking in his diet.
 
Thanks for your reply. When you say he went the worst he ever did what do u mean? Was he sluggish or just the same, or even more wound up?
All he ever did was hunt before I bought him so only knew stop and go. So I don't think it's his diet really but when there's lots of horses whizzing around him. But I will definitely check that out thank you 😊
 
He was far more wound up and very tense, it may have been a coincidence but nothing else changed, he did get better over time, ours had been just show jumped previously and came with no idea of flatwork other than cantering slowly with his head up high, it took 12 months to really see an improvement but he was always a little tense.
 
Mine is the same - always very tense at shows. I can get her to relax after a while in the warm-up arena but of course the dressage arena itself looks different, with different distractions, and I don't get enough time there before we have to start, to get her listening again. Unfortunately I don't have my own transport so can't get her out enough to make it all routine, which I think might help. When I use Magic at home (she is also very stressed when she has to stay in) it takes the edge off slightly, but I can't see it making a huge difference if I took her to a show.
 
Magnesium works as a calmer only if the horse is deficient in magnesium. Magnesium deficiency causes muscle tension/aches/tics etc. Once that is corrected the muscles are able to work at normal tension which gives the appearance of a calmer horse.

L-tryptophan based calmers actually work in the brain (blue chip Karma for example) and I'm not sure if they are competition legal.
 
Rosepup said:
Thanks for your reply. When you say he went the worst he ever did what do u mean? Was he sluggish or just the same, or even more wound up?
All he ever did was hunt before I bought him so only knew stop and go. So I don't think it's his diet really but when there's lots of horses whizzing around him. But I will definitely check that out thank you ��
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I agree with what BP said, if there is no Magnesium deficit then it can make them worse than ever - I used the Magic calmer paste and found the same - However, when I tried Supreme Products Defuse, i did notice a difference for the good... they do have a magnesium base but also L-tryptophan which is a naturally occurring amino acid, with this, you notice a difference almost immediately... Its fab stuff.
 
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