Really need a calmer that works! Help please?

[Ellietotz]

My mare is all over the place and it's starting to get ridiculous now.
We only ever hack and she spooks at absolutely everything. I don't mind looking at things and walking round them but it's the sudden stopping and fly to the side at things spook constantly for no reason at any speed which isn't ideal when going fast.
I've had her eyes looked at and they're fine, she has regular physio which I'm not sure she needs as she's always good with her back etc now but I do it anyway. She's just had her teeth done if that can even cause spooking!!

Even if she wasn't fed hard feed, she is still the same. There is no chance of going in a straight line either, we just zigzag everywhere. I've done in hand and ridden exercises at home which were no problem at all. It's not even like she's not calm, she just overreacts massively.

She has molasses free, low sugar and starch feed with digestive supplement. She is ulcer free now for a year nearly not that that made any difference to her spooking before or after. She has normal poos so it's unlikely to be an upset in her digestive system.

What can I do? There must be something that works!

 

[spookypony]

What do you do when she spooks?

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Did you ever work out why she had ulcers?

 

[Ellietotz]

What do you do when she spooks?

Carry on going!

 

[Ellietotz]

Did you ever work out why she had ulcers?

I assume it was from when she went to a loan home with her previous owner. 45 minutes travelling to the new place which she hates so bronked and panicked the whole way. They wanted to take her out showing and hoped they could fix the traveling issue but they couldn't so she came back about two months later, more than half the weight less than she was when she went so I put it down to lots of work with little food so they could get the weight off her quickly as she was extremely overweight and the stress of being in a new home for the first time in her life.

 

[Shay]

Calmers are not very effective I'm afraid - certainly not in the long term. You could try a forage analysis and see if there is a deficiency which could account for some of this. If she is magnesium deficient then magnesium calmers can help - if she is not it won't, and excess magnesium can increase the problem. Valerian based calmers are the mostly effective - although about 20% of horses become more hyper not less. And it is banned in competition. I personally like D&H placid which is just a nice herbal combination - but any effect in the horse is more likely to be due to the fact you are calmer thinking she will be.

Longer term you need to work with her to overcome her anxieties. Hack with a steady friend for a while. Perhaps get a good NH practitioner to come out and work with you for a while.

 

[Leo Walker]

Valerian isnt a calmer, its a sedative. If it works it will make them calmer but it puts them into a state where they cant really learn anything so unless you use it permanently then its not a solution.

 

[TigerTail]

My mare has always been very reactive, 8 years of doing star jumps on the spot or spinning and leaving for very little obvious reason. This spring I started her on the Graze ezy products from NZ and it has been a revolution. She is still sharp but she comes down once shes spotted something and thinks about things more carefully.
Her response to these products suggests she is very grass sensitive - so she is still on them now as the grass is still growing and stressed thanks to the drought and short spells of rain.

https://www.calmhealthyhorses.co.uk/store/

 

[Pinkvboots]

Do you think it could be the Autumn flush of grass? Mine have been really silly the last week or so, one if mine even spooked at a pile of horse poo last week and they have been shooting round the field like idiots.

 

[KittenInTheTree]

Is there any soya or alfalfa in her feed, perhaps even as a minor ingredient or as a filler in a supplement? Those can play havoc with some horses.

 

[frazzled]

Confidence eq. It’s a gel you put around the nostrils about half an hour before a stressful situation. Works in a similar way to the plug ins you can get for cats and dogs.
It was the only thing that ever worked for our gelding and I liked the fact you only needed to use it as and when.It is a different approach rather than feeding something.

 

[Ellietotz]

Calmers are not very effective I'm afraid - certainly not in the long term. You could try a forage analysis and see if there is a deficiency which could account for some of this. If she is magnesium deficient then magnesium calmers can help - if she is not it won't, and excess magnesium can increase the problem. Valerian based calmers are the mostly effective - although about 20% of horses become more hyper not less. And it is banned in competition. I personally like D&H placid which is just a nice herbal combination - but any effect in the horse is more likely to be due to the fact you are calmer thinking she will be.

Longer term you need to work with her to overcome her anxieties. Hack with a steady friend for a while. Perhaps get a good NH practitioner to come out and work with you for a while.

We ride out together once a week and none of the other horses are like it, they are all straightforward and don't look at anything. Even if we are behind or in front, she still darts everywhere at nonexistant things. She isn't generally nervous and she enjoys going out, she's forward going and it doesn't seem like she is going to jump at things. It's hard to explain. She was on the D&H placid for over a year and it did nothing. Magnesium made no change either, better or worse. I like her being forward going, I don't want her to calm down in that sense, just want to stop her spooking at imaginary objects so dramatically. I'm not nervous on her in the slightest, she would do it with anyone. Heading home isn't as bad as she is focusing on that but she still does it. She wants to go forward and she wants to be in front, she loves having a burn so she is confident in that way.

 

[Ellietotz]

Do you think it could be the Autumn flush of grass? Mine have been really silly the last week or so, one if mine even spooked at a pile of horse poo last week and they have been shooting round the field like idiots.

She is like it all year round unfortunately! We ride on the New Forest so we generally spook at every horse poo and cow pat - There are a lot of those! The harsh sharp spooks are usually at things you don't see and are likely nonexistant, out in the open where it is just green plain grass. Another local rider once said to me as she was riding towards us from further away "I could tell it was you because you don't go in straight lines"!

 

[Ellietotz]

Is there any soya or alfalfa in her feed, perhaps even as a minor ingredient or as a filler in a supplement? Those can play havoc with some horses.

Nope, as far as I am aware. Fast Fibre, meadow nuts and supplements of biomos, mycosorb and yeasacc. Even if she isn't fed, she is still the same.

 

[Ellietotz]

My mare has always been very reactive, 8 years of doing star jumps on the spot or spinning and leaving for very little obvious reason. This spring I started her on the Graze ezy products from NZ and it has been a revolution. She is still sharp but she comes down once shes spotted something and thinks about things more carefully.
Her response to these products suggests she is very grass sensitive - so she is still on them now as the grass is still growing and stressed thanks to the drought and short spells of rain.

https://www.calmhealthyhorses.co.uk/store/

I have heard of this. I'm not sure if it is the right product as it doesn't matter what time of the year it is. There is no warning to her spook and afterwards it is like nothing happened!

 

[DabDab]

Does she do the same when you're leading her?

 

[Ellietotz]

Does she do the same when you're leading her?

She doesn't do the dramatic sharp spooks but that generally happens when she is trotting or faster and I can't run for long or fast enough to find out! Plus it's more likely if she is in front or on her own. She would just follow or hide behind me being led out.

 

[smiggy]

I would give e calm a try, it’s cheap enough. I had my fell on it as it really helps her skin in the summer, I ran out a fortnight ago and didn’t bother reordering as thought with winter coming her coat would be fine.
It is but she nearly had me off in the school twice last week!
Have just reordered some 🤣

 

[Britestar]

Mine was a nightmare. I tried hack up calmer and he did improve, but the most difference came after being treated by an equine osteopath. He had major poll issues.
He's a different horse now. Still sharp, but rideable and much less likely to dump me on the floor, and much more chilled.

 

[Ellietotz]

I would give e calm a try, it’s cheap enough. I had my fell on it as it really helps her skin in the summer, I ran out a fortnight ago and didn’t bother reordering as thought with winter coming her coat would be fine.
It is but she nearly had me off in the school twice last week!
Have just reordered some 🤣

Haven't heard of that one, will have a look. My mare is fine to ride at home, not spooky. Only when out.

 

[Ellietotz]

Mine was a nightmare. I tried hack up calmer and he did improve, but the most difference came after being treated by an equine osteopath. He had major poll issues.
He's a different horse now. Still sharp, but rideable and much less likely to dump me on the floor, and much more chilled.

What was he like before? I've had three different physios treat her as we had saddle issues before which took a while to relieve. The main one I use now is an osteopath as well but I have recently tried someone else who was good too. None of which have found a problem. I just get her done every few months to be sure she is still ticking over.

 

[JillA]

I would be checking for magnesium deficiency by giving magnesium oxide as a supplement for a couple of weeks. It's more common than we realise, thanks to "forcing" grass with nitrogen over many years, (is the cause of staggers in dairy cattle) and it is cheap enough. If it hasn't made a difference over a couple of weeks that isn't the problem, but it transformed my horse in that sort of time

 

[be positive]

Most posters are assuming it is due to diet/ something unbalanced that can be fixed by changing her diet but her behaviour is consistent in that it is worse alone or in front and the OP "just carries on" in response, it sounds far more like a schooling and confidence issue that needs a different approach to how she is ridden if it is ever going to change.

Any horse I have had in that is sharp and spooky benefits from the rider doing more and taking control, they learn to wait and listen, leg yield, flex, go in straight lines 99% of the time, so any spooks can be contained most of the time, the less they spook or overreact the better they become as their confidence grows, they learn to slow down and look at something new and take things in rather than rushing past sideways, it takes time, a patient rider who will observe the horse while riding and be prepared to walk more than trot or canter until the horse is less reactive and one that really appreciates riding a relaxed well mannered horse, something that is better appreciated once you have that horse!

 

[Gloi]

Most posters are assuming it is due to diet/ something unbalanced that can be fixed by changing her diet but her behaviour is consistent in that it is worse alone or in front and the OP "just carries on" in response, it sounds far more like a schooling and confidence issue that needs a different approach to how she is ridden if it is ever going to change.

Any horse I have had in that is sharp and spooky benefits from the rider doing more and taking control, they learn to wait and listen, leg yield, flex, go in straight lines 99% of the time, so any spooks can be contained most of the time, the less they spook or overreact the better they become as their confidence grows, they learn to slow down and look at something new and take things in rather than rushing past sideways, it takes time, a patient rider who will observe the horse while riding and be prepared to walk more than trot or canter until the horse is less reactive and one that really appreciates riding a relaxed well mannered horse, something that is better appreciated once you have that horse!

OP wrote:
"I like her being forward going, I don't want her to calm down in that sense, just want to stop her spooking at imaginary objects so dramatically. I'm not nervous on her in the slightest, she would do it with anyone. Heading home isn't as bad as she is focusing on that but she still does it. She wants to go forward and she wants to be in front, she loves having a burn so she is confident in that way."

I agree with BP here. I think you need to get away from this way of thinking for a while and both of you chill out and do lots of slow miles for a while. Try and change her mindset.

 

[oldie48]

"Any horse I have had in that is sharp and spooky benefits from the rider doing more and taking control,"

I totally agree with this and being "forward" or"wanting to be in front and having a burn" is not the same as being on the aids. I went down the calmer route with my horse but the bottom line was I didn't have any real control of him and he wasn't always listening to me, fortunately I found a trainer who recognised this and helped me. My horse is still sharp and a can be a bit reactive but we are a million miles away from where we were 2 years ago.and our relationship is tons better. Good luck with your mare I hope you find a solution.

 

[smiggy]

I just found the ecalm helps with that occasional sharp silly spook. My mare isn’t spooky out hacking but when schooling, and seemingly very occupied, will just occasionally do one of those 0 to 60 sideways leap and zoom forward if a leaf drops off a tree 🙄
I thought from the original post, that was the kind of thing the op was experiencing

 

[ShowJumperL95]

I have never found a calmer that really works, I found that more exercise and varying the work we did so he never got bored. The only thing I found that actually helped and isn't going to be a constant cost was putting on sheepskin cheek pieces helped keep his focus forward and not the monsters in the bushes next to him or what people and horses were. I just bought a sheepskin noseband and cut it in half.

 

[southerncomfort]

I agree with calming things down, taking control and maybe sticking to walk for a while.

Also, think about giving her things to occupy her brain while you ride. So you could do some schooling along the way, or you could weave in and out of trees, up and down steps. Ride forward in walk and halt every third lamp post. I sounds like she has a very busy, buzzy brain so distracting her and giving her something to think about might help.

 

[Ellietotz]

I would be checking for magnesium deficiency by giving magnesium oxide as a supplement for a couple of weeks. It's more common than we realise, thanks to "forcing" grass with nitrogen over many years, (is the cause of staggers in dairy cattle) and it is cheap enough. If it hasn't made a difference over a couple of weeks that isn't the problem, but it transformed my horse in that sort of time

I've tried magnesium for over 6 months and it didn't change anything unfortunately.

 

[milliepops]

Most posters are assuming it is due to diet/ something unbalanced that can be fixed by changing her diet but her behaviour is consistent in that it is worse alone or in front and the OP "just carries on" in response, it sounds far more like a schooling and confidence issue that needs a different approach to how she is ridden if it is ever going to change.

Any horse I have had in that is sharp and spooky benefits from the rider doing more and taking control, they learn to wait and listen, leg yield, flex, go in straight lines 99% of the time, so any spooks can be contained most of the time, the less they spook or overreact the better they become as their confidence grows, they learn to slow down and look at something new and take things in rather than rushing past sideways, it takes time, a patient rider who will observe the horse while riding and be prepared to walk more than trot or canter until the horse is less reactive and one that really appreciates riding a relaxed well mannered horse, something that is better appreciated once you have that horse!

Great advice from BP here. I have a reactive spooker who spooks so hard and so fast she falls over sometimes
I'm teaching her to be more nosy. So instead of seeing something she thinks is scary and freaking out/leaping sideways/turning round she has to slow down, maybe stop, look at it, have a little think, assess what it might be and whether it in fact poses a risk, and then we carry on.

Sometimes I get off to do this because she's easier to control then and we are both safer. She's good at parking for me to get on again so I don't see this as a problem, it's helping her to actually process things rather than just squeeze her eyes shut and do something daft instead. We've gone from being out of control quite often to just short moments where she startles now. she's still bright and very cheerful but starting to be a bit more thoughtful rather than just reactive.