Recommendations of Calming supplements.

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Nickinoo2

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I am just about to start my mare on rehab after being on box rest for 9 weeks with a suspensory ligament injury. I had only moved her onto new yard 3 weeks before she was put on box rest and she didn;t settle great being ridden. At beginning of box rest vet suggested I walk her out once a day which I did for the first 4 weeks at which point she became unrideable rearing and bronking through being bored and not being allowed to go forward. She has been going on the walker twice a day since. However I know very soon it will be time to get back on board but know she will be full of it and is already bucking on the walker!! Just wondered if anybody knew of any good calming supplements which might help take the edge off her as don't want her to injury the ligament again messing about!!
 
'Relax Me' works really well. It's made by Horse First and I think it has a money back guarantee too.
 
Just a quick question - if your mare was on box rest, why has she been on the walker twice a day?

Any of the calmers work well enough for most horses - some work better than others - depending on the horse - I've had success with Magic and Steady Up on a daily basis. Nupafeed and RelaxMe are more expensive (and I think more powerful) but very good in that you can fine tune them, once they're in the system, you can increase/decrease according to requirements.

However, IME, I think your mare will be too wild for these supplements which aren't really designed for this situation. I have had to bring horses back into work after prolonged periods of box rest (by which I mean standing in the box for weeks) and none of these calmers would have touched them

I would talk to your vet about using some ACP or Sedalin to help keep her sensible and safe. You don't want to get hurt or have her reinjure herself if she got loose
 
I'll watch this post with interest, would be nice to know one that worked.

Do you think different calmers suit different horses?

I've tried Naff calmer and Blue Chip and there was no difference.
 
I don't think you will find calmer strong enough for this situation.
IMO the only route would be mild sedation (ACP/Sedaline/Sedazine) or a long lasting injection - ask your vet about it, they call it 'horse prozac' but I don't know the proper name
 
Spacefaer she has been on walker as vet wanted her doing mild exercise to make sure the ligament didn't heal short or weak. It has healed very quick doing this along with regular shockwave treatment.

Thank you all for your recommendations; I think I will get some ACP off the vet to use the first couple of times I ride her and until I can ride her forward. As some of you said I don't want to get hurt and I don't want her to re injure herself.

Will try a supplement too until she can go back out in the field!!!
 
Have tried numerous in the past, with little success. This one does. It's called 'Settle'
have to get it mail order. Go to www.ellencollinson.co.uk.
Although sounds like you may have to use ACP initially. I personally prefer this stuff, it doesn't make them all dopey, which ACP can if you give enough to calm them/be effective if really het up. Good Luck
 
Nickinoo - that's good news that she's healed well and quickly

the 2 calmers I've found the most effective are HorseFirst RelaxMe and Nupafeed -you can really "fill them up" with the nupafeed once the loading dose is in

speaking to the helpful people at nupafeed, they said sometimes it can take some time to have an effect if the horse has a low magnesium level and is stressy. Their take on it, is that the horse uses Mg in cellular activity during work and when stressed, so unless their intake of Mg is greater than their use of it, during the loading period, you will always be playing catch up.

They have a lot of racehorse trainers using it - one little chestnut mare took 3 months before the loading dose "filled her up" to the point where the calmer actually had an effect. They prescribe patience in waiting for it to work but guarantee that it will!

In your situation, it may take too long to have sufficient effect now, in the short term, but might be worth trying in the medium term :)

keep us posted!
 
Magnesium based calmers only work if your horse is being silly because its deficient in magnesium. A horse that is stressed on box rest won't necessarily respond to a magnesium calmer if they are sensible normally.

In your situation I'd be speaking to the vet about some sedalin or ACP. I've also tried valerian cordial although I'm not convinced its that effective.
 
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