Those one-off calmers for comps - do they work?

[Ziggy_]

I'm interested in trying a calmer for my mare, not for day to day use but one of the ones you give a dose of before a competition. I have tried Oxyshot once and thought there was a slight improvement, but the makers claim it needs to be given on a fairly empty stomach, not great as we believe she may have had ulcers in the past and now always give a small feed before riding.

Basically, she starts getting excited as soon as she realises something is going on, and gets more and more wound up as time goes on - even if the show is at home. I did dressage at home tonight and she broke a sweat when she saw horseboxes pulling in, before I even got on her, and when I walked her into the indoor school for our test I could feel her hyperventilating.

She is the most laid back horse in the world normally - sharp and lively but very sensible, verging on bombproof and she'll always be the one to keep her cool when others aren't. Its hugely frustrating for me, especially since I suffer from zero competiton nerves for dressage (can't say the same for jumping

) I don't have any great ambitions comp-wise, I just want to be able to go for a fun day out without my poor girl turning herself inside out.

So, do you think a calmer would help us a little? Which ones have you tried and what were the results? Does anyone have any other advice to solve this problem?

 

[ForeverBroke_]

I have sworn by the NAF Magic syringes, they really took the edge off my boy and only had to be given an hour before hand, rather than some which were 1-3 hours. And at £9.99 for 3 I think it works out pretty cheap too

 

[_daisy_]

ive used coligone for my mare. found it helped my youngster at shows to settle so thought id try it on my big mare - works well with her. she gets exceptionally stressed as soon as she hears a horse on showgrounds.
didnt give her any this sunday as it slipped my mind after my youngster broke out of the field. she was highly tense when we got to the comp, not wanting to stand whilst i mounted, spinning and then bouncing - makes a huge difference to her

 

[kerrylou123]

i tried the NAF magic calmer and found it didn't make any difference to my horse.

 

[MrMeldrew]

I think the Equine America So Kalm is the best IMO...
http://www.farmway.co.uk/equine-2/equine...-calming-63.htm

 

[nokia]

we use oxi shot and it works well

 

[glamourgal21]

my friend uses the Nettex Carl Hester calmer syringes and swears they help her stressy horse -he is fine at home and turns into a loon when he goes out and they have really helped -she tried oxyshot and it didnt do a thing -worth a go maybe? she said that they had an offer buy one and get one free or something -so at least you could try them twice and only pay for one and find out if they really work?