Which Calmer should I use?? If any :@

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I have a 12 year old ISH gelding, he is currently on Alpha A chaff and small amount of dodson & Horrell lesiure mix ( he doesn't need a lot as holds his weight well) ... The problem I am having is he gets far to excited around other horses and starts acting all hot headed, he is fine if he is lead upfront but if we are out hacking and we bump into other horses he completley loses the plot! He starts head shaking, cantering on spot, not going forward or listening to leg aids, bucking... this isn't doing my confidence any good and was wondering is it worth me putting him on a calmer.. I have read Relax Me is supposed to be one of the best but is this bad behaviour or just pure excitement... The best way to resolve this with him I've discovered is to try and stay calm myself, not to tense up and start yanking his reins and ride him through this.. he is BSJA Grade C and I'm wanting to start taking him out soon but am afraid I am going to be confronted with this everytime... when he jumps he throws in the odd buck which again I have put down to excitement but am questioning is the bad behaviour and do I need a calmer???

Would appreciate comments please.. Many Thanks
 
Hi, I use Equine America - Magnitude which is magnesium and for my VERY STRESSY TB youngster. it's works brilliantly!!!

Highly recommended and is only about £19.00 per tub.
 
Hi I've tried a few and none seem to work so my vet just told me about Zylkene - you need to get it on prescription and it's quite expensive but you don't need to continually use it - after a 20 day course it seems to rewire their brain apparently - ask your vet for info and prices - it might be worth a try
 
Before adding a calmer why not check its not either of the feeds he's on now that are causing the problem? Take them away one at a time for a couple of weeks and see what happens. Better to try and figure out whats causing the behaviour first.
 
Any calmer that is magnesium based will only work if the horse is deficient in magnesium.
It does sound like excitement to me. I would second what someone above said and look at his feed. if he's a good doer why not use hi-fi/hi-fi lite rather than the Alfa-A?
If you'd really like to try a calmer, why not try chamomile flowers, that's what my sometimes stressy horse is on, natural, and it just seems to take the edge off him without spoiling the sparkle I bought him for in the first place.
good luck
 
if he's a good doer could you knock the hard feed almost on the head? You could feed a balancer and a handful of hifi lite to make sure he was getting all the vits and mins he needed, but not too many calories.

My IDx hunts (and still has enough energy to be silly out hunting) on alfa a oil and speedibeet and a stud balancer, so sometimes they just don't need cereals!
 
From your description it doesn't really sound to me as though a calmer will resolve your issues.

It might be worth switching him to a molasses free chaff and a cube rather than mix.

His behaviour is a bit more extreme than most horses exhibit but is by no means that unusual. My normally well behaved mare used to piaffe on the spot if we met another horse out hacking as it was such a such a rare occurence.

Only other thing I can suggest is trying someone like Michael Peace as it does seem as though your horse is exhibiting anxiety.
 
I have to agree with previous posters and question whether a calmer will actually make a difference to the behaviour you are experiencing. I have put my stressy TB on Maxacalm by maxavita as over the winter with the longer periods of being stabled he'd started to be very nippy, jumpy and a bit more stressy than normal. I'd say the calmer has helped with all this as since being on it he has become a nicer person to know. However, if we meet another horse out on a hack or see another horse hack past our yard he displays similar naughtiness to what you are experiencing. I would also suggest changing his alpha A for something like hifi lite and a balancer or high fibre cube as this might "even him out" a bit more. x
 
Alfa A sends my mare skyward - literally and she was only getting a green scoop twice a day. As others have said cut the feed down to HiFi lite or similar. Also sugarbeet can be a culprit to excitable behaviour.

Also just put her on Blue Chip Karma as well and she is now totally sane, she is half Arab and can be very reactive, flinchy, spooky and generally tail in air excitable and red blooded and she is now a totally relaxed chilled out girl - long may it last needless to say I am sticking with the Karma for a while longer :)
 
eggs said:
From your description it doesn't really sound to me as though a calmer will resolve your issues.

It might be worth switching him to a molasses free chaff and a cube rather than mix.

His behaviour is a bit more extreme than most horses exhibit but is by no means that unusual. My normally well behaved mare used to piaffe on the spot if we met another horse out hacking as it was such a such a rare occurence.

Only other thing I can suggest is trying someone like Michael Peace as it does seem as though your horse is exhibiting anxiety.
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I understand what your saying about him being on Alpha A and it might be worth switching and trying something different, however he was like this through the summer months when he was getting hardly any feed at all. I can also relate to what you are saying about possible anxiety, he's not bothered at all when out in field but I have noticed during the winter he has become rather horrible in his stable, whilst feeding kicking out at the other horses next to him and they aren't doing anything to bother him at all and his ears flat back.. tempermant wise he is a lovely horse but he just seems stressed when in stable of late which I'm finding very strange as he was stabled for 6 weeks during the summer due to a injury and it never bothered him in the slightest...

I'm confussed and puzzled by the change in his tempermant!! I don't want him to sound like a terrible horse because he is amazing and has many good qualitys.....I wanted to tackle the behaviour whilst being ridden out first but now I am thinking is all this connected and like you say a calmer may not resolve these issues.
 
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