Will a calmer help my spooky mare?

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SpruceRI

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Continuing the thread about spooky horses, a friend has suggested the 'So Kalm Plus' powder to see if that will take the edge of my mare's spooking.

I'm willing to try but do you think it will work?

She's rising 15yrs old, and has been a terrible spooker all her life.

She's slightly better in the summer when it's hot and terrible in winter when it's cold. I don't even attempt to ride in the field or hack on the road when it's windy.

It doesn't make any difference whether she's fit or not.

She's not particularly forward going or at all fizzy, so we don't have brakes problems and she doesn't spook at any jumping competitions, only dressage ones!!

On the back of that sentence I try to incorporate a lot of lateral work etc on hacks to try and take her mind off things, and to a certain extent it works, and if I hold the reins tight - well that makes the spook less explosive.

I'd love to be able to enjoy a hack or a schooling session at home, I haven't for 11yrs and it's wearing me down.

She's had everything checked, particularly her eye sight as she's funny about walking past a hedge line that then has a gate in it, that seriously spooks her!!!

Any ideas?

Someone on another thread mentioned Valerium?? What's that and what does it do?
 
We have used the So Kalm paste which was very good on our pony , but havent tried the powder form , the Top Spec calmer powder was good you just add that too their feed every day , I stopped using it all the time though because he is good 99% of the time but just gets hyper and silly at PC so the paste does its job for the day
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Hi Tikka - Who's Calm & Conditioner made by? And is it something you put in the feed or a seperate paste?

sueandtoto - Assume the paste is just one tube per day?
 
be very careful not to 'over calmer' her - have seen too many people give spooky horses calmer at the full dose or even more in the hope it will make them less spooky and its actually made them worse as pony feels dopey and thus spooks more and is even more difficult to handle as it feels weird....

Personally I have used Naf Magic in the past in spring time to help even out the 'spring grass fever' but only at 1/3 to 1/2 a dose.

So Kalm Paste is good for taking the edge of in competitions etc but I wouldnt feed it daily, it contains high levels of magnesium and I think you'd be better trying Magic...
 
It depends why she spooks - calmer did nothing for my mare instead I bomb proofed her in the school with handy pony stylee courses. We had a pheasant fly up the other day and she tossed her head (it nearly flew into her) but whereas she would once have bolted she was merely startled and after a snort we were able to continue.

NAF calmer is supposed to be very good - I know a couple of people who have had good results from it.
 
Axey has been spooky all his life and I must have tried every calmer in the world. Cool, Calm and Collected worked as did Valerian (not together!) but since he has had his back problem diagnosed and treated he's not spooky at all! In fact he's become incredibly brave!!!
 
I starting using EA's So Kalm Plus about 3 months ago and the difference has been amazing. It has just taken the edge off him but still left his personality. He does still spook a little but nowhere near as much and he settles to his work much better. I split about 3/4 of the scoop between 3 feeds. Used to use another brand but it just about knocked him out.
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It a feed, you add double amount water and same amount chaff and feed, its ready in about 5-10 minutes. It'smade by Allen and Page Horse feeds I think but will check if you want
 
It really does depend on why she's spooky. Is she scared or just 'naughty'? I suspect the latter as she doesn't spook at jumping competitions (plenty to keep brain occupied) but does at dressage (dull boring trotting in circles!). Also interesting that she's spookier in winter - suggesting she does perhaps have a magnesium deficiency from lack of magnesium in the grass in winter.

If that's the case then a magnesium based calmer may well help. She does sound a lot like one of mine. He's a brave, bold horse, rarely actually scared of anything, but he's very bright, has a short attention span and likes to find things to spook at. He's another one who finds gates in hedges a constant source of fun! And his spooks are extremely athletic!

I put him on Blue Chip Karma and what a difference it made. After about a week the massive spooks disappeared altogether. He will still spook but the frequency has reduced by about 80% and the violence of the spooks when they do happen has also reduced drastically. I can go a whole ride now without one single spook (unless he's had a few days off). It's not changed him but does seem to make him able to concentrate better and when his adrenaline levels do rise he seems better able to control himself and return to normal much quicker.

It's certainly worth trying.
 
Thanks all - so many different supplements to try, I'm not sure which!!

gedenskis_girl - I think you're right, it's mostly naughtyness from boredom tinged with a bit of nerves. For instance, she'll happily jump all manner of cut logs/fallen trees when doing XC but if we see one out on a hack she invariably does a massive spook.

Your explanation of how Blue Chip Karma works seems about what I want as I don't want to use any Calmer that's going to make her dull for Eventing, so I've got to be careful on that score.

Will go off and do some more research

Thanks everyone.
 
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