# Calming Supplements?



## charlicata (Jan 12, 2010)

Have any of you ever tried any type of calming supplements on your horses? Rookie is the perfect horse unless he's in a group. I took him on a benefit ride this past weekend. On Saturday, it was just him and Rosie, and he was fine. Barely broke a sweat on a 25 mile ride, and most of it was by himself (Tom took Rosie back early). Yesterday though, he was in a dead sweat before we had even gotten out on the trail a full mile. He gets so excited when there're other horses right around him, almost to the point of him being uncontrollable. 

Someone down there told me that I may want to talk to my vet to get some Ace. But after reading up on it, I don't even want to think about going that route. I had tried the Calm and Cool paste on him once before a moonlight ride. Gave it to him about 2 hours before the ride, and being in the 30+ group of horses, it seemed to have the total opposite effect. 

I know that riding him more will help. I was just informed though that riding him in the ring by himself just won't cut it. I need to take him out on some trails by myself, with no other horses around.

I'm very open to suggestions.


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## Speed Racer (Oct 21, 2009)

Charli, I have ear puffies for Casper and will occasionally give him Quietex paste.

The ear puffies really seemed to have helped, for some strange reason. Someone suggested them to me and I told them, "I think he needs a blindfold, not ear plugs!", but they do seem to have done the trick. :?

Ear poofs are inexpensive, and I put a fly bonnet on him to keep them in. He doesn't mind them, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Calm & Cool never made a difference with Casper, either.


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## MyLittleHunter (Jul 20, 2009)

Lucky for me my two horses are like little tanks, nothing phases them. But a trainer I rode with had three horses that were abosultely nuts. 


So I've never tried it first hand but this is what she did and said helped her horses.

put her horses on a Vita B1 crumble supplement. 

Farnam Co Horse Health 75210 Vita B-1 Crumble 2.5#

At Ease paste(given right before show)

At-Ease Equine Calming Supplement - ShanesTack

And Whoa! Calming Agent: 

Calming Supplements for Horses: Whoa! Calming Agent by Equi-Shine


^Those worked work her horses, but I know of other people who's horses have had no improvemeant with these.


When I was working Dallas who was abused by a harsh traininer as a four year old, no supplements worked. Just a lot of bonding and quite time together until he learned to trut me enough, to know I wasn't going to let anything bad happen to him. I would spend hours groom him, sitting in his pasture reading a book. Talking at him, bring him something nice. And it worked because now Dallas rides and shows like a dream, and has won at shows all around, and I hope to take him to nationals. It was just a lot patience and effort. Even if your horse wasn't abused, a lot of time together and bonding can never hurt. The more trust he has in you the better. 

Going out and riding more, as you know, will help too. If groups are his biggest issue, then I would take it slow and work up to them. First by yourself, then maybe add a friend on a quite horse, and so on as he improves.


Never tried or heard of ear poofs. XD But they might be worth a shot.


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## charlicata (Jan 12, 2010)

I may give the Quietex a try before the ear puffies. I have ridden him in one of the fly masks that goes on over the bridle (Cashel), and he seems to be a little worse with it on. I was thinking that it (maybe) dulled the colors that he's used to seeing slightly? 

I had been thinking that it was because I get nervous in crowds, but this past weekend, I was completely calm and relaxed. So now I'm thinking that it's partially him.


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## Speed Racer (Oct 21, 2009)

Charli, I use a crocheted fly bonnet when I ride, not a fly mask. 

Here's an image:


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## charlicata (Jan 12, 2010)

I'll give the fly bonnet a try. I know I can pick them up very reasonably at one of the tack stores.

And thank you MLH. I had read somewhere else that it can be caused by a B1 deficiency.


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## MyLittleHunter (Jul 20, 2009)

No problem, I just like to try and be helpful.


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## Peggysue (Mar 29, 2008)

Mg def will cause a horse to be nervous ... might look into MagOx 2tablespoons theh first 30 days then 1tablespoon after that 

if he is nervous in crowds you need to ride him in crowds.

also look at his total diet and see if there are any ingedients that are causing the problem... grains can cause a horse to get pretty worked up as well as alfalfa with some horses and soybeans with others


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## charlicata (Jan 12, 2010)

I'm feeding him the Purina Strategy, along with 2 - 6 oz cups of Omega weight supplement, and 3 oz of DuMor Hoof. He only gets the weight and hoof supplement once a day. The vet and farrier both told me to use the Strategy to help him gain weight, and both told me that it wouldn't make him "hot". No alfalfa on a regular basis. I'll give him half of a cube after his evening feeding as a treat if he eats all of his food. Other than that, all the grass hay he can eat.


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## Peggysue (Mar 29, 2008)

DO you have the ingredient list off of your bag of feed?? that is a grain based feed and while it "shouldn't" make most horses hot it doesn't take much to make some hot... I would look into Triple Crown Low Starch if you need a higher fat good nutrition feed.. I personally dont' like any Purina feed because they don't have a fixed formula so you never know what you are getting. 

if you get a good feed you can eliminate both the hoof and the fat supplement most likely.


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## charlicata (Jan 12, 2010)

I'll look for it. I usually go to TS to get my feed because it is the closest to me. The Co-op is about 20 miles in the opposite direction.


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

I give chamomile/valerian calmer from SmartPack to my paint and thinking about switching to chamomile/vervain (as I'm not fan of valerian). I tried several calmers, this one seems to work the best. But I think in your case you need something one-time use, not on daily basis. Quietex may be just good enough.


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## charlicata (Jan 12, 2010)

Yeah kitten_val, I'm thinking one time use also. I am going to get the Quietex this evening after work. I'm also going to look into vitamin supplements though, just in case it is some sort of deficiency. It had been on my mind since somebody mentioned it in this thread earlier. Then I saw him with the mineral block. I just put it in there with them yesterday morning, and I could already see the indentions from them licking it yesterday evening. This morning when I let them out after they ate, Rosie went to the hay and Rookie went straight to the block. When Rosie went to get a few licks in, Rook ran her away from it. I was watching this thinking to myself...could he make it any more plain to me? I'm hoping once I get his vitamins where they're supposed to be that he'll calm down a little during the day. The vet told me that he's not picking up weight because he's running it all off. He didn't suggest the vitamins, but what can it hurt?


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## phoenix (Jun 7, 2010)

I have a question, does quietex actually work? I took my gelding out on trail last weekend and he was like riding a brick he was so tense. He bucked a few time and hopped and did this incredibly up and down but not really going anywhere trot the last 20 minutes of the ride. I saw some quietex on monday and bought it on a whim in the hope that it would do something to help calm him down on trail and make him a bit more controllable and hopefully stop him bucking. 

Anyone who's used it what difference did it make to your horse?


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## charlicata (Jan 12, 2010)

I went out and bought a tub of the powdered Quietex yesterday evening, and also 2 syringes of the paste for this weekend. I gave it to him in his evening feeding. He only poo'd twice in his stall last night...instead of the usual four or five; and this morning, he actually kept his head in his feed bucket until he was done. He normally gets a couple of bites, comes to the stall door and looks around...or get a couple of bites, then get a bite of hay and come back to his feed. If this is any indication of how he's going to be this weekend, I don't think I'll have to worry about the crow-hopping or dancing the whole ride. I'm really looking forward to seeing how he is this weekend. I also called a feed store which is only a little bit out of my way coming to and from work. They have a buy 10 get 1 free deal. I told the guy that I don't have room to safely store 10 bags, and he told me that it wasn't a problem! They would keep them there and all I'd have to do is bring in my receipt and they'd mark it off as I picked them up. I have enough to last me through the first of the month right now, but I'm going to get a bag to switch them over to gradually...if it works out, then I'll go back and buy the 10.


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## Speed Racer (Oct 21, 2009)

I use powdered Quietex along with Su-Per Mag Calm on Casper, but that's only part of the regimen.

I've taken him completely off sugar laden feeds, and gone to beet pulp and an alfalfa based dry pellet.

He also stays out 24/7/365, unless the weather's just so horrendous it would be detrimental to his health to be out.

All of that, along with regular exercise and ear poofs, have made a world of difference in his attitude.

None of the calmers are going to be a miracle cure. You have to take _everything_ into account with a reactive, spooky horse and adjust their life accordingly.


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

phoenix said:


> I have a question, *does quietex actually work?*


Not for me. :wink: I tried both - paste and pellets with 0 effect. ANY calmer effect really depends on horse.

SR said it all, calmer is not magical. You have to consider feed, turnout and exercise as well when you deal with calming a horse down. Mine went CRAZY on grain, so I switched them to low starch/low sugar basically beet pulp pellets.


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## charlicata (Jan 12, 2010)

That's just it though, he's not spooky at all. His spook...no matter the situation...is him coming to a dead stop to look at whatever, and then going on by. 

I'm like you SR, both of my guys are out all the time except for feed time; and that's just because I don't want to stand between them, and when the weather is horrendous. The feed store that I contacted yesterday has the low starch, low sugar feed. That's what I'm going to be switching both of them over to. I just know the horse he is when we're riding with 1 other person or alone (like me), and the horse that he is when in crowds. I've been working on myself...and I need supplements everyday. But after the change in my supplements last week, I have been very calm...even in the crowd this past weekend. Now, I just need to find the right feed and supplement for him.

Thank you for the replies!!! And we're leaving tomorrow evening for our next trip. I'll let you guys know how he did.


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

Good luck! Let us know!


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## charlicata (Jan 12, 2010)

Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!


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## charlicata (Jan 12, 2010)

This is a LONG one...

Used the Quietex paste this past weekend...along with the daily supplement. Rook did great UNTIL some of the people we were riding with caught up. 5 of us had left out earlier than the rest. My friend, who is 68, has a 17 yo TWH that is really WAYYYYY too much horse for her. She's constantly pulling in his mouth and yelling at him, and it tears Rook up. He gets really upset when this horse is around him because of his constant pushing and her constant yelling. I feel bad for both the lady and her horse. the story behind this is that:

She's owned him for 14 years, and feeds him "what she always fed her other horse" which consists of a coffee can of grain that is EXTREMELY high in molasses, a coffee can of whole kernel corn, 1/2 coffee can of pure sweet feed, electrolytes, and about 1/2 cup of corn oil poured over it and mixed in "so the electrolytes will stick to his food". She uses one of the harshest shank bits I've ever seen (one of the guys riding with us called it a "correction bit"), and with her on the horse he goes with his neck way up and his head out...almost like an upside down L. I found out yesterday, that on our Saturday ride, she had actually wrapped the reigns around the saddle horn and was pulling them like a pulley or something to get extra leveradge!!!! She was so upset that DH got off of Rosie and led them both back back to camp. 

We talked her into letting DH ride her horse in the ring yesterday morning. I told her that she deserved a nice peaceful ride that she could enjoy...instead of the constant fight that she deals with when she's riding her horse. She finally agreed and I went to saddling him right away before she could change her mind. After I saw that DH was ok with him, I saddled Rosie for her. As I'm sure all of you have read in previous posts, Rosie is as calm and "push-button" as can be. She got up on a picnic table to get on her, and I showed her how to hold Rosie's reigns. By the time that I led her over to the ring, she was jacking up on Rosie's bit like she does her horse. So, here I am in the middle of the riding ring with DH on her horse, and her on Rosie. During the whole two times she rode her around the ring, I was telling her to loosen up on the reigns. It finally got through to her when Rosie started slinging her head. I told her that she wouldn't do that if she just held the reigns at the end...instead of jacked up with a 10 inch loop in her hand. Rosie's reigns are a pair of one piece rope reigns that I picked up at TS, they're kind of short anyway. Rosie did exactly as I predicted and stayed at a slow, flat foot walk. She was so upset that her horse was doing better with DH on him...without him hanging in his mouth and the constant yelling; and that Rosie was being so good with her on, that she started crying and asked me to take her out of the ring. So I asked if we could take him out on the trail for a little bit. She agreed so I hopped back on Rose, opened the gate for him to come out of the ring, and both of us rode out of camp at a flat foot walk. I wasn't even holding on to the reigns. We only took them about two miles out, and we worked on the things that upset her horse even more while out on the trail. We walked back into camp at a flat-foot walk...both horses on a very loose reign. 

Several of our friends told DH and I that we should trade horses, and him take her horse as a project horse. Of course she wasn't around while they were telling us this. But she has to have epidurals every 3 months for back pain, and has had a hip replacement, and a knee replacement. She weighs close to 250 lbs, with no real muscle mass, and has some serious problems getting on her horse even when she's standing on a picnic table. It's even worse when she's getting off of him after the ride. He's about the same height as Rook (about 16.2 hh). With Rose, she was able to just put her leg over her from the table.

Numerous people have told her that she needs to stop the sweet feed, corn, and corn oil...but she wouldn't think of it...because "Panda was fine with being fed that", and "he likes it so much, I can't take it away from him". I didn't mention any of what was said to us when she came out of the trailer after we got back.  I just couldn't at that time. She was already upset and I wouldn't do or say anything intentionally that would hurt her feelings. At the same time though, I can't think of her getting hurt by riding him. But when the guy that took her and trailered her horse to Gettysburg called me last night, he said that they had a lengthy conversation about it on the way home, and that she was thinking about the trade. 

My problems with this...
1) While DH is starting to enjoy the riding and the camping, he's admittedly not ready to take on a horse.

2) I don't need another project horse...Rook is all that I can handle right now.

3) While I know Rosie would have a good home...not even a mile from where I live. I just don't think I could give her up knowing just a portion of what she's been through in her life, and how good she's been to me. 

So, I think I'm going to put a stipulation on the two of us riding together. If she wants to ride, she's going to have to ride Rosie. And after talking to a few of our friends, we can't ride by ourselves...somebody else HAS to be with us. They were telling me that it just isn't safe for the two of us to go without at least one other person. Reasoning behind it is that if something were to happen to her, that there would be no way that I could get her up by myself; much less get her back on the horse or help her off of the trail on foot while trying to control her horse and whichever horse I'm riding that day. Or, if something were to happen to me, she wouldn't even be able to get off of her horse to help. They are very right on both counts.

Sorry about this being so long. I had to get it out because it was our friends that were telling me this, and I had to get it out somewhere...my family wouldn't understand.


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## Speed Racer (Oct 21, 2009)

Charli, I bet if that woman stopped feeding her trail horse rocket fuel, he'd probably calm down enough to be a nice riding animal. 

Glad to hear the Quietex paste seemed to help. Have you considered ear poofs along with that? For some reason, ear poofs have really made a big difference with Casper. That, and he's on pelleted feed and beet pulp. No sugar laden feeds and definitely NO corn.

If you don't want another project, don't take one on. No law says you have to, just because someone else wants you to.


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