Calmers?

[tabithakat64]

My horse finds it very hard to concentrate and focus on what I'm asking when I'm schooling him, is there a calmer that could help with this?

[Alfies-slave]

Removing any hard feed from the horses diet and upping turnout would be what I would do before opting for a calmer. An excess of energy should be ruled out first.

If the horse NEEDS extra feed, go for a high fiber, low sugar, low starch, high oil diet to maintain condition and provide slow release energy.

A simple change of diet can work wonders with horses that are easily distracted or bolshy.

IMHO most calmers work on the rider more than the horse! The rider knows the horse is on a calmer and the rider becomes more confident. It is like a placebo.

There are broadly 2 types of calmer, herbal and ones based on magnesium. These may include vitamin B as an active ingredient.

The magnesium calmers work if the horse is deficient in magnesium. More horses than you think are!

Lots of people feed Cal Mag or similar, sold by agri merchants. Very cheap compared to the horsey mark up stuff.

It might be wise to ask what one would have done in the old days before all these calmers and other suplements existed.

A few questions to ask yourself before reaching for the calmers...

Is the horse distracted because it is Bored?

At what point in the schooling session does the horse become distracted, and by what?

Is there any discomfort which means the horse can't keep its mind on the job.

All these suplements have their place, and help many horses but sometimes it is treating a symptom rather than the root of the problem

[tabithakat64]

I've had his saddle, back, teeth and general health checked over, he lives out 24/7 only coming in for short periods when it is very hot or cold and wet, he is feed a low energy, low starch forage based diet.
He neighs, even if he can see other horses, refuses to concentrate and gets very spooky right from the start sometimes he will calm down after 30 minutes or so but until then I struggle to make him listen to me.
I take rescue remedy before I school him so that i'm not nervous or tense and am having regular lessons on a schoolmaster so know that I am asking him to do things correctly but am beginning to find, this very frustrating :(
He is green in the school and generally lacks confidence although he has improved and now hacks out reasonably confidently, but I find it hard to do all my schooling whilst hacking and the other day he was so bad whilst I was lunging him he was spooking at the sand and trying to run backwards. I really am at my wits end as this is very different from when he has been nappy or trying it on:(