Calming Supplements

tasha

tasha

i'd rather be riding.
Jul 10, 2001
4,088
0
36
Petersfield, Hants., UK
Can anyone recommend a good calming supplement? There's so many out there and they're not cheap, so I'd like to go on recommendations. I just want something that'll calm Kally down a bit. She's already on Cool Mix by Spillers which has helped, but I'd like to see what a supplement would do. Thanks!
 
placid works well, it's one of those herbal ones (naf or hilton) that come in the square transparent boxes. a bit more heavy duty is quietex, which a friend uses on her loopy little welsh b's, they're much nicer now. the difference is in things like they'll now stand tied up without fidgeting, and stand quietly in the box at shows, shy less, that kind of thing.
 
Hey!

You may not agree with what i am about to say but i totally agree with it. ok if you want something to calm your horse i would advise you only use herbs or oils. i wouldnt buy anything such as Quietx or any thing like that cuz they are like tranquilizers. i know a lady at my barn (shes on drugs) and she used to ahve to give her horse Quietx and otehr types or tranquilizers JUST to walk them and since she had to give it to her horse quite often their system came immune to it so you have to keep increasing the doesage to have the control you want and eventually you would be giving them so much that it owuld tranqulize them and kill them, and she actually lost her horse to an overdosage.... thats why i will never use any of that stuff i only believe in herbs and oils. the only time i would use a tranquilzer is if a horse ahd to be put down and i would only use a pain killer is the horse was in seriosu pain. thanks bye!
 
LilCowgirl-I was only thinking of using something herbal, as although I'd like Kally to be calmer, I dont want to drug her up. Also, they are cheaper and a lot of them are fine to use under competition rules.

Also, a horse does not have to be in serious pain to use painkillers though-the effect you describe is exactly the same for humans but I bet you wouldn't think twice to taking asprin for a headache.
 
thiamin..or any sort of vitamin B..is a good thing to settle horses. Some horses just lack that little bit of certain vitamins and whanot. My horse gets thiamin supplements and i have seen a noticable difference in his mood and temperment, its great! I'd recommend it, ive seen it do wonders with high strung horses!
 
Hi Tasha

Herbal mixes or tinctures are quite popular here for alot of different things like calming, arthritis, digestion etc. Valerian is probably one of the stronger ones, but there are others like Chamomile, scullcap or vervain.

There is an article on a NZ site that gives a break down of the various types of herbals that can help different horses which might give you an idea of what you'd like to try. There are a few different articles around this issue on the same site, that might be worth a read.

www.horsetalk.co.nz/health/herbs-nervous.shtml

As others have said, it might be worth looking at Kallys minerals/vitamins as a lack (or an excess) of certain ones, can cause nervousness etc. A lack of magnesium can cause excitedness or nervousness.

Hope the link works!!

Good luck


!!! Sorry the link doesn't work :( dont know what i've done wrong
 
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Quietex is not a tranquilizer. It is a natural mix that they recommend you use to take the edge off your horse in such situations as clipping, loading, or showing. An example of a tranquilizer would be Ace (which is vet only). Ace is used when castrating, operating, etc. Quietex comes in a power or tube form.

When we first got Gator we used Vitamin B on him to take the Arabian edge off him.

Another herb that is not mentioned is Kava Kava. My mom sells herbs at her store and knows about every herb there is. She sells them by capsules but they can be broken open to give animals.
 
camomile tea

I was advised to try Camomile Tea to calm my boy down, especially as he gets really uptight if we are going somewhere. You just brew it up like ordinary tea and let it cool. You can buy bags in the supermarket and it's not too expensive. If you're particularly worried use more bags to make it stronger. I started with two and he was a lot better, but gave more a few hours before going in the trailer, for instance.
 
I will bow to all the posters with first-hand experience, and I hope that everyone understands that I ask the following question without any intention of being vexatious: Do calming supplements really, truly work?

If so....

Why is it that I can drink Camomile tea until I'm fairly sprouting
Camomile branches and still not be the slightest bit calmed? And why can I eat oats and feel even more lethargic than before? I understand that people will say that there are significant differences between human and horse metabolisms but why would a horse, with a larger rated-surface-area than a human, be calmed/energized by such supplements when humans are not?
Unless horses have very different chemical receptors to humans (and they may), surely it all comes down to sugar metabolism?

I can understand that a food comprised largely of simple sugars might quickly offer a surge of energy, but I really don't get how stuff like Camomile - within non-toxic does - can calm anything, much less a large animal.

I'd love to be converted and would be thrilled to learn that there's a solid scientific reason for so many people using these supplements.
 
Adendum:

I've sent an email to a friend who's an equine vet asking her about the efficacy of these supplements - will respond again when I hear from her.
 
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