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 Member
Posts: 10
| I know this is a barrel racing forum but I need advice on a calming supplement for a 9 year old mare that is used for barrel racing sometimes but mainly a heeling horse and she's HOT! Not out of control, she doesn't buck or rear she's not gate sour or box sour. She just wants to GO! She gets so worked up and wants to go so bad that she bounces in the box and makes it hard to get a smooth start. We ride her 4/5 days a week and her warm up is normally every bit of 45 mins and she's still bouncing down the arena wanting to GO! We use Equi-Sure and it's great at making sure she stays hydrated when we travel but it doesn't work to calm her. So any advice on other supplements would be welcome. |
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Veteran
Posts: 111
| My mom put my dad's heel horse on the Redmond Daily Gold supplement this winter, and it made a huge difference with her.
She was hot - not ignorant or stupid- she just knew her job and wanted to do it and was all throttle. This really focused her and settled her down, plus her coat and condition looked great all winter.
http://www.redmondequine.com/shop/daily-gold-stress-relief/ |
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 Owner of a ratting catting machine
Posts: 2258
| Chlorpromazine. |
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 Take a Picture
Posts: 12841
 
| I would check for soundness, first. Ropers do not believe in this much. It sounds to me like she just wants to get it over with because of pain.
Do you score steers on the horse. Sounds to me like she has never sat there while you scored them. Just run run run. |
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Expert
Posts: 1280
Location: Texas | What does her total feeding program consist of? |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 695
Location: Missouri | What is your feeding program? Also we use animal element products on our barrel and rope horses. The all get the detox but we have a heel horse that will also get some In the zone which helps him tremendously. He is a nervous type horse and it would take a few runs to get him to settle and work good, my SIL says that when he has the ITZ his first run is like he was before after his tenth run! So he loves it and they will not leave home with out it!
message me if you would like more info |
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Member
Posts: 10
| Shes completely sound we are extremely pro active with the care of our horses. Shes on alfalfa grass mix, she's very hard to keep weight on. She ridden out in the pasture to gather cattle and just out and about so shes not constantly in the arena. When being practiced on she runs at the most a dozen runs and shes scored quite a bit, so it's not just run after run. |
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 Expert
Posts: 3815
Location: The best kept secret in TX | Has she been treated for ulcers both in the stomach and in the hind gut?
Ulcer guard or gastro guard will treat the stomach. Something like Equi-sure should treat hindgut. Or at least that's what I'm told.
Get her on a maintence dose of a stomach soother after the initial treatment period. Equi-sure is $125 for treatment period and a few weeks after with a maintence dose. It's very cheap compared to some methods.
Aloe Vera, papaya juice, and slippery elm are also good if you're looking for a natural stomach soother.
I use Calming pellets by Formula 707 a lot. I would suggest looking into a paste as well as a feed through after you treat and maintain ulcers as far as a calming supplement goes. Feed through for daily use, paste for day of event. Always give a little extra stomach soother during competition day as well.
Keep in mind any feed or hay with sugars will upset a nervouc horse. If you are concerned your hay is sugary you can always soak. Alfala cubes are better than pellets when you need to find a "feed" to add supplements too. Soak the cubes then add the powders and it will stick.
She may be hard to keep weight on because of ulcers.
OH! And welcome to BHW!  
Edited by IRunOnFaith 2017-04-05 1:51 PM
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Member
Posts: 10
| We were concerned she had ulcers but she's been seen (beginning of March) and has no ulcers but we do use Equi-sure on a regular basis. Shes given some before and after every ride as a preventative (our vet is a firm believer in Equi-Sure)
Unfortunately shes a pain in a** when it comes to feeding her! She's worse then both my kids combined! She hates grass and picks the alfalfa out, she does alright on cubes they're just really hard to get where we live so its not a sustainable option for reliable feed. We had her on straight alfalfa which worked great for keeping weight on her but she's already so hot we felt it was making it worse so we switched her to a 50/50 mix and like i already stated she picks the alfalfa out and leaves the grass then stomps it in the mud then looks at you like oops guess I need more :)
Edited by kbefus 2017-04-05 2:15 PM
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 Tried and True
Posts: 21185
Location: Where I am happiest | Magnesium! We have one that was just like what yours sounds like and we put her on Magnesium suppliment and it made all the difference in the world on her. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1074
| My husband's heeling horse is the same way. She's all business and so excited to work that she gets fired up. He has learned that if he will coast her around the arena once or twice and get it out of her system, she calms down and works perfect. He feels like an idiot for doing it, but she's calm and focused afterwards. If you don't do it, you are constantly fighting her to stand in the box. He scores plenty on her, but the coasting thing helps the most. |
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 Zeal Queen
Posts: 3826
Location: TEXAS | My gelding is appendix bred so he WANTS to run. He would get so hot and nervous in the alley and then just take off with me to the first mostly out of control. I put him on magnesium and Bev's calm and ready and now he WALKS down the alley and I kick him to go!!! 
ETA: Bev's is so affordable too!!! |
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Married to a Louie Lover
Posts: 3303
| I would give Magneisum a go. It's cheap and can make a world of difference. I take it myself and have noticed a difference in muscle recovered etc. |
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Expert
Posts: 1586
Location: west of East Texas | Where do you get magnesium for horses? Is it powder? pellets? |
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