Herbs for Horses

[Holly Brown]

Hi,

I'm wondering if anyone has their horses on herbs or knows anyone that uses herbs.

I have a 12 year old appaloosa gelding and we would like to put him on some sort of herb to calm him down a bit. He's really really hyper.

If anyone has any advice or suggestions that would be great.

Thanks.

[Jackie Cochran]

I would look to your feed first. Does your feed have a lot of alfalfa in it? Feed-efficient horses often get hyper if they are fed too much protein. Cut your protein down to 10%, most riding horses do not need more than that. If there are too many calories many horses will get hyper rather than fat. Overfeeding causes a lot of the problems people have handling their horses.
I have never used herbs to calm down my horses, I always adjusted their feed as needed. Since my horses were spirited Arabs, part Arabs and an extremely spirited Paso Fino I think that this approach is valid. And I always kept my horses at a healthy weight, just not too fat.
I hope this helps even if it is not about herbs.

[Barnmice Admin]

Hi Holly,
This is a great opportunity for me to direct you Patti from Omega Alpha on our site. She is a specialist in all areas of herbs and is also a wonderful supporter of our community! :)
p.s. She uses a lot of the Omega Alpha products on herself!

[Kay Aubrey-Chimene]

Hi Holly - we have used herbs here with our facility for over 15 years. We use them instead of wormers, bute, and antibiotics (most of the time). I a fussy about where my herbs come from, use only human grade and preferably ones raised domestically or from companies such as the Amazon Herb Company where they pay for hand inspection of the herbs. Most herbs from China are irradiated or covered in pesticides to bring them into the country.

Amazon Herb Company has a great product called "Calmazon" that does not test so can be used in competition. As little as a tsp to a tbsp can calm a horse down really well. Also make sure that your nutritional program includes a vitamin/mineral supplement with plenty of bio-available magnesium.

I also completely agree with Jackie - NO alfalfa. To high of protein makes horses hot and achy.

Kay Aubrey-Chimene, RMT
Bio-Nutritional Consultant
Grand Adventure Ranch
Holistic Equine Wellness & Recovery Center
www.grandadventuresranch.com

[jenal]

I have used Wendells Herbs for that exact thing...I believe it was called 'calmer" and also a stronger one called "super calmer"?? I think....I used the stronger one for awhile, till I saw a big difference in my over the top Hanoverian, then I switched him to the ordinary calmer...I've never used anything that worked better...

I have also tried Herbs for Horses and that was pretty good too, if you can't find Wendells herbs.

[Geoffrey Pannell]

Hi Holly, All the herbs in the world wont make much difference unless you take Jackie's advice first! Appaloosa's are not very hot horses as a rule, so I would be thinking that the horse is getting more than it needs from the feed it recieves. What is the feed ration that you are giving your horse daily, and what is in the paddock( how much grass) ? There are a lot of products on the market that will help , however they are expencive and if all you need to do is adjust the feed ration then you will have more money in your pocket and less fiss in your horse. Cheers Geoffrey

[Jennifer Lamm]

One calmer that is an herb is Valerian. You can take it, your horse can take it and so can your dog.... :) For people with A blood types it is a sleeping aid. I take a teeny bit sometimes when I ride...

For my horses I get it from the Myrtle Tree in Montrose. The lady there is a horse lady...

JL

[Holly Brown]

Thanks for all the replys. It's not his feed at all though. He was born on our farm, never left, it's just him...his mom was a QH racer, all her bloodlines are racing bloodlines, that's where he gets his spunk.
There is like absoultely no grass left in the field he's in so it's not from the grass, the hay he gets is just a grass hay because we have miniatures and they can't really have anything but grass hay. and he only gets a little tiny bit of sweet feed daily, we've had him off feed before for about a year and made no difference.

We've had some people we know recommend Wendells herb calmer so i think we might try that.

[Kay Aubrey-Chimene]

Is he getting a vitamin/mineral supplement? (and I DON"T mean a mineral block). Magnesium is used by the body to relax the muscles and calm the mind. Being in balance nutritionally can really calm a horse.

Kay Aubrey-Chimene, RMT
Bio-Nutritional Consultant
Grand Adventure Ranch
Holistic Equine Wellness & Recovery Center
www.grandadventuresranch.com

[Jackie Cochran]

I am glad you have been feeding him sanely.
Is he hyper all the time or just when ridden? If the later I would check the fit of your tack. One hyper horse I rode really calmed down when I changed his bit to one that was wide enough for his mouth.
Otherwise, wet saddle blankets (through WORK) can really help. This is what I used on my absolutely crazy 7/8 Arab mare, riding her everyday calmed her down, and I would have REAL exciting rides if I skipped a day.

[Holly Brown]

No he only has a salt lick in his stall.

And he's just generally a crazy horse lol. He's just high strung. He's getting so much better though even without herbs. I did switch bits and it worked a bit. About a year ago i switched him from western to english and that even helped, he prefers english. I also got him a riser to take pressure off his withers and spine and that helped too. He has alot of attitude being ridden and those things i did seemed to help but because he has all those racing bloodlines he still has spunk.

[Jackie Cochran]

This is sounding more like a saddle fit issue. Are his spine and withers real prominent? Uncomfortable tack can turn even a docile horse insane, and when you add race lines it can be worse. But I think you may be blaming the racing line for too much. Bad backs can make humans real touchy and cranky, and if your horse has a permament back ache he is going to have a lot of attitude while being ridden no matter what his bloodlines are.
I have had great success with the Corrector Pad (thecorrector.net) with saddles that don't fit quite right. This web site has great content on sore backs, including instructions so you can be sure that the back is the problem. I really like this pad system, I own 4 and have bought one each for the stables where I ride, and I plan to buy two more.
Once you deal with the saddle issue, you may have to go back to the bitting. With one horse I rode I tried 6 or seven bits, and he was comfortable only with 3 of them (mullen mouth snaffle, & 2 correctly positioned Dr. Bristol snaffles--DO NOT PUT A DR. BRISTOL ON UPSIDE DOWN.) You may have to try several--try borrowing. The other alternative is a cross-under bitless bridle. I had success with the cross-under with the hottest, most sensitive horse I had ever ridden (this horse did not need much excuse to accelerate rapidly and refused to slow down.) Again, try to borrow one first, but make sure it fits him!!! The second hottest horse I've ridden responded well to a Kimberwick bit once I changed her saddle to one that fit her.
I know this is not herbs, and it is not an easy answer. But once you get them comfortable, these more sensitive horses can become absolutely wonderful to ride.

[Holly Brown]

I have a bitless bridle, a nutural, he's likes it but i don't use it too often as he is too strong and it's harder to control him with it. I'm not really sure it the saddle that is making him this way...he's been like this since day one, the day he was born he was always just spunky. Even when i ride him bareback he's still got his spunk, it's just him. He would rather just run than work at a walk and trot.