CHALLENGE: Excitable or anxious horses (Leisure Horse or Hack)

Given the busy working lives of many owners, leisure and hack horses may only be ridden intermittently, just at weekends for example. Some horses may be fresh or excitable when ridden infrequently and it is helpful to be able to reduce anxiety and excitement.

RECOMMENDATION: SUPER CALM PASTE

SUPER CALM PASTE contains magnesium and tryptophan which may help to calm anxious horses. Tryptophan crosses from the blood into the brain where it is converted to serotonin. Serotonin has an anti-anxiety effect. The effect of tryptophan is horses is variable between horses but in some horses, a single dose was shown to reduce increases in heart rate and cortisol (the stress hormone) following a startle. During muscle contraction and nerve stimulus and excitation calcium enters the nerve and muscle cells, magnesium then pushes the calcium out of the cell and the muscle relaxes and the nerve impulse subsides. If there is insufficient magnesium, nerves may remain in their excited state. Horses supplemented with magnesium showed a trended towards decreased responsiveness to a moving object.