I have a new mare that's a bit flighty. I don't know her well yet, and people have suggested that an herbal supplement may work. Anyone have experience with these?

I've had some success with herbal supplements but keep in mind that the ingredients in most of them will likely be banned by shows. My mare got really difficult during her first sping and last Oct and Dec seasons. I put her on RelaxHer, which really did the trick. It has valerian and some other herbs, and I take valerian for my back spasms. My horse gets terrible back pain during her bad seasons (it's hte only time she bucks, and she bucks really wickedly then!), so my feeling was that valerian would make her feel better like it does me while taking off that wacky edge. It works well, and I don't keep her on it...just for the times I know she'll be insane. You might want to see if this horse you're riding is acting up during her season. Her back could be bothering her. During show season, when she starts bucking or acting up, I have a massage therapist work on her back, and that fixes it.

I tried valerian based products like Relax Her for my mare, but she didn't like the smell and would refuse to eat her feed. (Valerian smells, even the people formulas smell.) I tried adding molasses but I think that made her more hyper. I ended up going with quiessence pellets and a hilton herb formula based mostly on chamomile. I really liked the hilton herbs because it was basically dried flowers instead of powder and my horse ate them out of my hand. I think you can use a valerian free formula in relax (instead of relax her). I also think hilton herbs changed their formulas, so you should probably check what their offerings are. I haven't gotten those supplements recently so not sure what's out there now.

My friend swears by rescue remedy for trailering and taking her horse to clinics. She uses it on her cats too. You can get it in a regular people supplement store and just dab on their nose a few drops or place a few drops in their water bucket -- just 3 - 4 drops.

If you need to calm down a mare or gelding while improving their trainability, reduce flightyness I would strongly suggest Mare Magic. MM is 100% raspberry leaves, can be used at shows, improves mental focus, reduces stress, calms, gets rid of theat moody mare syndrome , tightens and tones uterous and keeps mares cycling all season. I use this product to keep my broodmares cycling all season and it is AMAZING!!! does not dope them at all and really gives you a nice thinking calm horse again. It works great on geldings , although I havent tried as I wont own one. This is very cost effective one 8oz bag lasts one horse 2 months and the bags retail for about 16.00.

I will have to give that stuff a try it sounds really neat and I have never heard or read about it.. How long has it been on the market?

And the rasberry leaves are the main drive of the product? Natural is always the way to go if you can. I truly believe God has made something tangable to cure all illness. We just need to find them and keep them not allow all the power companies to buy and bury there lab results.

I have been using it for several years. You can get it a www.valleyvet.com
It is ONLY Raspberry leaves. You can also search online for it to find suppliers.

that magic mare stuff sounds really cool I think I might try it.

I knew a lady who had Egyptian arabs (she has a little ranchette in Egypt) and fed straight chamomile as a natural relaxant. (Like the chamomile tea we might drink for stress relief!) She swore by it.

Interesting thing and an aside...they don't feed horses in Egypt the way we do. The lady told me that the horses get fed whatever is in season at that time. When I was there, she was feeding palm fronds and dates to her horses as feed.

If you are going to use this type of treatment, you still have to be careful.
Just because herbs are natural doesn’t mean they are harmless. The misuse can cause harm. you have to follow label instructions and veterinary advice on usage, as overdosing could pose a risk to your horse. Don’t combine too many products, either.
Now, if you want something to relax your horse, you could use, Chamomile or Valerian, or maybe Aspen (is great for horses that "spook" very easily, and for the very nervous or anxious horse)

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