Nupafeed vs. MagRestore vs other calming supplements?

[SwitchingDisciplines]

Hi guys,

I have a jumper mare that I’m converting to a hunter. She actually goes beautifully as a hunter but it takes an insane amount of show prep. I don’t want to wear her down and I’d like to actually ride my show horse at home once in a while. She’s 95% of the time way too fresh/strong at home. She’s fat and still so fit I cannot exhaust her and she won’t get unfit (I’ve tried lol). I don’t want to use ACTH so are there any recommendations for safe daily calming products that actually work. Any experience with magnesium stuff like Nupafeed or MagRestore?

Thanks!

[SonnysMom]

I use MagRestore but I use it to keep my horse from getting bodysore. It does seem to help with his focus some.

[Scribbler]

How is this unrideability manifesting itself?

It sounds to me like you have a training problem, or a horse/rider mismatch. She is too fresh and strong for you to ride. Can your trainer rider her?

A magnesium deficiency can make a horse spooky, but if the horse has good basic nutrition then extra magnesium will do nothing.

[SwitchingDisciplines]

@Scribbler

How is this unrideability manifesting itself?

It sounds to me like you have a training problem, or a horse/rider mismatch. She is too fresh and strong for you to ride. Can your trainer rider her?

A magnesium deficiency can make a horse spooky, but if the horse has good basic nutrition then extra magnesium will do nothing.

It’s not that I can’t ride her exactly (my trainers obviously more accurate/stronger but the horse is pretty much the same with her). I can make her wait and get her around but she fights and gets all inverted sometimes. I’ve tried letting her pull me past and miss so she learns. That didn’t work really so I typically just have to make the distances happen. I’d like her to be soft and not so ready all the time. We do tons of training with that goal and she’s come super super far from when I bought her last year.

Still if there’s some way to get her a little less jazzed lessons would be so much more fun/productive haha. She’s a big, STRONG, 1.40 jumper so it’s kind of exhausting for my 110 pound amateur self lol. She’s not too spooky and definitely not a pain/anatomical issue.She just LOVES to jump, intense is just her personality (she’s only 8 too).

[Willesdon]

Are you over feeding her? You say she is ‘fat’ and horses gain their energy from their food. Perhaps something less ‘heating’, more roughage, no sugar?

[RAyers]

Ironically a new study out of Australia basically shows that magnesium has no effect on horse reactivity. Most of the effect is on the owner/rider perception of reactivity.

“Magnesium supplementation should not be relied on to modify reaction speed in performance horses.”

[Scribbler]

@SwitchingDisciplines

It’s not that I can’t ride her exactly (my trainers obviously more accurate/stronger but the horse is pretty much the same with her). I can make her wait and get her around but she fights and gets all inverted sometimes. I’ve tried letting her pull me past and miss so she learns. That didn’t work really so I typically just have to make the distances happen. I’d like her to be soft and not so ready all the time. We do tons of training with that goal and she’s come super super far from when I bought her last year.

Still if there’s some way to get her a little less jazzed lessons would be so much more fun/productive haha. She’s a big, STRONG, 1.40 jumper so it’s kind of exhausting for my 110 pound amateur self lol. She’s not too spooky and definitely not a pain/anatomical issue.She just LOVES to jump, intense is just her personality (she’s only 8 too).

Well, the only long term solution is for you to up your game in terms of riding strong forward horses, plus train her to wait and respond a bit. Maybe quite jumping and work on flatwork until you have her more responsive. Eight is young, and its very likely there are holes in her flatwork.

[supershorty628]

If it takes a huge amount of work to make her go as a hunter, perhaps that’s not the right job for her.

[SwitchingDisciplines]

No I’m actually trying everything to get her to lose weight. She gets almost no grain and I switched her to pony hay, but she’s a thick girl haha.

Hmm that’s too bad about the study haha, was hoping there was some truth to the claims

I mean it’s not really an option to stop jumping her haha, that’s kind of what I bought her for. Definitely will continue to work on flatwork but her previous owner was a big man who manhandled her and that takes time to change. She used to take out 2 strides in a line and now would never try that but she is still wayy too much horse to look soft/slow around a course without tons of prep.

I thought that in the start, why force her to be a hunter. But she was kind of traumatized by the old owner and started stopping at 1.40. She’s never done that with me (we never jump over 4’ and rarely over 3’6 so maybe that’s why) and seems to really like the hunters. Plus she’s pretty fancy and I’d like to make it work since we’ve made quite a bit of progress in a year.

Just wondering if anything can help the process along a bit

[vangus19]

I didn’t have great results from Nupafeed for my mare. Turns out she just didn’t want to take part in the hunters (took far too much prep) and has been a great jumper.

[rockonxox]

@SwitchingDisciplines

No I’m actually trying everything to get her to lose weight. She gets almost no grain and I switched her to pony hay, but she’s a thick girl haha.

Hmm that’s too bad about the study haha, was hoping there was some truth to the claims

I mean it’s not really an option to stop jumping her haha, that’s kind of what I bought her for. Definitely will continue to work on flatwork but her previous owner was a big man who manhandled her and that takes time to change. She used to take out 2 strides in a line and now would never try that but she is still wayy too much horse to look soft/slow around a course without tons of prep.

I thought that in the start, why force her to be a hunter. But she was kind of traumatized by the old owner and started stopping at 1.40. She’s never done that with me (we never jump over 4’ and rarely over 3’6 so maybe that’s why) and seems to really like the hunters. Plus she’s pretty fancy and I’d like to make it work since we’ve made quite a bit of progress in a year.

Just wondering if anything can help the process along a bit

Take a step back and focus on the training and the basics (including lots of flatwork) vs the prepping and showing. Yes, you want to jump. Yes, you bought her to show. But… she is young and was with a trainer who really did a number on her per your post. It takes time to restart the foundation. Rome wasn’t built on a day or on supplements, it takes hard work and perhaps missing a part of the show season if you want results vs a quick fix.

[Kottbulle]

I don’t think magnesium calms in the way people want it to calm in a sedative like way. Its not perfect prep. But I do think in horses that are deficient in it, boosting their magnesium helps them not be on edge and their muscles to be better able to relax and not be so tense. if your muscles are sore or tight, you would probably be more reactive to things around you. When my then 10 year old OTTB wouldn’t stand in the cross ties ( always switching sides and pawing) and hated being groomed, I treated for ulcers even though he had not real signs. Once that was finished, I tried the magnesium. You can try a fancy more expensive brand or just start feeding straight up magnesium oxide powder. Shooting for getting 10 grams or more into them and you should notice a difference in 4-5 days, if they are deficient. My guy went from hating being groomed to loving it, and while he was never spooky under saddle, it has seemed to make him more relaxed and focussed. I currently use Quiescence because its a pelletized form and I put him at a boarding facility and wanted his supplements to be easy to feed, i sack my feeds at home, and often felt the straight up pure powder was just ending up sticking to the walls of the feed buckets.

[Scribbler]

@SwitchingDisciplines

Hi guys,

I have a jumper mare that I’m converting to a hunter. She actually goes beautifully as a hunter but it takes an insane amount of show prep. I don’t want to wear her down and I’d like to actually ride my show horse at home once in a while. She’s 95% of the time way too fresh/strong at home. She’s fat and still so fit I cannot exhaust her and she won’t get unfit (I’ve tried lol). I don’t want to use ACTH so are there any recommendations for safe daily calming products that actually work. Any experience with magnesium stuff like Nupafeed or MagRestore?

Thanks!

BTW how would you use ACTH in this situation? Do you mean Ace?

[skipollo]

@Scribbler

Well, the only long term solution is for you to up your game in terms of riding strong forward horses, plus train her to wait and respond a bit. Maybe quite jumping and work on flatwork until you have her more responsive. Eight is young, and its very likely there are holes in her flatwork.

^^^^^^^this

You’ve had her for a year, meaning her old owner was doing 1.40m with her as a 7yo. My guess is she has many many holes in her basics and it’s coming out now in problems over fences.

[SwitchingDisciplines]

@Scribbler

BTW how would you use ACTH in this situation? Do you mean Ace?

No ACE isn’t legal so some people use ACTH to show. Not sure of the mechanism cuz cortisol is a stress hormone but assuming it’s some sort of feedback inhibition on endogenous cortisol production. Gotta be horrible for them in the long run, it’s like inducing cushings.

She’s an import so you know how is is with the height. They were only showing 1.30 but schooling 1.40, still too high.

I assumed it was all placebo with the magnesium haha but have heard so many stories I thought it could be worth a try.

We’re only showing 2 weeks in ohio this winter but are planning on doing a full season this summer. Definitely will be doing a lot of flat work and there are holes in her training. This coming year is my only chance to show a full season so not showing isn’t really an option. I might be making her sound horrible, she’s an 3’6 ammy owner winner with enough prep, just not an easy/packer ride.

It’ll definitely chill out with training/time but I also thing it’s her personality to be a bit intense. Don’t think she’ll ever be a push ride.