Tell me about Omega Alpha Premare

[Weezer]

A 24 year old OTTB mare joined my small herd almost two years ago. She has calmed down a lot since she first got here, but she still has occasional days where she is dangerously spooky and difficult to handle. In between those days, she is sweet and gentle, but always ready to run.

I’ve always assumed that those spooky days are just her being a TB, but maybe there are some hormonal issues going on? My other horses are quiet QHs, including a mare, and I don’t have much experience with breeds other than QH.

Should I consider premare as a daily supplement to take the edge off? Is it something that can be given over the long term, or is it just for short term use.

[Scribbler]

@Weezer

A 24 year old OTTB mare joined my small herd almost two years ago. She has calmed down a lot since she first got here, but she still has occasional days where she is dangerously spooky and difficult to handle. In between those days, she is sweet and gentle, but always ready to run.

I’ve always assumed that those spooky days are just her being a TB, but maybe there are some hormonal issues going on? My other horses are quiet QHs, including a mare, and I don’t have much experience with breeds other than QH.

Should I consider premare as a daily supplement to take the edge off? Is it something that can be given over the long term, or is it just for short term use.

The supplement you mention is various herbs.

If you want a real trial about hormones put her on Regumate for 3 months and see if there’s a change.

Also TB are hard wired to run and in a pasture are quite capable of deciding they need to run sprint laps 3 times a day. That’s just inherent.

If a horse is spooky and hard to handle, I would suggest daily focused ground work plus making sure they have the opportunity to work off their energy in turnout. You don’t say how she is kept or what she is used for. Management has a huge impact on TB.

[StormyDay]

I think we need more info.

How long per day is she turned out? How big is the turnout? Is she ridden? How many days and what do you do? What is she being fed? Have her eyes been checked for issues? Has she been scoped for ulcers/done a ulcerguard test? Any injuries? Does she have arthritis?

[Weezer]

I’m really curious to know about other people’s experience with this particular product - Omega Alpha Premare. I’ve had good success with some of their other products.

[Mouse_amp_Bay]

I’ve used it for their first seasons (March ish) to help settle and regulate.

Did it make a huge difference? No.

Did it help settle them and make them more comfortable? Yes.

I do not use it year round. Only when they seem tender and ouchy and need a little help. Kinda like Advil for me! Honestly, worth a shot. Try a bottle, see if it helps. I would certainly do that before I considered something as potent and dangerous (to humans!) as Regumate. No need for a bazooka when a fly sweater might do the trick. Also, of course, worth having a chat with your vet.

Edited to add, with the sensitive twitchy ones you may also want to consider trialing magnesium supplements (sometimes they are low); trying vitamin B; and/or, increasing vitamin E fi they do not have access to a lot of green grass. Follow the scientific method, try one at a time and keep notes. Sometimes it is an actual deficiency, not just them being them. Your vet - and bloodwork - can help sort this out.

[Feathered_Feet]

@Weezer

I’ve always assumed that those spooky days are just her being a TB, but maybe there are some hormonal issues going on? My other horses are quiet QHs, including a mare, and I don’t have much experience with breeds other than QH.

I don’t know anything about the supplement you propose, but I agree with Scribbler that you should try regumate and see if that helps. My young warmblood was very spooky and tense, and within 3 days of starting regumate she just relaxed in a way I’d never seen before. The spooking decreased 85%, and she could finally let her neck “drape” under saddle. She’s still a spicy tamale, but just hot and focused, not tense and wired up, flinching at shadows every 10 steps. Mind you, this was never a nasty mare, so I had always assumed it was just a training thing and didn’t consider regumate until a fair amount of prodding from barn mates. It turns out she was just really uncomfortable.

[Weezer]

Thanks for the tips. I will look into bloodwork - I had never considered deficiencies as a possible cause.

In the meantime, I will pick up a bottle of Premare and give it a try - nothing to lose.

[Weezer]

This is interesting. I’ll have to look into the cost of regumate and talk to the owner if I want to go that route. Owner lives far away so is not involved in small daily decisions, but does want to be consulted prior to big financial decisions. It’s funny that last night she was a bit crazy at dinner time. Almost to prove my point with this post. In her defence, it was VERY windy out.

[Feathered_Feet]

The other thing worth checking is if she’s on any supplement with MSM? There are several threads on here about it making some horses reactive/spooky. Your descriptions almost sound like that “crawling out of their skin” type of spookiness which sounds a lot to me like how my horse was on MSM.

[Weezer]

That’s interesting. She is on a supplement with MSM. I’ll have to look into other options for arthritis treatments. These TBs are so complex!

[Feathered_Feet]

Curious how long she’s been on it. I probably started to see hyper-reactivity with mine ~ a few weeks into feeding MSM; others on here (I think) have reported changes as quickly as a few days. Once I took her off of it she was back to normal within a few days. And this happened to me/her twice, several years apart, before I finally just chucked the supplement in the trash

[Weezer]

She’s been on it for almost two years. I started her on it shortly after she arrived so I didn’t really notice a change in behaviour - she was very flighty during her transition into the new herd. The supplement did make a huge difference, though because she was extremely stiff from arthritis when she arrived. If I can’t find another good, inexpensive arthritis supplement, I think I’d rather deal with her hot behaviour than watch her creak around in pain.

[Feathered_Feet]

Ah seems unlikely it’s the msm then I’d be more inclined to think some kind of endocrine changes then, at her age.