Calming

Content

Intro

Calming in a nutshell - start here!

A deeper dive - the calming connection

1. Understanding equine fear
2. Practical calming considerations

Principal Body System: Nervous

Definition: Brain, spinal cord, nerves and sense organs, i.e. the eyes and ears.

Function: Regulates body activities through nerve impulses.

Short-term tension or sudden spooks are part of every horse’s natural survival instinct - it's their way of saying “Something might eat me; I’d better run!” But... when fear turns to panic, both horse and human confidence can unravel fast.

Calming is about helping horses feel safe, not suppressed.True calm isn’t achieved through quick fixes or 'instant magic powders', but by supporting the nervous system, gut health, and emotional confidence together.

Does this sound like your horse?

• Tense, spooky, or easily startled in new situations
• Struggles to settle at competitions or hacking out
• Shows short-term anxiety (e.g. clipping, travel, fireworks, box rest)
• Worrying or overreactive temperament, but fine at other times

First steps to help your horse find calm

• Keep forage adlib at all times – empty stomachs create acid and anxiety.
• Feed a small hay net before work to protect the stomach from acid splash.
• Choose low-sugar, high-fibre feeds and balance minerals correctly.
• Encourage positive, force-free desensitisation rather than control or dominance.
• Support the nervous system with natural anxiolytic and nervine herbs – gentle, effective, and non-sedative.
• Check the bigger picture – gut comfort, magnesium balance, hormones, and environment all play key roles.

🚩 Calming red flags & next steps

• Sudden or extreme fear reactions → pause training, ensure no pain, and seek calm handling support.
• Persistent, unprovoked tension → review feed, management, and consider low-grade ulcers or magnesium deficiency.
• Explosive reactions after feed → check starch/sugar content or possible hindgut upset.
• 'Attitude' in mares → may be hormonal. See our Mares page.
• Horse becoming dull, withdrawn, or 'shut down' → see our Stress page.

Bottom line

Calming isn’t about sedation - it’s about restoring comfort and confidence. Short-term fear is natural; chronic stress isn’t. With good management, nutrition, and herbal support, your horse can return to feeling safe, settled, and connected.

Meanwhile...

Here's more of a Deep Dive into the how-and-why of equine calm.

A deeper dive - the calming connection

The equine calmer industry is huge. You just have to look at all the shelves of calmers, all claiming to be the best cure-all to manage every terror our horse experiences, or to calm them in advance of a situation we think they won’t cope with.

It’s hardly surprising – with half a ton of red-zone horse in react mode, leaping in every direction with four potential weapons of mass destruction in one kick, it’s no wonder we turn to something - anything! - to quell our horses’ fears, and hopefully keep us safe alongside them.

However, lest we forget, short-term tension is all part of our horse's natural defence system to a 'perceived threat' - their instincts as a prey animal are telling them to defend themselves and run fast - Now!

But true calm doesn’t come from switching off those instincts - it comes from understanding why your horse feels unsafe. The negative effect is two-fold – first on the horse, in that they're reacting to a situation that to them is blind-panic terrifying. Secondly we feel it too - depending on the degree of the reactions, it can shatter our confidence. From then on both parties end up spooking each other, and haven't we all been there at some time in our life...

1. Understanding equine fear

Horses are prey animals wired for flight - a quick spook at a flapping bird is part of their natural survival system. But when fear escalates or becomes habitual, it can drain energy, confidence, and health - both for horse and rider.

Short-term stress triggers a one-off short-term release of the stress hormones - adrenaline and cortisol, preparing the horse to 'run' - and it happens in a nano-second, so fast that we don't see ít coming. All completely normal. Repeated adrenaline surges without recovery though? This can spiral into chronic stress, gut upset, and metabolic disruption.

In our human world, apparently up to 90% of GP appointments are due to stress-related situations; no surprise as true 'stress' causes profound changes in the body’s biochemistry. For starters, it causes changes in hormone levels, weakens the immune system, and significantly alters cardiac and gut function. The physiological and psychological effects of stress can also continue long after the initial cause. Whatever the trigger, ongoing, long-term, chronic stress threatens the whole of the body’s normal healthy balance.

Stress also uses up much more of the body’s energy resource. Energy levels become depleted because nutrients are being converted to energy that's needed to counter the effects of threat. If balance isn't restored, this then has the knock-on effect of causing the body to become fatigued (nutrient-depleted), which can then lead to further health issues.

For our horses, triggers can include anything from a quick spook at the flappy bird in the trees, to the other extreme - rigid fear. It goes without saying that an approach on our part is to use effective, force-free habituation methods, combined with trying for a better understanding of the causes, working with our horse with positive partnership - not dominance and control - to overcome their fears. And, of course, re-looking at diet, lifestyle, management, and making sure their inner chemistry's balanced.

In short, stress affects every system in the body:

• Hormonal - Cortisol floods the bloodstream and disrupts insulin balance.
• Digestive - Cortisol shuts down digestion and alters gut microbiota.
• Immune - Chronic stress weakens defences, inviting sensitivities or infections.
• Emotional - The horse becomes hyper-alert, reactive, and anxious.

If left unchecked, these changes will lead to fatigue, poor performance, ulcers, metabolic strain... Worse case, eventual shut down, aka chronic stress - which is serious business.

2. Practical calming considerations

1. Feed for calm

An empty stomach equals an anxious horse, and can be a major cause for behavioural issues - just one of many reasons why adlib forage (hay/grazing) should be available at all times. Here's why.

We all know a horse is evolved to be a trickle feeder – it’s hardwired into their DNA to eat all day and all night. This means the stomach is normally always full of food, with the horse constantly chewing, creating saliva which is alkaline in nature which buffers the acid pH balance gradient. But… If a horse runs out of forage - or doesn’t eat for a prolonged period (4hrs or more) - the stomach becomes empty, yet the acid-secreting glands in the stomach keep on producing that red-raw, burning hydrochloric acid.

This is unlike other mammals, i.e humans and dogs, where acid production is programmed to shut down when we don’t eat. Not so in horses. Stomach acid is continually produced, which means really aggressive pH values of 1.3 in an empty stomach compared to a normal 3-4 value. If the horse then moves, this will cause acid splash onto the less protected front section of the stomach where normally it doesn’t reach due to a full stomach of forage. This will instantly burn through the thin mucus layer of the cellular membrane, triggering 'ulceration' - and all because we've let our horse run out of forage, very often overnight with one measly haynet to last them 12-hours or more. Empty stomach = front of stomach squamous ulcers.

Cue cortisol again. Apart from panicking about everything else, a horse will naturally stress if they run out of food, because they're not meant to - ever (that trickle-feeding lifestyle). Which means triggering acidic cortisol again, pumping through the body, which makes the whole body feel like it's burning (the acid effect). And there’s more - one of cortisol's main function is to shut down digestion, so yet another factor helping to disrupt the gut function.

To make matters worse, cortisol also increases blood glucose levels (for energy, to do that fast running-away from the perceived threat), so now we’re talking metabolic disruption with sugar cravings, and excess insulin hormone being pumped into the bloodstream to try and manage the increased blood glucose, but failing epically, so the liver converts it to fat. So now we have a stressed, starving, fat, metabolic, ulcerogenic, gut-disrupted, uncomfortable horse.

2. Never exercise on an empty stomach

Always feed hay 20-minutes or so before work, as an empty stomach during a pressured work routine can increase pressure in the abdomen. This will force stomach acid up onto the unprotected and highly sensitive mucosal layer in the stomach, which normally isn't exposed to corrosive acid.

3. Balance the minerals

Our UK soils are typically deficient in magnesium, a vital mineral that works hand-in-hand with calcium in muscle and nerve function. Low magnesium can cause excitability - not because magnesium 'calms', but because calcium - which fires the muscles into action - needs it for healthy cellular exchange to restore normal nerve and muscle signalling. See our Blog The Great Magnesium Calming Debate  for more info.

4. Feed healthy fats

Feed micronised linseed - linseed not only lubricates the sensitive gut wall with mucilage, but its anti-inflammatory omega-3 fats also help trigger the production of serotonin - the happy hormone - which can be useful in soothing a nervous horse.

5. Reassess management

Stress often hides in management habits - isolation, restricted turnout, harsh training, or inconsistent routines. Calm grows from safety, predictability, and partnership, not pressure.

6. Check for underlying causes

Sometimes 'nervousness' is pain in disguise - ulcers, hormonal imbalance, or metabolic stress can all manifest as tension. Always rule out physical discomfort before assuming behavioural causes.

NB. Mares with 'attitude' could very well be hormonal. Check our Mares chapter if you're experiencing challenging characteristics.

Summary

• True calm = safety, not sedation.
• Feed, gut health, and mineral balance are your starting points.
• Combine gentle desensitisation with natural nervine support.
• Always keep the stomach buffered, the mind engaged, and the environment kind.

The good news? Nature offers a range of nervine and anxiolytic herbs that gently support the nervous system without sedation, able  to  help steady short-term anxiety while supporting neurotransmitter balance and overall nervous resilience.

Ready to explore natural support for your horse’s skin?

Click on the SHOP link below to see our herbal Calming product range.