TopSpec Calmer – 3kg Calming Supplement for Anxious Horses

TopSpec Calmer – 3kg

TopSpec Calmer is a caramel-flavoured powder built on magnesium, declared at 4.7%, with tryptophan at 20,000mg/kg and the three B vitamins most tied to nervous system function — thiamine, niacin and pyridoxine. TopSpec are explicit that it contains only natural ingredients and no herbs, which keeps it usable where herbal calmers are not.

It also carries live yeast and mannan oligosaccharides, and that is deliberate rather than filler. B vitamins are made by the microbes in the horse's hindgut rather than absorbed from the bucket, so a horse with a disrupted gut is often a horse short of them. TopSpec state that Calmer conforms to the BETA UFAS NOPS code for HRA and competition use.

Performance & Benefits

• Magnesium declared at 4.7%, supplied as magnesium sulphate.
• Tryptophan at 20,000mg/kg — the amino acid precursor to serotonin.
• Thiamine (B1), niacin and pyridoxine (B6) as declared vitamin additives.
• Live Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast and mannan oligosaccharides for hindgut function.
• Natural ingredients with no herbs, and conformity with the BETA UFAS NOPS code for HRA and competition use.
• Caramel flavoured, which gets it eaten by horses that spit out unflavoured magnesium.

Suitable For

• Anxious, nervous or excitable horses and ponies in regular work.
• One-off stressors — travelling, a first show, clipping, box rest, a change of yard.
• Horses whose tension appears alongside digestive upset.
• Competition horses, given the NOPS conformity.
• Not a substitute for correct feeding: a horse fizzing on a high-starch feed needs the feed changed first, and TopSpec FibrePlus Cubes or UlsaKind Cubes are the low-starch options we stock.

Feeding

• A 3kg tub lasts a 500kg horse one month, which works out at roughly 100g a day.
• Mix into a damp feed — TopSpec specifically recommend damp rather than dry.
• Divide the daily amount between meals where the horse is fed more than once.
• Introduce gradually so the horse accepts the caramel flavour.
• Ensure clean, fresh water is always available.

Composition & Analysis

• Composition: wheatfeed, magnesium sulphate, calcium carbonate, mannan oligosaccharides, sodium chloride, vegetable oil.
• Additives: vitamins thiamine (B1), niacin and pyridoxine (B6); amino acid tryptophan at 20,000mg/kg; sepiolite clay; Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
• Analytical constituents: calcium 4.4%, phosphorus 0.4%, magnesium 4.7%, sodium 1.1%, crude protein 10.3%, crude fat 1.6%, crude fibre 2.3%, crude ash 42%.
• 3kg tub. Also sold by TopSpec in 9kg and 20kg.

Care & Caution

• A sudden change in behaviour is more often pain than temperament. Gastric ulcers, dental problems, back pain and ill-fitting tack all present as a horse becoming difficult. Rule those out with your vet before treating it as a calming problem.
• Do not feed alongside a second magnesium supplement without adding up the combined daily intake.