Hi Beryl,

I wrote you a long letter a while ago regarding my daughter’s pony who stresses in the horsebox and battles to keep condition. You recommended I try Calm Mix. Your agent in Durbanville, I think Amanda, delivered it to me at Cape Hunt & Polo Club about two weeks ago. We started Shadow on it on the Monday morning.

I can’t begin to tell you what a difference this product has made! By the Wednesday, Bianca was telling me that he was so much more relaxed (almost lazy) in his lessons. On the Saturday he went to the Pony Club Inter-Regional Open Equitation Team event where they were placed first – receiving their South African Pony Club Colours. That same day they did their dressage test for the Intermediate Eventing and were lying first! This was quite a change from usually lying almost last. They picked up no penalties in the cross-country and went clear in the show jumping – to win the class. Needless to say, my daughter is over the moon.

This past weekend was the Charka Showing Festival at Cape Hunt & Polo Club. Bianca entered, but not expecting anything, as the week after eventing, he is usually still looking for the jumps and so hot that he cannot contain himself in the showing ring. Well, what a different picture – they won the Open Working Hunter and the Championship Class. They also won the Open Working Riding, as well as the Championship Class. Then they were placed second in the Intermediate Equitation!

Bianca says that he is an absolute angel in her lessons, as he is now relaxed enough to concentrate and she can learn more complicated dressage movements. What a bonus!

So, thank you very much for a wonderful product. We are proud to be Herbal Horse converts!

Kind regards,
Karla Burton

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Hi Beryl,

The Calm mix worked great! I noticed a difference the next
day already! Now it sounds suspicious to say that, but I
know my horse and I could see it worked like nothing else
I've seen before. She was so much more patient, she kept
her rhythm beautifully when we worked ... a lot less
anxious!

Jen

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The Calm Mix has made such a difference.  She's not dopey, just more a horse now than frenzy of nerves. She has sweetened up a lot.  First time I put a saddle on her she tried to take a chunk out of my arm.  Now it goes from pulling face to just standing there (though that is rare).  In the paddock she comes to me when she sees me (compared to pure indifference before), so there's definite improvement.

I love your products.  They don't act the way medicines do where I feel that I'm creating a chemical imbalance in the horse.  Rather, they have a quick but subtle effect that just brings out something better in my animals.  I've used Farrier's mix, Show mix and now Calm mix and I can vouch for the effectiveness of all of those.

Yolande

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I started taking T to shows about 2 months ago after some time off after hurting my knee. The first show was a disaster. While we came 4th in the first class she bucked me off in the 2nd.

The next show was almost as bad - she was in season and there were 4 very hunky stallions around. She was a total monster. In fact I wasn't sure we were going to halt at x let alone stay in the arena. We survived just!

The next show I decided to arm myself with some of your Calm mix. I started her on it a week before - 2 scoops a day and the day before upped it to 4 in a day 2 in the morning and 2 at night. Off we went to the show and lo! my mare stayed with me the whole time - she was a little lacking in sparkle but
it was 30 degrees and she had had a LOT of CM. So the next w/e was this last weekend past and I tempered my dose a little 1 scoop at each meal for two days before and 2 scoops on the morning. We won the first class with 70% and 3rd in the second class with 66%. I rode a bit badly in the 2nd class - I suspect if I ridden just slightly better she would have won that as well.

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Hi Beryl,

I used it for a race this past weekend and I think it did help.  It was a Christian barrel race and they always have ministry before the race starts and the ministry was near the gate to enter the arena.  Normally she wouldn't be able to stand there without getting a little fussy and anxious.

She actually stood there and was so able to relax she was almost falling asleep.

Thanks a million
Nikki

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Hi Beryl,

Just wanted to let you know that the calm mix has done wonders. Kerri said that it was like riding a different pony, she didn't rush the jumps as she had before and slowed much easier in between the jumps. She achieved first place in one of her events.

Kind Regards
Susan

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... I would also like to add that I am extremely impressed with your product.

My Appaloosa mare reacts quite badly to maize in her diet but the yard at which she is currently stabled is not keen to buy in a maize free mix. Donna's behavior has deteriorated to such an extent that even schooling at home became a nightmare of spooks and competing with my daughter in dressage a disaster. After a week of Calm Mix they achieved 60% in two tests having come home with 50 max. from shows over the past year.

Regards
Wendy

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Morning Beryl.
This is super service, never had an agent who followed up on product satisfaction. I have found that since my horse has been on Calm mix, he no longer barges for his feed, has stopped being silly in his stable and no longer jumps from under me whilst schooling or hacking out. I am using 1 scoop for 2 weeks, then knocking down to half and will watch the results. He is still excited and a little nervous going out but not so "pulley".

Thanks.
Fay.

My stallion went well at the recent show after having been put on the Calm Mix. So I am well pleased. Will be ordering more soon.

Liz Day

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Hi Beryl

Some feedback on my horse's performance at Saterdays Endurance. I have now had him on Calm mix for 2 weeks and Endurance mix for 1 week.

We did an 80km ride. Usually he is very excited/hot the first 20km - on Saterday he was still a bit excited but I did not have to hold him back as much, he still wanted to overtake the horse in front of him at a faster pace - but at least he was controllable. We finished 4th, rode Springbok/National time of 22.7km per hour and he finished with a heart rate of 54 - it was very humid and the vets were quite happy with this - I am sure he will improve the longer he is on both of your products.

Thanks
Charmaine.

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Dear Beryl

I wrote to you some time ago re my horse CL and just wish to give you some feedback.

He was a little to difficult for me to handle in that he was easily excited and could get hot. Well I have been giving him a half a scoop of Calm mix and I am now able to work with him. We do not spend three quarters of the session fighting and I have become confident enough on him to be able to start jumping without feeling I am sitting on an overwound spring.

Your product is really great. Thanks a stack.

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I started giving Queen some of your calming mixture on Saturday (1 spoon once a day). She was due to start her 'period' on Tuesday. I rode on Wednesday and deliberately walked her past one of the geldings who is always after her - she didn't bat an eyelid - I rode again last night and did the same thing, even stopping in front of him and waiting for her to wink at him - still nothing. I will ride tomorrow and see how she is.

There does seem to be some sort of change - if this mixture stops her from being so 'mareish' at that time of the month it will be wonderful.

A few days later:

Just giving you another update on your formula - it works! I can honestly say that it definitely made a difference. This is great. Please let me know when you have made a batch - I would definitely like a tub or two.

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The horse we gave the Calm mix to is an eight year old Thoroughbred currently competing at C grade level. Although he is athletic and quick thinking, his temperament tends to work against him as he is very over the top and seems to live in a constant state of alertness, sometimes even tension.

He hardly ever relaxes or lets down, which manifests itself in the following ways:

• Weight control: He battles to settle to eat and has to be left alone for a long time to clean up his feed.
• It is a struggle to get condition on him and he can drop it very quickly. The reasons for this are probably due to his eating habits, and partly due to his restless nature, which has him on the move constantly.
• Paddock behaviour: He is very coltish and will spend probably half his paddock time galloping around, calling, rearing and spinning and bucking at play. While this is lovely to watch, we would like to see him relax a bit more and also worry about him hurting himself.
• At rest in the box: He seems to find it very hard to let go and relax, and even on last rounds of the boxes at night, you have to be very careful to approach his box and let him know you are coming, otherwise he gets startled and will spook in the box. In the day, when resting in the box, he is constantly alert and will neigh for you or bang his legs on the door to get your attention and make you come over to him. However, he is quite an appealing horse in that he loves attention and is very affectionate.
• Ridden work: He is very impetuous and anticipates aids and movements. Mentally he's also very hard on himself and seems to take it very much to heart if he does something wrong - he hates to kick a pole out and needs a lot of praise and fuss. He can be quite fussy in his mouth and is a strange combination of being sensitive and mouthy, but at the same time quite strong and forward going. On outrides he bucks constantly, even at the walk, and when he turns for home can become a bit of a handful. In the ring,he is a showman and seems to feel the atmosphere a lot, but unfortunately his impetuosity can make it difficult to place him correctly at jumps and he sometimes runs into trouble at combinations through this as he tends to quicken through the second element.
• Transport: Although he loads very willingly, he doesn't travel well in that he kicks a lot in the box and usually arrives at the venue sweated up.

We introduced the calm mix as a single scoop in the week, with double scoop the day before an event, and a single scoop in the breakfast ration on the day of the show (usually 5am).

General observations are as follows:

• Although his general live wire behaviour hasn't been eliminated completely, we have noticed a definite toning down in his overall demeanour. He seems to settle quicker in the paddock and spend more time grazing and relaxing. Although his eating habits remain the same, there has been a slight improvement in the weight he's carrying, which is probably due to a general calming down in his general behaviour. I would anticipate that this effect would become more marked the longer we kept him on the mix. We mix the scoop well into the hard ration and add a handful of hominey chop on the top and he seems to find it quite palatable, although it still takes him a long time to finish up - but this is probably an idiosyncrasy he has that will remain with him as it is so ingrained now. He's also easier for the grooms to lead out to lunge and put out, as although he still plays around a bit, it is not as extreme as formerly when there was a fair amount of barging, spooking, bucking and head shaking etc.
• In his ridden work, there is definitely a difference - he seems better able to focus on his work and able to answer more questions without losing his calm and focus. For example, at a recent show he jumped an upright on the angle in the jump off and not only cleared it and approached it calmly and keenly, but landed and turned and carried on in a good frame of mind. This is typically the kind of thing that would make him very excited and potentially have the next fence down. Although his bridle has not been changed in a any way, he seems stiller in his head carriage and there is not as much head tossing, snatching etc.
• Boxing: He is still kicking in the box, but the sweating up also seems to have subsided a fair degree.

General impressions:

The calm mix has not changed this horse's personality at all - he is still a bright, appealing, energetic horse. But it has modified his behaviour very positively in that it seems to have calmed down some of the more extreme aspects of his behaviour. He seems calmer and more content. Perhaps the best way to sum it up was that previously he was like a hyper active child, and now he seems more like just a very active, sensitive person! We werevery pleased with the mix and detected no side effects. The positive effects would presumably be cumulative and you could get a better result the longer you used it - we will certainly continue with it.

Thanks again Beryl - fantastic product.

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Calm mix has had a really great affect on Diego. We've noticed a definite improvement under saddle. We had a very hairy ride on Sunday, with one dog being attacked by a bull Terrier, a canter (he hasn't cantered out in about a year) and Diego behaved very well. No side-effects that we could see. Still forward going and fine. Rode him for the first time under lights on Monday. Nice, calm, well-behaved horse, willing to move forward. So my verdict is: it works! I'm also seeing that he is calmer in the stable, so it seems to be helping that as well.

This stuff is GOOD!

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I only had L on Calm mix for about 2 weeks and in those weeks I saw a remarkable difference. I'm not riding him because I just don't have the time for two horses. When B arrived and I put him on it. He seemed really laid back so I took him off it and next thing I knew, he'd spend the entire day pacing the fence, wouldn't eat his hay. He'd just walk up and down, up and down. You can imagine that he lost weight with all that pacing and no grazing... He's now been back on it for a week and the difference is even visible to my non-horsey family!