Q: How is Confidence Plus designed to work and in what types of scenarios do you recommend it?

A: Confidence Plus is an herbal formulation designed to help support the horse’s nervous system. This mix is designed to help relax the horse by addressing anxiety, stress and tension, while still allowing him/her to retain full awareness of his surroundings. The herbs in the mix will not sedate or tranquilize the horse.

At Hilton Herbs we are frequently asked to recommend a calming supplement, and always find it is worth checking that the horse’s behavior is not a result of any of the following: lack of appropriate exercise, too much time spent confined in a stall, lack of freedom to relax outside in the company of other horses, over use of high energy feeds, badly fitting tack, or physical pain. Once you are confident your horse’s behavior is not due to any of these, it is appropriate to consider using an herbal calming supplement.

I recommend and have had great success using Confidence Plus for the following types of scenarios:

• Horses that lack confidence, especially young or immature horses and those being introduced to new training
• For rescue horses that have had previous bad treatment and/or associate humans with fear or discomfort; because the Confidence Plus formula doesn’t sedate the horse, this enables the owners to work with him/her more easily, in order to build up trust and confidence
• Spooky horses and those prone to panic and flee from unseen dangers; owners report that when using Confidence Plus, the horse seems less influenced by things going on around him/her and seems to have an easier time focusing on what the handler/rider is asking
• Horses that tend to be “hot”, over-excited, anxious or worried about their work
• Horses that seem to internalize their stress and are prone to digestive upset; Valerian, Marshmallow and Meadowsweet help to soothe and support the gastrointestinal tract
• Horses on stall rest during a period of recovery (Note that we have another formula called Rest Easy Gold which contains both calming herbs and herbs to help fight inflammation and support recovery, which is worth considering for this scenario)