What makes ProKalm so special? Connie Dale BSc (Hons) A. Nutr, our Registered Associate Nutritionist, and Anna Jones BSc (Hons) Eq. Science, Customer Care & Marketing Associate, discuss everything you need to know about ProKalm...
What is it?
ProKalm is a patented formulation containing Lemon Balm, Green Tea, and naturally occurring amino acid L-Theanine. These ingredients have beneficial effects on behaviour; aiding concentration, anxiety and performance.
How does it work?
The unique combination of herbs and amino acids contribute to a calm temperament, and all have scientific research to support their use. We can guarantee that we use the highest levels of these active ingredients in ProKalm, ensuring that it has the best chance of working for your horse.
Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis) is a proven anti-stress and anti-anxiety agent, that contains tarpenes, which contribute to the plants calming effects.
Green Tea is traditionally known to increase mental clarity, cognitive function, and relaxation. This is due to the amino acid found in green tea, L-Theanine. Acting as a neurotransmitter, L-Theanine decreases blood pressure, as well as increasing the generation of α-waves from the brain, which are responsible for relaxation.
All of these ingredients combined contribute to a decrease in stress and anxiety, thus resulting in a calmer and more focused horse.
Why doesn’t it contain Magnesium, Tryptophan or Valerian?
Ah yes, the common anecdote of Magnesium being a calmer. Did you know that there is actually a huge lack of scientific evidence to support these claims? It is correct that in the instance that a horse has inadequate Magnesium levels, then anxiety may be increased, but again, evidence to support this is few and far between. Furthermore, you'd have to know that this is the case before supplementing Magnesium.
Tryptophan, another ingredient often found in calmers, also lacks evidence to suggest that it results in changed behaviours. It has been found that although it may have sedative effects, it does not have an impact on reactive behaviours. These sedative effects could be detrimental to performance, as they signal to the brain that the horse is tired - this also raises safety concerns. No-one wants to ride a sedated horse around a XC course.
Lastly, not only is Valerian a prohibited substance under FEI regulations, but there is a lack of scientific evidence to support its use, with questions regarding dosage and efficacy arising.
The Research
To date, ProKalm is rated the UK’s number 1 calmer according to a survey of over 1500 participants, and we have conducted 4 studies over several years to ensure its success.
• Behaviour – Hartpury College – 16 horses. Double-blind placebo controlled cross-over design. Horses responded significantly better to novel objects on ProKalm and showed an increase in alert behaviours and vocalised less.
• Itchy horses - Double-blind placebo controlled cross-over design. 17 horses. 8 with Sweet-Itch. Significant improvement in itch-score on ProKalm after 7 days.
• Gait & Dressage Score - ProKalm fed at 64g/day for 3 days prior to a standardised test produced significant positive changes in stride length, metacarpo-phalangeal angles, tibio-tarsal angles and moments and centre of gravity displacements in trot and canter and a significant increase in judges scores compared with a placebo.
• Stereotypical behaviour – 48h on ProKalm decreased behaviours such as box-walking, wind-sucking, cribbing in 15 horses.
How should I use ProKalm?
ProKalm is available in either powder or syringe form, and feeding rates can be adjusted to obtain the required effects.
The powdered supplement is best used daily, with the effects of a single feed lasting up to 8 hours. Generally, effects should begin to be observed by the 3 day mark, with daily feeding having the most consistent results.
If you find that you need a calmer in stressful situations such as competing, but not at home, then ProKalm can be added to feed a few days before the event. The syringe can also be used in these instances, or used as an addition to daily feeding if you horse needs a little extra help.
ProKalm is available in 4 size variants: 336g, 1.1kg, 3.3kg, and the 60g syringe.
For more details on how to use ProKalm and the feeding guide, then please click here.
Take Away
When choosing a calmer, it is important to remember that there is a lot of misinformation out there, and claims with no evidence. ProKalm has been produced with this in mind, using only safe, scientifically backed ingredients at the correct levels to produce the best results – as proven by our very own clinical trials.
Written by Anna Jones BSc (Hons) Equine Science - Customer Care & Marketing Associate