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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 342
 
Location: Alabama | I have been thinking about getting a hidez compression hood to try for my geldings anxiety. I'll give a short intro on my gelding to start with;
My gelding is 13 years old, I've had him 4 years & he's always had the occasional screw loose, in saying that I mean you never know what horse yours gonna get when you throw a leg over him. When he's on, $3 is on! But when he gets worked up, and anxious, it's like you signed your death wish. You can take him to a 3 day barrel race and him be a different horse all 3 days, he may be twitching and anxious, raring and whirling around in the holding pen, or he maybe a pleasure horse walking with his nose on the ground, or he may have his head up walking looking just ready to work, what ever he is then will determine how he runs. He may the be a run away free runner, then a push style cheating and hunting cans, or he may just need you to sit and stay out of the way. I have ridden with a couple of big name trainers and they said the same thing, he's just special.
He has been vetted by 3 different vets that can't find anything wrong with him, other than his maintance hock injections. He gets chiropractic work done every 3 month and alternate other therapies like acupuncture, magnawave, theraplate, massage ect. His saddle was custom made to him, he has a CSI pad under it and I've tried 5 star to see if they made a difference, his teeth get checked every 6 months. He wants to run but it's HARD to be consistent on a horse that you never know what he's gonna do.
Pre race paste are not an option as he HATES them and it makes it worse on all of us trying to dose him and makes his anxiety levels even higher.
I was told one of the hoods may help him, anyone have experiance with them or have any other suggestions? |
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 Expert
Posts: 2604
 
Location: Texas | Have you consider T.H.E. Smooth Focus? It is a daily feed supplement. I have a horse that buggered at everything. Desensitized to everything but when trying to ride out or exhibition he would "see" everything. A change in the dirt color would bother him! The T.H.E. Smooth Focus has done wonders for him. Their Calming Cookies were not enough for him and just putting the Smooth Focus as an additive into the Performance Blend was not enough. He gets Calming as an additive in the Performance Blend and I top dress that with a 1/2 scoop of the Smooth Focus and he is SO much better. |
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Married to a Louie Lover
Posts: 3303
| I've heard good things about the hoods. A local trainer who also has horses on the track runs them all in a hood, although it is a different brand. |
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 Expert
Posts: 3815
Location: The best kept secret in TX | I would get him fitted for Hidez suit and hood.
Although, the suits are made to regulate blood flow. It's a compression suit. They aren't meant to calm them down. |
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 Owner of a ratting catting machine
Posts: 2258
| Has he seen an equine dentist? Like a really good one? Not trying to cast shade on your veterinarians, but most vets no savvy teeth.
Have you treated for ulcers? Like with good ol' Gastrogard? For at least 30 days?
Did you xray for kissing spine? $7500.00 worth of vets missed the KS in my gelding, until $100 of spine xrays finally got us a diagnosis.
What are you feeding him?
All that said, if you've done all those things, and have him on a low carb, high fat diet, and he's still nutsy, then chlorpromazine is my favorite anti anxiety fix. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 342
Location: Alabama | Yes he has been scoped and treated and in on preventative for ulcers and he's had his teeth done but an equine dentist every 6 months... o have X-rays from his pole to his coffin bones.
He's on nutrena pro force fuel, 24/7 pasture turn out
Edited by Barrelracingroper12 2016-10-04 10:09 AM
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Expert
Posts: 3815
Location: The best kept secret in TX | Barrelracingroper12 - 2016-10-04 9:53 AM Yes he has been scoped and treated and in on preventative for ulcers and he's had his teeth done but an equine dentist every 6 months... o have X-rays from his pole to his coffin bones. He's on nutrena pro force fuel, 24/7 pasture turn out
Poor dude.... I hope you find him some relief from the anxiety soon!
Sounds like you are taking all the steps to make sure he is healthy and sound.  |
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I just read the headlines
Posts: 4483
| Actually, the compression suits/hood kinda make sense to me. Temple Grandin made a kind of squeeze chute for herself to help calm down when she was in school and was experiencing sensory overload. Isn't there something like a compression suit for dogs for when they get anxiety attacks during thunderstorms? |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 999
Location: Sunny So Cal | I would try THE Smooth Focus or THE Calming products.  |
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  Whack and Roll
Posts: 6342
Location: NE Texas | GLP - 2016-10-04 10:33 AM Actually, the compression suits/hood kinda make sense to me. Temple Grandin made a kind of squeeze chute for herself to help calm down when she was in school and was experiencing sensory overload. Isn't there something like a compression suit for dogs for when they get anxiety attacks during thunderstorms?
The THUNDER-shirt.....yep.
I have nothing else to add here other than knowing about that. LOL I haven't used the Hidez, so no help.
First thing I would do is take the horse off of all processed feed and go forage only, the best forage you can find. Processed feed and synthetic vitamin packages can have some really weird side effects on a horse. If you need a medium in which to put your supplement of choice, I would do a half scoop of whole oats once daily with a cup of flax seed or black oil sunflower seed. |
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I just read the headlines
Posts: 4483
| Herbie - 2016-10-04 10:49 AM
GLP - 2016-10-04 10:33 AM Actually, the compression suits/hood kinda make sense to me. Temple Grandin made a kind of squeeze chute for herself to help calm down when she was in school and was experiencing sensory overload. Isn't there something like a compression suit for dogs for when they get anxiety attacks during thunderstorms?
The THUNDER-shirt.....yep.
I have nothing else to add here other than knowing about that. LOL I haven't used the Hidez, so no help.
First thing I would do is take the horse off of all processed feed and go forage only, the best forage you can find. Processed feed and synthetic vitamin packages can have some really weird side effects on a horse. If you need a medium in which to put your supplement of choice, I would do a half scoop of whole oats once daily with a cup of flax seed or black oil sunflower seed.
Thanks Herbie! That is what I was thinking about.
I finally took all grain away from 2 of mine and it did make a difference. Going to a no processed feed and fixing his ulcers and putting on Cur Ost made a world of difference, but still wasn't the same horse from several years back. I think he is back to himself now, though. He just doesn't do well on grain mentally. Also, I put him on Forco, and he is much more supple throughout his body. Carrot stretches to the hip were uncomfortable for him to do. Now he can do them ease. |
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Sock Snob
Posts: 3021
| do a simple neuro test check for epm |
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 Having Smokin Bandits
Posts: 4572
Location: Woodstown, NJ | Our mare is high energy and anxious. When we first got her, she couldn't even walk flat-footed. We got that kind of stuff under control but then she'd occasionally get riled up for no reason and all discombobulated (that's how I described it) and I wondered if it was heat or she had something physical going on. Like you, we ruled out all the physical issues. Got a new saddle, pad, etc. Then I remembered how it was when I was riding my horse Harley many years ago. A lot of people couldn't ride him because he was so hot and flaky. I learned he simply needed a lot of riding. A lot. So that's what we did with the mare. I told my daughter to work her in the round pen every time before she rides, every single time, whether she needs it or not, and THEN ride her. Warm her up for a long time. No rushing. And then get down to business. When we go to a lesson, the trainer knows not to even come out of the house for a while because this horse needs to be ridden and relaxed first, not physically, but MENTALLY. She also gets ridden at least four times a week, preferably five. It has really made a difference.
Another thing is making sure the horse knows you are the kind, calm and consistent herd leader. You probably know this but the more confidence they have in you as the boss, the more they can relax. It's your job to be nervous! If you're not reacting, they don't have to react. The round pen work helps with this.
Food wise, my horse is a hard keeper so we couldn't cut back on grain but we added rice bran pellets. We also give her Vita Calm. It's a B vitamin. At first we gave it to her regularly because I thought maybe she has a B vitamin deficiency. Now we only give it when we're going to a show, a couple of days before and the day of. I don't know if it really makes a difference but it's cheap and can't hurt. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 964
Location: Alberta, Canada | My mare is an internal stressor and will lose weight on the road like crazy (yes, she is on ulcer stuff, as she is an ulcer horse). I purchased a hidez suit for her in august and COMPLETELY different horse to haul now. It does help with anxiety... it is a similar concept to swaddling a baby. You can actually see a change in her eye as soon as the suit goes on.
I don't believe the suit is a cure all by any means, but has made a huge difference in her ability to keep weight on the road.
I also recently started using a product called Zylkene. It is a powder that goes in feed a few days prior and day of. Can also be used full time. It is one of the best anti-anxiety products I've ever used. Does not take the run out of them, is easy to use and there have been tests done that show the animal remembers what it did while on it. My ottb tends to get real strung out by the second or third day of a big race. The first weekend I used zylkene she stayed sane and actually worked harder in her runs by the third and final day. She has NEVER been tougher on day 3 than day 1... in fact day 3 is usually a write off if I can't get in for time onlys lol. |
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Expert
Posts: 3514
| Ck your feed for starch. Pro Force fuel may be higher in starch. I know Nutrena has a low starch feed and Purina does also. It will make a huge difference. Oats are high starch. You basically want a low starch high fat feed. Ultimately is low starch high fat. I also add OE Align.
Edited by readytorodeo 2016-10-06 7:05 AM
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Anxious horse & Hidez compression hood & other options.