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Member
Posts: 20
| I have a 12 year old gelding that has terrible alley issues. They began about a year and a half ago. I tried running him for a while and he gradually got worse, so I gave him a year off from barrels. Brought him back slowly after the year and he was the same as before. He has no physical issues. He has seen many vets and they all say it's in his mind. I guess what I'm getting at is, are there any supplements that could help with this issue? I've been thinking of trying the OE Composed but I just don't know if it will help. People have told me to ace him but I honestly haven't felt comfortable doing that. Does anyone have experience with this or have any tips? |
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Expert
Posts: 4766
  
Location: Bandera, TX | Used ace and many other mind altering anxiolytics on horses to help them with their fear of competition.
If you've ruled out structural injuries I would as a last resort get a BAL done on your horses lungs. The horse that I find most adament about not wanting to enter the arena is a bleeder. The only true way to DX is with the BAL. Oh, yes if you see blood at the nares they are a bleeder but what is the cause? The BAL will narrow that for you.
I used to take in lots of horses (decades ago) and work with them if they were having alley issues or flipping in the gates at the track. To keep me safe I learned to use the drugs that my vet would give to me for use on the really bad horses. Talk to your vet and if your vet is not well versed on the anxiolytics give me a PM. I can provide him/her with a list of those that you can try for short duration or longer duration.
BTW, I have several friends that have used the OE Composed and they love it. They can't use the common meds as they are likely to be tested.
The vet that told you it was in his mind should have given you some advice of serotonin uptake inhibitors. We have some natural one's that you can try as well as scripts.
My biggest tip to you is don't work alone with your horse when you feel he's putting you in danger. |
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 Texas Taco
Posts: 7499
Location: Bandera, TX | My mare was out for over a year with EPM and a suspensory injury. When I brought her back she was a blooming idiot at the barrel race. She was fine once she got to run down the alley, but it got to the point where I was only able to climb on as soon as I was due to run. For her, I think she was just really excited to be running barrels again. She has always enjoyed it. Still for me it was very frustrating and scary at times. She has gotten a lot better over the last few weeks. With horses you never know what really turns them around, especially with everything we throw at them.
What is working for my mare is Cur-Ost stomach powder and a good magnesium supplement (forgot the name right now). I also try to keep her really calm and her blood pressure low prior to running.
Good luck with your horse!!!
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 639
Location: God's country...aka TEXAS | I would check for bleeding, EPM and kissing spine. And I would treat for ulcers no matter what. Horses don't act like this for no reason. Something is going on. Good luck! |
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 Expert
Posts: 1432
Location: Never in one place long | In my experience, I would not recommend ACE, I tried it on a horse I had that reared all the time and even tried to CLIMB out. he was nuts. Putting him on ACE only made him even MORE nuts, it was like he was numb and didn't care if he hurt himself.. he was getting away no matter! |
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 A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | You need to put him B1, it wont work over night takes awhile to get it in their system, but should help some, I keep my nervous willy on B1, helps with their nerves, it wont help all horses but some it does. |
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 Crazy Doggy Mommy
Posts: 1419
Location: Where Governor's make the liscense plates | I used Ace on a hot horse a few times and he now relaxes like all barrel races are trail rides. Obviously I no longer needed to continue to give it once he learned everything was ok. My personal thoughts on ACE is that it's like giving humans a Valium or Xanax for nerves. But if given too much they cannot function. |
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