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Discussion on Calming agents for nervous horse
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Sandra Mirza
| | Posted on Monday, Jun 21, 1999 - 2:43 pm: |   |
Hi, I am new to this site and have already found it helpful. I have a large Tenn. Walker that I have had for over two years. He has always been very nervous about anything he sees, such as paper on the ground, a road sign, bicycles on the trail, you name it. I have worked very hard trying to desensitize him to as many things as I can think of, but he still finds things upsetting. He is much better than when I got him, but all it takes is one "scary" thing or another horse I am riding with to be acting nervous to get him going. I beginning to think he is not the horse for me although I am an experienced rider and can get him under control. My thought is before I give up on him is to try one of the "natural" calming agents I see advertised for performance horses. Has anyone tried these? Are there bad side affects? I do not want to harm my horse's health. I am afraid if I sell him he will go from auction to auction because many people comment on his beauty but none want to ride him. I am feeling confused as to what to do at this point.Sandra M. Arizona |
Imogen Bertin
| | Posted on Monday, Jun 21, 1999 - 5:46 pm: | |
Hi Sandra
As far as I can tell, here in Ireland most of the "calmer" products are either herbal based such as "Steddy Neddy" which is chock full of valerian, and/or they have L-tryptophan which if memory serves (Dr O will doubtless correct if it doesn't) is a precursor of a neurotransmitter which is supposed to help the horse be less anxious.
I tried a tryptophan based product on my dotty horse and it had absolutely NO effect. I was going to try the Steddy Neddy herbal stuff but it costs a fortune and a vet student friend of mine told me I should avoid meds where possible because my horse has a heart murmur but I don't know whether this is true - I would have thought it depends on the active ingredient and whether that is bad for the heart...
I'm musing on trying the Steddy Neddy so I'd be interested to hear of other people's experiences. The woman at our tack shop says it seems to either work very well indeed or not at all - individual reactions and not much in between.
There are lots of horror stories about horses falling asleep at events after being given large doses of some of these products but I'm not sure I believe them. What do others think?
All the best
Imogen Bertin |
Sandra Mirza
| | Posted on Tuesday, Jun 22, 1999 - 12:11 am: | |
Imogen, thanks for your response. Yes, the products I am asking about are the herbal type, not the tryptophan which I assume is a narcotic. Anyone having knowledge,please let us know what you know.Hopefully, the doctor will find time to comment also. Sandra |
The Advisor Vet, RN Oglesby DVM
| | Posted on Tuesday, Jun 22, 1999 - 6:41 am: | |
Hello Sandra and Imogen,
Currently there is no scientific indication that any of these over the counter products are useful nor has experience shown any to help. It will surprise me if we don't get a few tewstimonials here however. Tryptophan is not a narcotic but a essential amino acid which is a building block for proteins. From a nutritional stand point a useful technique for calming some has been substituting fats for carbohydrates in the diet, see: The Advisor: Care: Nutrition: Fats and Oils and on that same menu see Current Concepts in Nutrition for further information.
DrO |
Sandra Mirza
| | Posted on Tuesday, Jun 22, 1999 - 2:45 pm: | |
Dr.O. Thank you for the information, guess I will not waste my money on these herbal supplements for my nervous horse. I went to the Care:Nutrition:Fats and Oils area but some reason my server could not pull up that file; it showed it as not there. I also went to Current Concepts in Nutrition and read that. It mentioned that farther in the article would be found recommended high fat diet but then went onto other nutrition issues and never went back to the fat diet. I did read some forum messages that mentioned adding a cup of corn oil to grains, however, I do not feed my horse any grains. He is approximately 1200 lbs. I feed him one flake alfalfa (which is protein rich in the southwest)in the morning, one flake of grass hay (usually bermuda) in the evening. In addition he gets three scoops of bermuda pellets morning and evening. Would I be able to mix the corn oil with his pellets, or would it be better to buy a high fat food supplement? Also, how much of his hay (if any) would I eliminate? I understand from some of the articles it would take a while to notice any diffrence, right. Thanks to you and Imogen for trying to help me with my guy. I enjoy him when he is calm, but never knowing what may set him off is real pain and takes away alot of the pleasure.Thanks again, Sandra, Arizona |
Chris Mills
| | Posted on Tuesday, Jun 22, 1999 - 4:26 pm: | |
What do you feed your horse?
What is the protein percentage?
Some of the "natural" horse people swear that we feed our horses too much protein and this can contribute to spookiness, being too hot-natured and skittish.
The same people suggest reducing the protein percent in your horse's diet and perhaps dressing the feed with B1 vitamin (at least I think I remember it is B1).
Dr. O has no studies to support or discount this, but as it is a water soluble vitamin and a fairly cheap supplement that you give until you can get your feeding modified, it might be worth a try.
In my own limited experience, I have found skittishness to sometimes be related to ouchiness - a saddle that is too tight, a bit that clanks or pinches, shoeing jobs that are a bit snug/not right for the horse's angles, etc. I think the occasional "ouch" response breaks a horse's concentration and can cause a startle/spook. If you ride with a western saddle, poke around on the bottom for any loose nails that may poke every so often. I've seen this be a problem several times.
If you accept that horses at ease would prefer to remain at ease and that it takes energy to spook, startle, bolt, etc. then this would suggest that there is usually a reason (learned, habitual, etc.) that reinforces the use of extra energy. The trick is to figure out what it is.
You may be right - some horse/rider teams are not well suited. But, before you give up on him, think it over a bit - maybe he is picking up some tension from you, or he could use some professional training, or you could (GRIN), or he'd respond to TTEAM, he has a sore spot somewhere, etc. ... the list is endless.
By being a less then perfect horse (which all are), he may be leading you to better skills, understanding, knowledge, etc.
If you enjoy reading when you aren't riding, I am a big proponent of a couple of books by Mark Rashid - A Good Horse is Never a Bad Color, and Considering the Horse. Both are fun to read, yet by telling stories help us think of problems from our horse's viewpoints. Maybe there is a pearl in one of them that will help with you and your horse's partnership.
You may want to keep a training diary, too. Sometimes we don't realize how far we've come until we look back at where we were ...
Happy riding. |
Chris Mills
| | Posted on Tuesday, Jun 22, 1999 - 4:38 pm: | |
Oops, just went back and read what you are feeding ...
He sure doesn't sound like he is eating THAT much protein ...
You might just want to try the B1 for a few days - the people who told me about it say that if protein is an issue, this will help noticeably in within a few days. |
Administration
| | Posted on Wednesday, Jun 23, 1999 - 7:45 am: | |
I have that link working on Fats and Oils in a Horses Diet.
admin |
Sandra Mirza
| | Posted on Wednesday, Jun 23, 1999 - 11:34 am: | |
Chris, thanks for your imput. First, I want to explain more about my horse's nervousness. He will spook in his own pen at a rope dragging near him, a piece of paper blowing near by,anything that makes a rustling-type noise. Yet, large tractors, trucks, no problem. I feel something happened before I got him in his childhood (he is 8 now) that he needs to work out. I have worked with a natural horsemanship trainer (trained with Pirelli and Monty R,) and we have made big progress. But he still is so nervous acting,he very suspicious of any people in general. This is why I am looking for something to calm him, so he think more clearly when I work with him and so he doesn't spend his whole life afraid of everything. He gentle by nature, but not when he is afraid of something, he has run over trainers, trying to get away from "scary" things. I always go very slow with him, trying to build trust, but I am beginning to lose hope after two years. Thanks again for taking the time to reply. I am going to try vitamin supplement to see if it can help, can't hurt!:)Sandra, Arizona |
Chris Mills
| | Posted on Wednesday, Jun 23, 1999 - 2:30 pm: | |
Sandra,
Sometime, people swear by Bach Flower remedies. The most commonly used is "Rescue Remedy" - it is a composite of several flower remedies and is intended to settle nerves/help with shock from injury/fear.
You might do some net searches on Bach Flower to see what you can find about them. They are available in health food groceries.
The idea is that the specific subtle flower essence will help overcome specific emotional states of people and animals ...
Bach remedies are a little on the left side of "alternative" (GRIN), but there is nothing harmful or to lose other than a couple of bucks if you try them.
You can administer a few drops in drinking water or on the gum or on a sugar cube.
They aren't really homeopathics in the classical sense, but they are related.
I found TTEAM ground and body work also helps a horse develop an overall sense of where his body starts and stops, as well as develops awareness of all his body parts (feet, legs, rear, etc.) There is some thinking that spooking can be overcome once a horse realizes scary things aren't really that close to his hind end ... sort of like developing depth perception relative to body and objects. You might explore the TTEAM work as a complementary help, too.
Good luck with your journey. |
Sandra Mirza
| | Posted on Wednesday, Jun 23, 1999 - 3:39 pm: | |
Chris, thanks so much for counseling me through this.It is nice having some horse experts to talk with. Because of my horse I learned more than I ever knew there was to know about riding a horse for pleasure. I will look into the Bach flower and see what TTeam is available in my area. I know I have seen some ads for people teaching this, but never noticed where they were located.Anyone seeing this message have any experience with this "flower power"? Sandra,Arizona |
Chris Mills
| | Posted on Wednesday, Jun 23, 1999 - 5:03 pm: | |
Sandra,
There is an official TTEAM web site. http://horsenet.com//tteam-ttouch/
You can probably find a practitioner near you by checking the site.
I know there are usually several week long trainings in New Mexico during the summer months. You can even sign up and take your horse to the training! I am in NC, but have been to 3 week long trainings - one in No. VA so I took my mare. It was wonderful seeing others work with her and it really was a great bonding experience for both of us. All the training weeks were worthwhile, and I loved having my own horse there for one. They made nice vacations.
Cheers. |
Karen Stander
| | Posted on Thursday, Jun 24, 1999 - 7:33 am: | |
Hi Sandra,
It's often how MUCH you feed, more than what. Horses vary tremendously, and some maintain their condition of what would be a starvation ration for another.
I know someone who events her mare, and this horse used to go quite bezerk when her rider tried to jump anything from a canter - bucking, taking off and fly-leaping. My friend was at her wits end and as a last resort before getting rid of the horse, attended a clinic for "problem" horses. The trainer was convinced it was a problem of too much food, too little work - although the mare was certainly not over-fat. Six months later, the mare is on hay, bran and molasses only (previously 6kg of concentrates), she's lost hardly any condition, and jumping like a dream.
Two examples from my own experience bare this out: I recently bought a little warmblood I was told was "difficult" and "a nervous ride". Well, got her home about 3 weeks ago, and somewhat tentatively started working with her. Within days I was riding her alone on the road - not a spook in sight. But I was also feeding her up because she was very thin, and just as I was congratulating myself on my calming effect, a piebald pony she had passed calmly for a week grew six new heads and a scorpion tail... :-) And in the arena she was impossible for a couple of days, chasing around madly and ignoring my pleas to slow down. Aren't horses fun? They know just when to bring you back down to earth... *g*
Anyway, I cut back on the concentrates a bit and took out my lunge line, and a few days later she was back to her calm self.
My other horse used to be very spooky, and her favourite trick was spook, spin and run in the opposite direction. I tried every kind of calming agent I get my hands on - Rescue Remedy, Nerva 1, Nerva 2 and other hideously expensive equine calmers too. None worked - in fact I found the best application for Rescue Remedy was to take it myself rather than give it to my horse - and then it worked only for about 20 minutes... :-)
A new trainer suggested changing to a 10% concentrate from the 12% I had been using. I did, without much hope it would do any good and a couple of months later had me marvelling how my horse had matured... till I figured out that the improvement had co-incidently started a while after I changed her feed!
The same trainer also suggested cutting back her food a few days before a show, exchanging an equal quantity of bran for concentrates, and I found this worked well, and she didn't lose condition because I would always give her a good feed when we got home from the show.
So, I know it doesn't sound like a lot that you're feeding your horse, but my warmblood was eating HALF the weight of concentrates my thoroughbred used to get when the warmblood hit her "too much energy" level. It's sometimes a delicate balance to find, so experiment!
Hope this helps!
Karen |
Sandra Mirza
| | Posted on Friday, Jun 25, 1999 - 12:15 am: | |
Karen, thanks so much for relating your first hand experiences. My horse has the same trick as yours that spun away from scary things. Mine does seem to have endless energy but I have been afraid to cut down his food as he was very thin when I bought him. Perhaps what you say is true though; he can get by with much less than other horses his same size. I am going to call my local vet and discuss with her what would be healthful. Since he does not get any grains or other concentrates now, it would be cutting down on hay pellets and alfalfa. This summer I have only been giving one alfalfa flake every other day(grass hay all other times) and riding out on trails in the mountains, and he STILL seems to have plenty of nervous energy. He is supposed to be TWH (not papered) but I swear he has TB in him and maybe some mule!:)Thanks to everyone for their continued help and suggestions.Sandra,Arizona |
claire sidebottom
| | Posted on Monday, Jan 10, 2000 - 1:43 pm: | |
We are currently trying 'steady up' but if naything she is getting worse! She is totally unpredicatable and one day will be as good as gold, the next day she is barging out of the stable, spinning round rearing up. |
Emily French
| | Posted on Tuesday, Jan 11, 2000 - 1:26 pm: | |
Coming in on the tail end of this,... I have found that a busy mind dosen't have time to be a nervous nelly. The most nervous horses I have ridden, even those labeled "dangerous" were just thinking too much, and when given direction in a calm and confident manner they were the fastest learners because their minds were allways going. I just had to learn to keep up the positive input so they didn't fill the gaps with non productive behaviors like spooking, gauwking, and other such sillyness.
I allso realized that with these horses they have good days, and bad days. You have to accept both, on the good days, lots of fun positive work. On the bad days don't force the issue, work on basics and things that they can mentally handle on that given day and make sure to end on a good note.
I remember many o' time with my mare haveing days that my intention was to ride, yet we ended up working on simple "turn and face me when your called" excersises because thats all her brain would allow. I will say that by makeing my training goal to be "end on a good note" instead of specific skills I have gotten alot farther with her than forceing issues that she would have fought. We have vary few bad days now, and she has learned to be "talked" through those days so that I can ride her even though she having a "mental day" and by the time were are done she has settled into it and relaxed.
As an aside note I never found much actual benifit in the herbal calming agents, it never took the place of teaching her to deal with her emotions in a productive manner. |
Zoe English
| | Posted on Tuesday, Jan 11, 2000 - 10:06 pm: | |
Hi Sandra & everyone
I too have a mare who's like that little girl in the old nursery rhyme--when she's good she's very very good, but when she's bad she's horrid. I've tried a lot of the calming agents--Hilton's Regulate (with valerian), B1, and most recently the magnetic "brain change" browband sold by Stateline, and nothing seems to make much difference--if she's having a good day, she'll be great, if not, we're in for a hell of a ride. I think what Emily says above about working the day you've been given is good advice. It's less frustrating than having a strict agenda, especially with a horse who's unpredictable. And I think the "nervous, overthinking" horses do have their good sides, too--they are the quick learners. There is a good article in Equus Magazine on Hot Horses, the March 1998 issue I believe, that addresses this issue. If you'd like a copy of the article, e-mail me and I'll dig mine up and send you one. Good luck, and just try to stay in the saddle! |
Helen Weedon
| | Posted on Wednesday, Jan 12, 2000 - 8:41 am: | |
Hello everyone - I'm going to really throw some petrol on the fire now, and I think I can see Darren heading my way already *G* but is it my imagination or are most of these awkward, dizzy horses (rather than just spooky) mares? Mine is your classic chestnut mare, always nice to handle luckily but very temperamental when it comes to work. A fruitcake one day and trying hard the next. She learns incredibly quickly, and then looks for evasions just as fast and I struggle to keep one step ahead of her all the time. She has an amazing memory and I swear can read dressage markers. I find it a waste of time telling her off for misdemeanours, she just gets more and more wound up.
I find so many geldings really dull in comparison, she is so sharp she could cut herself. Does this prove that gelding a horse takes away most of his brains?!!!
Run... |
barbara carry
| | Posted on Wednesday, Jan 12, 2000 - 11:37 am: | |
Grrrrrrr.....
I am down with the flu and am really out of it but MUST respond.....
I own 2 mares and a gelding and have ridden many horses; geldings, mares and stallions. I do like mares and stallions, I generally get along with them better BUT....my soulmate of horses is .....yup a gelding. He is athletic enough to do almost anything.....if he wanted to. He is incredibly intelligent and gets bored soooo easily. His ground manners are impeccable and he is very affectionate and loves attention. On his back he is the master of new tricks. There is no auto pilot on this horse. In the the ring he is a show off and loves being the center of attention. He thinks he is hot stuff, and he is! He is not stupid, flighty or even close to brainless and on top of that he is gorgeous. He, a gelding, is the most intelligent horse I have ever met!
~barbara |
Chris Mills
| | Posted on Wednesday, Jan 12, 2000 - 12:17 pm: | |
Well, generalizing always gets us in trouble, GRIN.
But, it is my understanding that mares can be more sensitive than geldings and sometimes are victims of their hormonal cycles.
Stallions, also have behaviors that are driven by hormones.
Geldings can be more even keeled as their hormones are fairly consistent. Horses gelded later in life, may have some "habitual" behaviors left over from being stallions, but perhaps not as greatly expressed.
From what I've read about horse behavior in the wild, the herd is led by the lead mare who choses when to go, where to go, what to do and how fast. The preservation of the herd is ensured by sensitive, highly perceptive members - alert to scents, movements, weather changes, etc.
When moving, the stallion brings up the rear of the herd, encouraging stragglers to move on and defending against other stallions raiding for mares or predators.
Given that horses evolved over millions of years and Mother Nature has a "survival of the fittest strategy," it is no wonder that their instincts can be still fairly close to the surface after only a few thousand years with mankind. Such instincts can override in an instant any training.
My own mare has her ups and downs. But, she has developed very nicely with consistent, patient training that doesn't over face her. I've "broken" and "fixed" her more times than I can remember. But she's taught me a lot and how be be a better student of the horse. Had she been "easy," I'd probably not have learned so much or been challenged to push my own envelope.
I have seen horses that pick up rider tension very easily. So a tense, fearful rider creates the same in the sensitive horse, while a more confident, relaxed rider has success with the same horse. I would bet mares are more affected by this too, at another risk of generalizing.
Now, my English Setter breeder friends emphatically say that neutered males are MUCH more lovey than unneutered males, or females in any state. This isn't true for all dog breeds ...
So, maybe it can be a combination issue of breeding, environment, hormonal status, etc.
All that said, I do love my little mare and believe we have a good companionship going.
Cheers. |
Helen Weedon
| | Posted on Wednesday, Jan 12, 2000 - 12:23 pm: | |
Dear Barbara, sorry to hear you've got the flu, I'm dodging and weaving to avoid it. Its no joke when you've got animals to care for is it?
Your gentleman sounds lovely! Get well soon.
Helen |
A.F.M. Hyde-Clarke
| | Posted on Wednesday, Jan 12, 2000 - 1:15 pm: | |
Barbara - you could be writing about my 20 year old retired gelding! That is exactly how he was, and he was [and is] the love of my life – no horse could be more difficult, more strong-willed, more affectionate, more intelligent. Okay, I don’t really relate to mares, I seem to gravitate towards fairly difficult geldings – but still, this gelding of mine made mares look boring – and this was said to me by owners of mares!
Hope your flu gets better soon - I'm hearing on the news how bad the flu is overseas, and that we must expect it here in April. Hope flu vacs work!
Alexa |
barbara carry
| | Posted on Wednesday, Jan 12, 2000 - 5:37 pm: | |
Thanks for all the "get wells"!
I wonder, Chris, since there really aren't geldings in the wild how they would fit into the scheme of things.
One other thing about my dear Rampage is that he was gelded at 5 1/2 yrs. We have owned each other for the last 5 years and I can't imagine ever parting with him! I honestly thinks he knows it! I think he must with all that he has put me through while riding him!
Alexa, your gelding sounds like a one in a million horse also!
Now that I think of it all of my most dear horses have been geldings!
~barbara |
Chris Mills
| | Posted on Wednesday, Jan 12, 2000 - 6:07 pm: | |
Re: Wild Horses. As I understand it, the young males are tolerated until they are of a certain age/size/maturity and then kicked out of the herd. Then they might still hang on the periphery of the family herd for a while. Small roving bands of young stallions then attempt to find mares of their own, either by raiding an established herd or picking up a filly that has been separated from her herd. I think there is some thought that fillies are booted out of the herd at sometime (to avoid inbreeding), but I can't recall who does the booting or if the filly sees an opportunity to leave, and if this is conjecture or fairly true.
I imagine a gelding released in the wild would have a set of challenges to convince a herd to allow him to join it. But, I've been at a ranch out west where the mares and geldings all were on the range without incident. They kept their stallion in a very large fenced field and gave him some mares that were to be bred as company.
Now, I've seen geldings that still had the idea of what to do with mares and they attempted to do it, even years after losing the jewels. Which, with land being somewhat less wide open here in the east, is why many people believe in separating their turn out herds by sex, hoping to minimize fussing and injuries.
I've got to believe that an animal that isn't routinely distracted by procreation-type thoughts will be better able to focus on the tasks at hand and more cooperative with its humans.
We've a stallion at the farm where I board my horse (used to have 2). Both were the best behaved stallions I'd seen - cooperative, gentle, easy to handle. Yet, their stallion-ness was always there and could easily surface if you didn't think about what you were doing when handling them near the other horses.
Barbara's horse sounds like a gem and soulmate. A perfect match for both of them.
As far as the flu - I had the shot and I got it, thought not terribly. I think they misjudged what to innoculate for this year. It took me quite some time to get over it. Get well, soon, Barbara. |
barbara carry
| | Posted on Wednesday, Jan 12, 2000 - 9:56 pm: | |
Oh, can I reconsider....I called my dear friend in this evening and he didn't show at the gate. He was over the hill of his 16+ acre pasture with his 2 buddies. My husband dropped me off at the other end of the pasture very close to my "soulmate". As I walked up to him he galloped off to the gate! When I finally got to the gate he acted like what was the big hold up!!! Grrrrrr to the world and this *&^%$%# flu!
~barbara
i felt like putting this all in red
I'm sure you understand! |
Melissa Smith (Ryan)
| | Posted on Monday, Jun 4, 2001 - 3:15 am: | |
I too have a TB, he is 12. My comment, and I am curious to see if DrO would have one, is that although calming agents are sometimes needed, I don't feel this would be the case.
These TB's have been treated a certain way for so many years, that it takes consistent constant re-training in order to make the improvements they need.
Any calming agent isn't long lasting, and doesn't solve the problem only covers it over.
My 'Ryan' would be tranq. to be shod, I never did that though, (w/a cooperative shoer) I just did a lot of work w/him and he now is getting to be quite the good boy.
I have seen many nutty, dangerous TB's turned into wonderful horses, but it takes LOT'S of consistent quiet work.
Ryan is very Alpha with other horses, but he NEEDS a very strong leader. I am learning to be strong,quiet and soft and VERY consistent. He is so smart, but he doesn't and hasn't forgotten anything of his past.
He loves to work, and the busier I keep him the happier he is. They are like kids: too much time and not enough to do spells trouble.
I can rub plastic sacks all over him, bounce huge balls off of him everywhere, throw ropes over him, yet he can spook at who knows what all over the place. And I can't tie him yet.
I have found the best way to introduce new scary stuff to him is after a very hard work out. I will lounge him on a 40ft lead and am working on him changing speeds only when I ask him too. Lots of walk/trot/stop/walk/trot....etc. transitions..and that when I have him canter, that he calms down and doesn't buck all through his circles..which he loves to do..
He's usually dripping when we are done, but THEN introduce all those scary things..and they are much more cooperative. Now he is more calm from the get go and I can tell he is looking to me more now to lead him, instead of just freaking out all over. He seems to say "oh, my gosh, what is that...oh, you're not freaking out..oh, ok, guess I'll be ok too.."
They are a very sensitive breed that I think will always need lots of jobs to do and lots of attention. They won't ever be a Quarter Horse personality. But hey, ever watch a TB doing Dressage, etc. they can be absolutely beautiful in motion!
Most people don't want to spend that much time with them so they usually get passed on and on and on...they take huge commitment.
Well, just my thoughts anyway...
Melissa |
D. Hembroff (Debh)
| | Posted on Monday, Jun 4, 2001 - 3:04 pm: | |
I know a horse (anglo-arab) who routinely is spooked by his own hay bag. (You'd think the reward of getting a bite of hay would help him get over this, but no).
It's quite a site watching this silly guy(gelding) sneak up to the bag and gingerly extract one blade of hay ever so carefully, can't have that bag moving about don't you know ;). He has been doing this for years now, spooks at certain types of things almost predictably, ie. lead ropes, garden hoses, extension cords, sun beams, bits of paper and so on. Attempts to desensitize him to things only seems to remind him of what he is scared of. But he has improved over the years, the thing that seems to have helped him the most has been good old hard work. His owner has been taking him to dressage schooling clinics the past 3? years, just enough to challenge him physically as well as mentally, and it has made a big difference to his nervousness. Mind you its still there just under the surface, probably always will be, but it is much more controllable.
Just wanted to say that good old time and patience can win the day.
D. |
Julie Markich (Julieann)
| | Posted on Monday, Jun 4, 2001 - 10:02 pm: | |
I used to work racehorses in training that were too badly behaved for standard track riders to be bothered with. One of the things i found was to keep pushing the brain don't let them think of something else to do other than what you are asking of them, Do Not Get Violent!! Push don't shove! they can shove alot harder than you could even imagine especially at high speeds (i am witness to this) Patience and dilligence(sp?) are the key they have very active brains (imagine a horse on speed!) Look at that, its moving, Its coming to get meeee!!!
There are drugs and suppliments out there but i have found them personally of little help (on the horses also!);-)
Read the horse, does it start to act up just as you think it's being good ie: you are not at present asking for its attention! watch the horse and it will tell you when to ask for attention. |
Diane Rickman
New Member
Username: Dianeric
Post Number: 1
Registered: 12-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, Sep 9, 2003 - 4:21 pm: | |
I have a very nervous QH gelding. Two trainers suggested that I put him down as he is "too dangerous". I give him Quietex and ride him alone through a wildlife refuge full of scary things (hunter paces, people jogging, bicycles, motorcycles). He } pretty bad. Now he is very good. I don't know what else it could be. I doubt it is the placebo effect as I am a born skeptic. |
Robert N. Oglesby DVM
Moderator
Username: Dro
Post Number: 9065
Registered: 1-1997
| | Posted on Tuesday, Sep 9, 2003 - 6:11 pm: | |
Unfortunatley I know of several failures with this product and no sucess stories. We have a member who had one that it may have worked on and one it did not.
DrO |
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