Dump trucks are scary. Ace the horses?

[lenapesadie]

I’ve got 6 dump truck loads of material coming tomorrow. We have a small farm so I can’t just put the horses far away from the area where the material will be dumped. I’m worried the horses will run like idiots and hurt themselves, especially the old one. The material is going on the edges of the barn pad so stalling the horses won’t help. I have Ace on hand and could potentially medicate the horses a bit. Would you? Am I being paranoid?

The horses are used to quite a bit of construction commotion but we haven’t had dump trucks on property since the horses moved in.

Horses weigh about 1500 lbs each if anyone has opinions on dosage.

[4horses]

It really depends on your horses. Mine had no issues with dump trucks, but we have a dirt road next to the property. They see trucks go by all day, every day.

[ThreeWishes]

Honestly don’t love Ace for sedation. Have had too many blow through in a weirdly antagonistic way. Your horses should be fine.

[Kyrabee]

I had one that had dump truck anxiety. I told the barn owner to please stall her when they came.
She ignored me. The truck dumped a load right on the side of her runout. Horse jetted to the end of her 24 ft run and attempted to jump the fence. She caught a knee and flipped. She came out of it with just a puffy hock. I was livid and the horse was moved as soon as I could scare up another barn. It wasn’t like she had to chase her down in a pasture. She just had to show her into the stall🤬. I wasn’t saying she had problems with the trucks just to exercise my vocal cords.

I don’t know. I would be concerned if they would blow through the tranq and run around ‘drunk’? How far will they be from the work area? I would tend to just be present when the first load came and have them as far away as I could get them and see their reaction. It could be a non event.

Susan

[2DogsFarm]

I had my horses confined to the larger pasture (~2ac) when my drylot - adjacent to that pasture - was first dug down 9", then 9" road base gravel (after geotex) dumped from several truckloads on top & spread by skidsteer.
They were interested, but not freaked out by the construction. Which took place over 3 days.

Ace wouldn’t be my first choice if I felt they needed a sedative. The occasional horse reacts in the opposite way expected.
Unless you’ve aced yours before, this is not the time to find out.

[LCDR]

Put them in your trailer and take them for a long drive while the trucks do their thing. The big truck is one thing, the big bang when the dump gate slams closed is really loud and unexpected.

[sparkygrace]

Dormosedan is a much better choice, but may be too late to get it from your vet. I have used it on the 4th of July when neighbors set off fireworks and it worked very well.

[barnesthenoble]

Unless you have reason to believe the horses will be freaked out by large vehicles, I wouldn’t worry about it personally. We just had six truckloads of aggregate material dropped off right next to the horse’s field a couple months ago and they didn’t bat an eye. They’re more perturbed when we roll the garbage can out each week. However, we live next to a pretty busy road and not far from a county airport so it’s not like they’ve never seen loud vehicles before. I think you might be pleasantly surprised though.

[SharonA1]

FWIW, I was ready with drugs, bubble wrap, extra halters and lead ropes, longe whips, etc when dump trucks came into my horse’s paddock to do some regrading. Horses lifted their heads enquiringly for a moment, and then went back to eating.

[danhelm441]

How close are the dump trucks to their turn out? I wouldn’t expect them to panic, personally…but I board where there’s a truck that regularly comes to take the manure dumpster, and frequent delivery trucks and construction. Sometimes it’s surprising what even very spooky horses won’t bat an eyelash at. But I get that it’s spring and windy and you might want to take more precautions.

[endlessclimb]

I’m guessing they will be fine. The tailgate bang is quick and while they might startle/spook, it typically doesn’t result in the panicked running that a continuous noise or stimuli creates.

Do they tie well? Tying with a haybag in front of them might minimize any potential theatrics.

[Foxglove]

Is it possible to have ONE dump truck come and drop its load while horses are stabled to gage their reaction?

[clanter]

just be aware using ace, occasionally, aggressiveness and hyperactivity can occur so you end up with a complete opposite desired result

so have a backup plan

[lenapesadie]

Half of the material has been dropped this morning already. It was a non event for the horses. No ace was used. Final answer: I was being paranoid

In case anyone is curious here are more details about the situation. I currently have three paddocks that are useable. The dirt work is happening in the two larger paddocks closer to the barn. The third paddock is the smallest and has the least secure fencing (temp fencing on one side as we clear back to the property line to increase paddock size and replace property line fencing). We live in a busy agricultural neighborhood and the horses are used to all sorts of vehicles. The banging of the back gates of the dump trucks was my concern. I was worried my younger horse might blast around like a fool and my old (gimpy) horse might be hurt. Especially if I confined them to the small back paddock. What I did was put them in one of the larger front paddocks while they dumped in the other one and then swapped. Since the horses seem fine, I’ve got them in the small back paddock now while they dump the rest of the material and do the skid steer work.

Fortunately, the “dirt work” guy is accustomed to working around horses. He’s actually the preferred local arena builder in my area. Without me telling him I was concerned about the noise, he held each back gate as the dump trucks finished dumping to minimize noise and kept a sharp eye on the horses.

We are feathering out the pad around the barn to reduce the steepness of the grade with base clay and then are topping the clay with footing, angular sand.

Here’s a picture for tax. Thank you everyone that replied. I really appreciate you all!

[Zu_Zu]

Glad the delivery has been a non-event ~ lovely horses !

[lenapesadie]

Me too! Thank you!

[OzarksRider]

Gorgeous horses!

[lenapesadie]

Thank you. The chestnut in the back is my old gimpy horse and the dark bay in the front is my homebred riding horse. They are both sure they are babies lol

[2DogsFarm]

Glad to hear it was a non-event & even had your horses inspecting the result
Just say Whoa to drugs

[danhelm441]

Horses can be so funny that way. I was once riding by myself when a Fed Ex truck sped down the driveway and then backed up RIGHT next to the ring, almost took out the fence. My horse looked at it but didn’t react. Yet if a chilly wind blows and the boys in turnout start tearing around after each other, it’s off to the races.