My KWPN had minor surgery and could not be turned out for two weeks. He is a horse who really wants to be outside so I tried Reserpine (with my Vet’s approval)
as I thought a long acting tranquilizer would make it easier on him. Did some reading on the subject and found that it could be helpful. Thought I was doing the right thing. Boy was I wrong. My nice, polite, quiet horse got spooky and aggressive. Was anxious and pawing like crazy when left in between hand walks.
My Vet said that he had not heard of a reaction like this. He is coming out of it now, but has a tongue/ mouth issue- opening mouth, licking, sticking his tongue out a few inches. Vet has been back for an oral exam. Scoped him- nothing. Coming back tomorrow for a recheck. He is eating & drinking.is up to date on vaccines. Vet thinks he may have irritation related to the Reserpine. Does any one have experience with this drug that is similar?
I won’t be using it again.
OP - there was a thread back in December. https://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/f…n-to-reserpine
I remembered reading it when I was investigating this drug for a friend.
It didn’t work well for a horse I was rehabbing that was on prolonged stall rest and light riding. What DID work VERY well was Zylkene. Not a drug, made from a protein in mare’s milk that keeps baby calm. Pricey. You can get it through Valley Vet Supply.
While my horse was finishing up stall rest/ staring on turnout I had him on reserpine. He seemed to react really well to it. It took the edge off, without putting him out and making him dopey like ace was. I found with the reserpine that the edge was taken off, but I didn’t get the super calm and then extreme reactiveness that I got with the ace. During hand walking on the ace he would walk around super super calm and then all the sudden leap into the air and kick, whereas with the reserpine he would walk shaking his head, but that’s all he would do.
I know of a few other horses that have been on reserpine that didn’t have any sort of reaction like you describe. Could the mouth thing be some sort of delayed reaction to the surgery?
The surgery was to remove a melanoma from his hindquarters.
Just had his head and neck x-rayed and didn’t find anything so we are on to an anti - inflammatory course of treatment.
OP, horses’ reactions to Ace and Reserpine appear to be very individualized. I’ve known horses who have been on rehab and did well on Ace but not Reserpine. Then there were others who were fine on Reserpine, but had reactions to Ace.
It’s not out of the realm of possibilities that a horse could be like Jekyl and Hyde on Reserpine, acting fine one minute and exploding the next.
Yup!!! My normally calm horse got very violent shortly after his first dose of reserpine. 2tempe linked to my thread above. The vet I spoke with said she sees these reactions sometimes, especially in warmblood. Other vets I’ve mentioned it to said they’d never heard of such a thing so I’m not surprised your vet hadn’t either.
FWIW, my vet said that if I wanted to try it again I should start with half a dose and work my way up. I haven’t, it was too scary the first time.
known to cause digestive upset and diarrhea
unfortunately all sedatives have the potential adverse reaction of agitation and hyper behaviors.
i would pull his diet back as cold as possible, no concentrates and focus on a lot of quality hay
ask you vet about the possibility of an ulcer flair
Reserpine was a godsend for my over-reactive horse when he needed it. It leveled him out without any dopey-ness.
I’ve known a few other people who used it for stall rest with good results.
If some horses have such negative results, is there a way to counteract it after it’s been given? It is so useful for the horses who need it, when it works, it would be nice to know there is a safety net in case of a rare adverse reaction.
Tried it once, had no effect.
I had to put my mare on reserpine several years ago. We started with the shot that is supposed to last for a few weeks, and it did absolutely nothing. We let a little time pass and then tried her on the daily powder, and that did the trick. It didn’t zonk her out (it shouldn’t!), but certainly kept her mellow.
As I mentioned in my thread, the vet I spoke with who was familiar with the bad reaction said I could give him 12 Benadryl if it did not resolve on its own.
Pretty certain the active ingredient is HYDROLYZED CASEIN able to be bulk ordered from some supplement companies and is found in casein based baby formula. I’ve incorporated both as a supplement to good effect, in case you’re trying to save some $
I know of two people whose horses had adverse reactions to Reserpine. I didn’t witness either case first hand, but I was told of it by each individual it happened to. First person was a fellow boarder whose WBx was on stall rest for a soft tissue injury. She said he had an adverse reaction immediately and went (in her words) psychotic in his stall, spinning in the corners and trying to climb the walls. She took him off it, put him on Smartpak Ultra Calm and he finished his stall rest without incident. Second person was a good friend. Had put her mare on it while on stall rest from a laceration. She tolerated the Reserpine fine while on it. While coming off of it, she ran through a fence. Friend’s vet told her Reserpine was a psych drug that could cause withdrawal psychosis.
FWIW, I had a former horse on Reserpine while he was on stall rest for surgery and he tolerated it fine.
My horse was on reserpine a few years back when he was on stall rest through a winter. He didn’t have adverse reactions, but became very mouthy and licky. While handwalking, he’d lick his buddy (who was being ridden, we’d walk them together) all over and would sometimes lick the walls of his stall. That was the worst of it though, no discomfort and he was bright eyed and normal other than the excessive licking that went away when he stopped his doses.
