I have a 18ish year old QH gelding that we have as a pasture pet. He was supposed to be a trail horse for my mom, but due to health issues, she can no longer ride. My mom had him for about 6 years and we have no idea what his background is. He has turnout 24/7 and is on Blue Seal Sentinel Senior and unlimited access to hay pellets due to worn teeth. His run is right next to my mare and pony, but because of his teeth and weight issues, he’s in his run alone. He’s always been a little anxious, but only when he was locked in his run or stalled. He would try to climb (not jump) his stall walls or fence, so we decided for his mental health to let him have paddock access 24/7. We started noticing rather extreme anxiousness when ever ANYTHING changed around the barn over the winter. I can’t even take my mare out of her run to brush her without him having a panic attack, and he has sight of her (and the pony) the entire time. Any time I have tried to take him out of the barn/away from his buddies, he’s fine. He was treated for ulcers, which was a horrible experience for everyone involved. He became extremely people and head shy and is still weary of any new treats, supplements, etc. I honestly can’t say that I saw any improvement in his temperament during treatment, but his appetite improved remarkably. I can’t imagine having to treat him again, (my dad actually had a minor cardiac event due to the stress of having to medicate him). At this point he is causing chaos in the barn and it’s affecting the other horses. My mom doesn’t want to sell him/give him away for fear he might not end up in a good home. And I don’t think we could rehome in good conscious because when he starts to get anxious, he can get dangerous. He is due to be rechecked/scoped on Friday, but has anyone had a situation similar to this? If so, has anything helped?
A few things here:
Have you ever tried any sort of calming supplement and/or magnesium? Or meds?
If you have to treat for ulcers again, ask for or consider something other than the orally administered paste. There are a few different options out there that may be less traumatic.
I don’t think that he’s a candidate for rehoming either, and I respect you for recognizing that as well.
Is euthanasia on the table? IMO, humane euthanasia is far from the worst thing to happen to a horse. If he’s causing that much stress to himself and those around him, that may be the best possible outcome if there is no treatable condition.
I have not had a similar situation with the herd but my horse has had anxiety issues. Ask your vet about fluoxetine. It helped take the edge off him and was easy to dose. It was 3 pills he ate from his food easily.
I have not tried a calming supplement, but I’ve been doing some research on magnesium supplements. Depending on the conversation with our vet on Friday, I am going to try adding this to his diet as well. I’m also going to ask her about injectable omeprazole, he takes his vaccines with no fuss.
We have discussed humane euthanasia, so it’s not off the table. We feel that this increasingly chronic anxiety is affecting his quality of life. I think that we have all concluded that when we feel we have exhausted all our options medically, we would be prepared to give him that peace.
I had an anxious horse that was described as “crawling out of his skin” for no reason at all. Spooky, fractious, anxious. Gabapentin helped a TON - worth asking about. We took it as a sign there was something painful going on, but it apparently also has a sedation effect.
Trazodone also helps some of these. It may be worth trying a pain killer before a tranq, in case he’s in some sort of pain. I’ve seen dead teeth be missed by multiple vets when floating, FWIW, and the horses were like this. They did a complete 180 when the offending tooth was removed. Just something to think about.
Have you checked his vision? Perhaps it’s become compromised due to cataracts.
I have been using SynChill on my anxious PRE. It has 5-HTP in it. It works in a different way than typical magnesium supplements. It’s not cheap but I’d try a month of the pellets (about $80). There is a cumulative effect. The one-shot gel version did nothing for my guy……
YES! Dealing with it right now, too, as a matter of fact.
19-year old ISH, been everywhere as an eventer, but at home a total mess. Cannot have ‘his’ mare move more than 25 feet from him (which is an improvement on the 10 feet distance from a few weeks ago). He becomes completely frantic- climbing the walls/jumping the stall door (he’s supposed to be on stall rest staying still and quiet [more below why]), spinning in his stall and elsewhere, kicking the walls when he thinks he’s separated. It’s a mess.
My guy is supposed to be rehabbing an avulsion fracture- there’s a thread about him already- something about helping me choose options- I’ve done shockwave, but this separation anxiety has, I’m pretty sure, COMPLETELY undone any treatment he had. He blew through trazadone AND fluoxetine, so we decided to let nature take its course. He is no longer stall-kept, but on turnout- he can come and go into his stall from his run and into a smallish grass field to graze and (ideally) stay calm and quiet (walking from place to place quietly grazing, no trotting/galloping/bucking etc), which is working UNTIL his buddy is taken for a ride or out of his sight in any other way, then all bets are off. Closing him in a smaller area backfires (see above actions).
What your guy needs is groundwork so he can 1) feel confident about his surroundings, 2) develop a confidence in himself and handlers that he won’t become lion food.
Is there any way your mother (if she’s healthy enough to be in the barn) or somebody else can begin some groundwork on him just before you remove the other horse, and then return him to his stall/run AFTER the other horse is gone. That way HE’S the one leaving, not the one left behind (hopefully the other horse doesn’t have some sort of separation anxiety itself so doesn’t call when your guy leaves [ask me how I know 
] then he can be returned to his stall (hopefully with some high-value treat added). If your horse also has separation anxiety, then they both need the work. Unfortunately, the mare whinnies to my guy once I’ve taken him away and that completely undoes him and anything I’m trying to so with him, but my sister doesn’t believe her mare needs the work too. I know I likely will have to move him to a completely different barn to break this cycle, and it’s certainly something I’m considering but good barns with the setup he needs are few and far between here.
See if you can find an Equitation Science Practitioner and/or Tristan Tucker/Warwick Schiller for some handy groundwork exercises to help break the separation anxiety cycle, although it’s not a one-and-done, it will have to be every time for a while, then refreshers if it appears to be reoccurring…
Thanks for the suggestion @lorilu - I’m going to look into SynChill myself for my guy! At this point I’m willing to try anything at (almost) any price to try to keep him calm and slow, if not still (preferably comatose 
, but I’ll take what I can get) Also going to look into their Osteo… stuff to try for the bone knitting.
