Horses learn by making mistakes. You don’t strive to have perfect behavior all the time, you WANT to see the bad behavior since it tells you exactly where you are with the training, and you can fix it, at home, where you can control the environment. People who resort to drugs have no business being around horses.
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Well there is a huge difference between a supplement and a tranquilizer. That’s like comparing someone who takes magnesium and valarian root to help relax to xananx. Very big difference.
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Wouldn’t it be easier just to lunge him first? Or have someone else hop on him first?
Have I used Ace before? Yes, as a help for rehab but I would not use it for something like riding on a windy day (esp on a gelding).
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Personally I would want to sedate any horse that I’m riding, but Ace can make them very unstable on their feet.
I also don’t like lungi nghorses who are getting rehabbed.
As stated, I would pony this horse for another week or so. Then ride when you have a calm riding buddy.
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Yet another thread I am sorry I started. Guess I won’t be starting anymore. This board sure has changed in 18 years. But I guess that everything has. Sigh.
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Issues that are more personal are best kept within private groups of people who know you very well. Either a closed internet group, or some other communications channel.
If you put your personal business on social media, you are inviting a broad span of strangers to critique and comment on your life. That’s a given.
[This is one of the few boards that has some chance of skipping commentary on your over-share of your tax situation - but can’t promise. You put it out there, so …]
Every internet outlet has changed massively in the last 18 years. And the world as well. 
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Personally I don’t trust ace because they can easily blow through it. 2/10 of a CC of dorm given an hour and a half can be very helpful and less likely to blow through. Just make sure to wait the whole 1.5 hours. Others mentioned xylazine however I’ve never used it other than for the dentist, my farrier says it makes them plant their feet hence why farriers tend to prefer dorm.
If he scoots when startled, he is not 100%, and drugs do nothing to help him learn NOT to scoot.
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Okay- so he’s 100% on the ground and may only do a little scoot if spooked? Just put on your big girl panties and get on him. If you can’t ride out a little spook, I’d say get someone else to ride him and get thee some lessons.
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It’s lovely to ride and train “drug free”. However, there are times and situations where a little ace can be helpful to both horse and rider. It isn’t illegal, or immoral, to use the help if you think need it. As to how much? It depends a lot on the horse, and his response to the drug. Some are cheap drunks, some are very resistant, no matter the size of the horse. You have to experiment a bit to get to know YOUR horse’s response to the drug, and how much you may need for what effect you want.
It’s lovely to say, “just put some young buckaroo on the horse to ride the bucks out”, or “train the horse”. But not everyone has access to the right young buckaroo, or a professional rider, or a constantly available coach or trainer. If you are alone, and perhaps not a top level rider of professional skill level, and out of shape due to not riding in a while, (worse yet if you are recovering from a riding related injury and may have confidence problems yourself), and have a horse that you are not 100% sure is going to be dependable even with your best preparation, and the horse also has not been ridden in a while, and/or is not in shape either, using a bit of ace is an option. There is no shame or negative judgement attached to this decision, IMO. There is no harm done to use the drug. If using the “crutch” of a drug keeps horse and rider from being hurt, or losing confidence in each other, it’s a good thing. A crutch can be a useful tool for short term use to get past a rocky time.
The right amount of ace will reduce most low levels of stress that the horse may feel, which may, over the time of your ride, otherwise increase or trigger some behaviours that an unfit or tense rider may not want to be sitting on. Use of just the right amount of ace is a bit like a human having one beer- just a bit more relaxed about things than before the beer. Not stumbling drunk, just a bit more mellow than normal. Having one beer on occasion does not mean that you are an alcoholic. The use of ace will not make an unbroke horse, or a horse with major training issues safe to ride, but mild stress issues in a basically workable relationship are likely to respond successfully.
Risk of injury to both horse and rider due to riding accidents is always present, if you ride horses. If using a small dose of ace over a short period of time helps horse and rider avoid an incidence of activity that both may regret later, avoid injury to both horse and rider, it’s a good thing. The goal is a relaxed and happy ride together, and THAT, the horse will remember even if he was under the influence… that the ride was stress free, nothing bad happened, and everyone was happy afterwards, the ride was a success for both horse and rider. If use of the drug helps to make this happen when otherwise it may not have, it was a good decision to use the drug. It may well have gone just as well without the drug, but that’s OK. Using the drug does no harm.
If a rider is nervous, and the horse is green or not fully reliable (not the best situation, but we all know it happens), the nervous rider may ignite stress in the horse. The stress and tension of the horse and rider then “bounce” off each other in a vicious circle, making the situation nothing but worse over the ride. Using ace in a situation like this may help the horse NOT notice the rider’s stress levels so much, and thus the rider can relax and gain confidence throughout the ride rather than lose confidence and become more tense. So though the horse gets the injection, the drug is actually for the rider. When using ace in these situations , the drug can be used for a few days, decreasing the dose daily down to nothing. The rate of decreasing the dose is dependant on the horse and the rider’s progress getting along together. The goal is to ride drug free, in time, as the relationship between the horse and rider gains confidence in each other.
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This.
I’d give 0.5 cc IM, wait 30-40 minutes. I would NOT start out with a syringe in my pocket/pre loaded treat. They can blow through Ace quickly, so I wouldn’t wait until he blows through the first dose and then try to give another. If 0.5cc IM makes no difference, do another 0.5 cc and get on after he looks more calm. I’ve ridden on as much as 1.5 cc IM on a rehabbing horse.
For those of you preaching training and lunging… sometimes you have serious restrictions when rehabbing. Long term, training, yes, but short term while rehabbing? Better living through chemistry…
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For medical issues like rehabbing, yes, by all means go for it. For a horse that might spook a bit in a round pen, no, just no. Maybe I missed it but I don’t see where the OP said she’s rehabbing him? And she’s been roundpenning him so how would lunging be more detrimental than that?
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OP said he hasn’t been ridden in several months. I see nothing wrong with a small dose of ace, just to be sure their first ride goes well. Stacking the deck in one’s favor for one ride is certainly not criminal, and probably better for them than longing-to-death, rehabbing or no rehabbing. I’m pretty sure the horse isn’t going to end up as a drug-user, and I’m pretty sure the OP is experienced enough to work through the second and third rides without issue. And wind…wind can be fun even under the best of conditions.
Petey will most likely be fine. One of my horses had over 2 years off, and his reaction to being ridden again was to roll his eyes and say “fine”. The other (a bit younger with a bit less time off) was also just fine. I had someone there to hold the end of a longe line just in case he wasn’t fine, but he was. We took it easy at first. I would have definitely given him a little something if I’d have had to be on my own. Luckily that wasn’t my situation.
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I always find it funny when newer COTH members hop on and want to lecture members who are (a) solid riders with (b) a longstanding positive reputation. If someone has been a member 3x longer than me, I withhold a bit of that “hollier than thou” approach,
I’ve heard 1/2 cc IM or 3/4 cc orally is suitable for most horses.
If ace softens the edge to let a horse have a calm first few rides back, IMHO that’s better than lunging for 45 minutes or having an out of shape horse risk an injury bucking and romping like a maniac. It is cold most places so waiting until a nice mid 70s day could mean waiting 6 months to get back in the tack. Knock the edge off and hop on @Lord Helpus !!
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Please, don’t drug your horse to ride it.
Would you want to go work out after being tranqued? I think not.
If you need to drug it to ride it, then don’t ride it.
I can’t believe in this time people still do this.
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Maybe not, but horsemanship has. Change with it perhaps.
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Personally, I have never used ace on one of my horses. And I never plan to in the future. In my opinion, ace is a bandaid for proper groundwork and training.
What’s wrong with him being alert?
I can understand a horse being fresh after extended time off but again, if you’ve done your homework with groundwork and respect, they will still be perfectly safe to ride even though “fresh”.
I live in North Dakota. And I don’t have an indoor. Thus my horses always get the winter off - months at a time. So they’re always fresh in the spring. And I’ve never once aced a horse and never had much of a problem getting them going again.
If you truly know this horse like the back of your hand, then you should really know him that well.
And you also should know that ace will NOT prevent a horse from spooking.
And of course, some horses act negatively (and the opposite) to ace. Has he been aced before?
In the end, I personally do not agree with the reason on why you want to ace him. If you REALLY want to ride, then get on and ride! If the wind is very worrisome for you (and you are anxious about it) then it would simply be better to wait for a less windy day.
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And I would say that running a horse around in circles for 45 minutes (if that’s what you mean by lunging) won’t accomplish anything either. If you’ve done your groundwork homework over the prior weeks, 5 or 10 minutes is all you need to do a “pre flight check” before you mount up to ensure your horse is tuned into you and listening to you. No, it won’t guarantee the ride will go perfectly but if your horse is paying attention to you (and not the rest of the world), then things usually do go fairly smoothly. Lunging shouldn’t be about making the horse tired. It should be done with the intent of getting the horse’s attention on the handler.
Plus, OP didn’t say she was worried about horse taking off and bucking. It sounds like he/she was wanting it to prevent the horse from spooking (which of course, ace won’t do).
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I didn’t know that ace came with a guarantee that the horse will be OK to ride. The perfect combination of too drugged to spook/buck but not so drugged he might trip. Or maybe he will spook because he doesn’t have quite enough ace to not spook, and then he’ll trip because he is just impaired enough that it affects his motor coordination. You know, anything can happen. Of course, no one above can agree on the perfect dose, so good luck to those that try it.
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I don’t know op situation but ace has it’s uses. For me I’ve only used it in rehabbing a horse. As in not allowed to do anything but walk in huge corners and trot in s straight line. Started with hand walking after 4 months stall rest progesssed to pony then riding. At each step I decreased dosage as I went and once I could start turnout st 9 months post injury the need for ace went away. Mare is a huge hunter. 1300 plus pounds and not fat. And that is unconditioned. According to vet he recommended in her situation 3-5cc of ace Im 30-45 min prior to exercise. Rarely needed the 5. Only ifnoff due to weather and stuck in stall.
yhat said it kept us both safe. And i was using a large roping (heading) horse to dally her onto. Without the ace esp pony and start of riding she could and did get away from me.
And she is about to have another surgery 2 years out from injury with 6 month stall rest and I plan on doing it again with her.
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