Msm

[Ellafrank]

My mare went on a supplement that contains MSM 2 weeks ago. She is usually the opposite of energetic and is the kind of horse I can ride bareback in a halter and lead rope and doesn’t bat an eye at anything.

The first week she was on it, I was only out once and she was fine to ride a few days after starting it. I went out a few days later and she was a little strangely spooky, like certain walls in the arena she was clearly concerned about but her spook is usually flattening like a pancake, so no big deal. The next day I rode her and she was doing the same thing again but a little heightened. Certain spots along the arena wall were clearly getting more scary and she wouldn’t slow down. Today I went out there and she was a lunatic. The second she got into the arena her nostrils started flaring, she was snorting, and now staring at the devil wall of the arena, prancing around, tail up. I hand walked her around a few times and then got on her when she seemed a bit settled. She was a hot headed spooking machine. At one point she spun around and almost ditched me, but I hung on.

The only thing that had changed is starting MSM. I think she’s getting 5,000 mg in total. I cannot find anything on MSM making horses “hot” on the Internet aside from on here.

I’m stopping it immediately to see if it makes a difference, but how is there nothing online about this aside from these forums? And if you’ve experienced this, how long did it take for your horse to go back to normal after stopping?

[Kyrabee]

There is this thread that was active recently. I have had one horse that was definitely out of sorts on MSM. I even rechallenged her…MSM definitely got her seeing spiders .

https://forum.chronofhorse.com/t/msm-and-spooking/425604/26

Susan

[Texarkana]

Based on my horse’s experience, she should be back to normal in a day or two after stopping the MSM.

Most horses do fine on MSM. Some turn into maniacs, and that does not go away until you stop the MSM.

[Feathered_Feet]

Yep, add me to the list of owners whose horse cannot tolerate MSM because they turn into a wild fire-breathing dragon. There’s at least one BNT out there who has seen the same. Just take Dobbins off the MSM and you should be good to go in a few days/week or so. (Just be aware of what you feed in the future as MSM is in a lot of supplements )

[islgrl]

I had a horse that turned into a crack-addled spider monkey on MSM. You could literally see his heart beating. It was nuts.

[Ellafrank]

These descriptions are cracking me up. I hope she goes back to normal!!! Especially because my daughter rides her. I have never had to worry about her being spooky with her, and now I’m all freaked out about it.

[Texarkana]

While my “been there, done that” warhorse of a TB was on MSM, he reared and flipped over because someone shut a car door. He was chasing his friends around the pasture with his teeth barred and the reds of his eyes showing trying to savage them. I tried to ride him and he reared so hard and fast he cracked the brim of my helmet with his neck. “Crazed and dangerous” is the best way to describe it.

I’ve had at least a half dozen of my own horses on MSM (and who knows how many others in my care in the past) and never had another horse with an issue. But thanks to COTH I learned it’s a major issue for some.

[Rosewatt]

Interesting! My horse was on MSM for years. Does anyone know if their may be a scientific reasoning why this may happen?