Muscle sore horse, Robaxin

[SugarCubes]

Without getting into a long history with this horse, I have a long backed hunter who frequently gets back sore (yes we’ve done flexions, injections, chiro, etc…not my question) He gets chiro every 4-6 weeks, but last time my chiro (who is also my vet) suggested we try Robaxin to see if that helped with the soreness.

The difference was immediate, he about fell to his knees when his back was palpated last friday when we started him on it, and as soon as Monday didn’t even flinch. He has been ridden and jumped all week and is still showing no signs of being sore.

To get to the root of my question, this horse has always hated being groomed. No matter how soft the brush he is grumpy being groomed ANYwhere but his hindquarters and hind legs. Vet said he was just sensitive. Since we started the Robaxin, he is falling asleep in the crossties while being groomed now. Night and day difference. I know there are certain conditions that make horses chronically muscle sore, and am wondering if maybe this is his issue? Would this be symptomatic of EPSM or something like that? What else would cause his muscles to be so sensitive that the Robaxin is masking? Any COTH wisdom?

When we updated my vet he mentioned RVI (I think that’s what he said) injections being something we can look into, and mentioned a higher fat, lower sugar diet…this was all relayed from my trainer to me, so I’m not 100% clear on everything but will follow up with my vet on Monday. In the meantime, any ideas what could be going on? I have a totally different horse this week, so happy and perky! I want to keep him this way

[SuzieQNutter]

I googled it as I have never heard of it.

It came up with humans and said that you might have to decrease the dose after the first 3 days. To follow doctors orders and don’t lessen or take more than prescribed.

It did say that it can impair thinking.

So no driving a vehicle for him amd oh also no letting him get pregnant either!!!

It did say that it is a drug for pain in the skeletal system.

I am so glad you found something that has worked so well for your boy.

[WingsOfAnAngel]

I have a horse that has been having similar problems and will be starting on methocarbamol tomorrow. I used it once in the past with great results, but I am curious as to the long term effects. How long is it supposed to be used for? If I remember correctly from the last time, we weaned him off of it after a week or two.

[IPEsq]

Robaxin isn’t a “muscle relaxer” exactly but acts on the central nervous system. So, for some horses with muscle soreness it does nothing and for others it is better than an NSAID for symptom relief.

You might want to look into therapies such as massage, acupuncture, shockwave, etc., but now that the area has calmed down, you might be able to take him off of it and just use it after hard work days or other stress.

[IPEsq]

[QUOTE=WingsOfAnAngel;8283070]
I have a horse that has been having similar problems and will be starting on methocarbamol tomorrow. I used it once in the past with great results, but I am curious as to the long term effects. How long is it supposed to be used for? If I remember correctly from the last time, we weaned him off of it after a week or two.[/QUOTE]

My vet prescribed some pretty hefty doses for up to 3 weeks (up to 20 500mg pills 2x a day at first then down to 15). I think if you were trying to stay in USEF legal levels of 10 500mg pills 1x a day after acute soreness is relieved then maybe you could use it for longer (?).

[WingsOfAnAngel]

[QUOTE=IPEsq;8283083]
My vet prescribed some pretty hefty doses for up to 3 weeks (up to 20 500mg pills 2x a day at first then down to 15). I think if you were trying to stay in USEF legal levels of 10 500mg pills 1x a day after acute soreness is relieved then maybe you could use it for longer (?).[/QUOTE]

Thanks!
OP: What dosage are you using?

[mroades]

some of my horses as well as myself take it fairly regular like…it was first prescribed to the both of us over 20 years ago…
and yes, it helps with epsm

[LookmaNohands]

Robaxin (methocarbanol) is just a Band-Aid. My guess is that you are missing something. Muscles have a reason for being sore. I would keep trying to find the cause. Could it be Lyme? Saddle fit?

[jawa]

The multitude of reasons a horse can be sore:

heel pain
saddle fit
hock pain
fetlock pain
Lyme
EPSM
poor farrier work/hooves out of balance/needs a different style shoe
needs more frequent shoeing

And I’m sure I missed some or that my horse hasn’t suffered from one of the reasons I’ve listed (yet…knocks wood…I don’t need to experience anymore reasons).

Robaxin did NOTHING for my horse. He was on it for over 3 weeks with NO relief. Accupuncture made a huge improvement after the one treatment. (The vet wanted to do more treatments, I said thankyou, but I’d rather find the cause than continue to mask the symptoms at $$ a treatment.) Ace at .5-1ccs was enough to ease the pain and stiffness until I could tick off all of the ways my horse’s back was made sore.

When I bought my horse 2 years ago, he didn’t like ANY grooming, except with the softest brush. At first I thought it was just a thin skinned TB thing, but it was a all over body sore thing. Since I have ticked off the multitude of things that were making him sore, he enjoys a good grooming, even with a stiff brush.

For my horse, Lyme and saddle fit were the worst culprits for soreness. My saddle was a good fit, but not good enough for the prince in the pea! I think his issue with saddle fit is that he is a short coupled TB with long legs and a HUGE over stride and a nice rolling back when he walks. If the saddle impinges his back anywhere he can’t move freely and it starts a chain reaction of problems, with the end result being intense back pain and muscle spasms.

[SugarCubes]

He is on 10 500mg tabs per day for 10 days. We will drop him down to 2 tabs a day after that, as we have shows coming up!

[SugarCubes]

[QUOTE=LookmaNohands;8283284]
Robaxin (methocarbanol) is just a Band-Aid. My guess is that you are missing something. Muscles have a reason for being sore. I would keep trying to find the cause. Could it be Lyme? Saddle fit?[/QUOTE]

Right. This is my question, what am I missing? Like I said, we’ve covered all the bases as far as what else could be contributing to this (several lameness exams, saddle fitter was out two weeks ago and added shims, now he’s happy with his saddle, regular chiropractic) and aren’t finding any answers. I’m wanting to know what else can cause all over body soreness that the Robaxin is masking. My vet commented how hard it is to give him shots in his hindquarters because he is so tightly muscled, I may look more into EPSM?

[SolarFlare]

[QUOTE=SugarCubes;8283632]
Right. This is my question, what am I missing? Like I said, we’ve covered all the bases as far as what else could be contributing to this (several lameness exams, saddle fitter was out two weeks ago and added shims, now he’s happy with his saddle, regular chiropractic) and aren’t finding any answers. I’m wanting to know what else can cause all over body soreness that the Robaxin is masking. My vet commented how hard it is to give him shots in his hindquarters because he is so tightly muscled, I may look more into EPSM?[/QUOTE]

Not sure if you’ve had this looked at but sore hocks cause tight, sore hamstrings (and in turn can cause a sore back).

[SugarCubes]

[QUOTE=SolarFlare;8283636]
Not sure if you’ve had this looked at but sore hocks cause tight, sore hamstrings (and in turn can cause a sore back).[/QUOTE]

Yup, hocks were just injected in May…

[Pocket_Pony]

My horse was on Robaxin (methocarbamol) years ago and I didn’t remember that it helped him much. At the time he was getting regular chiro and acupunture and I think that vet suggested Robaxin because he had one rib that was always “out” and she thought maybe the Robaxin would help (I don’t remember that it did).

IIRC he got 14 x 750-mg pills once a day. 10 x 500-mg pills doesn’t sound like a lot to me.

I will tell you that I am currently taking methocarbamol myself for back pain. Turns out I have an old compression fracture at T12 and the muscles around it are in spasm most of the time. I’ve tried just about everything for relief and this is just about the only thing that helps me. I don’t feel weird or loopy on it, but I do take it before bed so how would I know?! :lol:

A couple other things to consider/try would be a PSSM/EPSM test (easy little muscle biopsy) or putting the horse on Quiessence which has helped a tight-muscled horse of mine in the past.

[SugarCubes]

[QUOTE=Pocket Pony;8283660]
My horse was on Robaxin (methocarbamol) years ago and I didn’t remember that it helped him much. At the time he was getting regular chiro and acupunture and I think that vet suggested Robaxin because he had one rib that was always “out” and she thought maybe the Robaxin would help (I don’t remember that it did).

IIRC he got 14 x 750-mg pills once a day. 10 x 500-mg pills doesn’t sound like a lot to me.

I will tell you that I am currently taking methocarbamol myself for back pain. Turns out I have an old compression fracture at T12 and the muscles around it are in spasm most of the time. I’ve tried just about everything for relief and this is just about the only thing that helps me. I don’t feel weird or loopy on it, but I do take it before bed so how would I know?! :lol:

A couple other things to consider/try would be a PSSM/EPSM test (easy little muscle biopsy) or putting the horse on Quiessence which has helped a tight-muscled horse of mine in the past.[/QUOTE]

My trainer actually takes it for her back too! Agree that he is on a light dosage, which is why it’s so amazing that I’ve seen such drastic improvement. I’ve been reading more about EPSM/PSSM and he is a tightly muscled QH, so I feel like I may be onto something. Will definitely look into testing for that and Lyme, though it would be extremely rare for it to be lyme in my area. I’ll have to check out the Quiessence too, thanks for the suggestion

[LookmaNohands]

[QUOTE=SugarCubes;8283632]
Right. This is my question, what am I missing? Like I said, we’ve covered all the bases as far as what else could be contributing to this (several lameness exams, saddle fitter was out two weeks ago and added shims, now he’s happy with his saddle, regular chiropractic) and aren’t finding any answers. I’m wanting to know what else can cause all over body soreness that the Robaxin is masking. My vet commented how hard it is to give him shots in his hindquarters because he is so tightly muscled, I may look more into EPSM?[/QUOTE]

Maybe you need a new vet, if your vet isn’t already looking into EPSM after all this. Or more bloodwork?

How does he go under saddle? Nicely round and soft or high headed and dropped back? Maybe it is more of a training/posture issue.

[SugarCubes]

[QUOTE=LookmaNohands;8284148]
Maybe you need a new vet, if your vet isn’t already looking into EPSM after all this. Or more bloodwork?

How does he go under saddle? Nicely round and soft or high headed and dropped back? Maybe it is more of a training/posture issue.[/QUOTE]

I totally agree, and the more I keep reading about EPSM, the more probable it sounds. My trainer is fed up with this vet and we are getting a second opinion next week. Under saddle he is soft and round when he is not palpating sore. When he is sore, he starts off hollow, especially at the trot, but will try to get his butt underneath himself if I keep on him about it, but he definitely guards his back when he’s sore (obviously!). He is worse in the summer, in the winter he lives in his Back on Track sheet which makes a huge difference.

[Ghazzu]

[QUOTE=jawa;8283559]
The multitude of reasons a horse can be sore:

heel pain
saddle fit
hock pain
fetlock pain
Lyme
EPSM
poor farrier work/hooves out of balance/needs a different style shoe
needs more frequent shoeing

And I’m sure I missed some or that my horse hasn’t suffered from one of the reasons I’ve listed (yet…knocks wood…I don’t need to experience anymore reasons).

Robaxin did NOTHING for my horse. He was on it for over 3 weeks with NO relief. Accupuncture made a huge improvement after the one treatment. (The vet wanted to do more treatments, I said thankyou, but I’d rather find the cause than continue to mask the symptoms at $$ a treatment.) Ace at .5-1ccs was enough to ease the pain and stiffness until I could tick off all of the ways my horse’s back was made sore.

When I bought my horse 2 years ago, he didn’t like ANY grooming, except with the softest brush. At first I thought it was just a thin skinned TB thing, but it was a all over body sore thing. Since I have ticked off the multitude of things that were making him sore, he enjoys a good grooming, even with a stiff brush.

For my horse, Lyme and saddle fit were the worst culprits for soreness. My saddle was a good fit, but not good enough for the prince in the pea! I think his issue with saddle fit is that he is a short coupled TB with long legs and a HUGE over stride and a nice rolling back when he walks. If the saddle impinges his back anywhere he can’t move freely and it starts a chain reaction of problems, with the end result being intense back pain and muscle spasms.[/QUOTE]

Acepromazine has no analgesic properties.

[Ambitious_Kate]

[QUOTE=SugarCubes;8283632]
Right. This is my question, what am I missing? Like I said, we’ve covered all the bases as far as what else could be contributing to this (several lameness exams, saddle fitter was out two weeks ago and added shims, now he’s happy with his saddle, regular chiropractic) and aren’t finding any answers. I’m wanting to know what else can cause all over body soreness that the Robaxin is masking. My vet commented how hard it is to give him shots in his hindquarters because he is so tightly muscled, I may look more into EPSM?[/QUOTE]

I presume you have looked at Lyme? Its primary symptom is all over body soreness/pain; muscle or joint. I would certainly make sure it has been ruled out.

[vxf111]

You can’t show on Robaxin except at a low dose but according to my vet you can keep a horse on it a looooooooooooooong time with no real ill effects. So if this works in the meantime while you get to the root cause, I wouldn’t stress too much.