Great to know rugbug.
And yes, we are surrounded by cows and donkeys and some mules.
^^^ Interesting about the livestock. Mine are much more creeped out by the neighboring livestock when they are in the arena alone. Try the Mentholatum. Even if she can still see them, I think the horses are bothered most by the way they smell 
Iâm wondering now if livestock is the entire issue. I sit here and try to think about her surroundings off farm. She is literally only around livestock at my place. Thank you for bringing that to my attention! At get old farm, they raised beef cattle also⊠Hmm
[QUOTE=Ready To Riot;8723429]
Her feed is 1lb of purina enrich plus and was on 24/7 turnout. Now in the stall for 8-10 hours and gets 2 flakes of grass mix hay.
Also, she trailers alone when we trail ride. She has no time to make a best friend, but as I said, she is 100% okay with completely leaving the group alone. She also never screams for other horses. Which is what Iâve always experienced with herd bound horses. Working in sight of other Horses at home doesnât help either. I will try separation completely to see if it helps at all.
Picked up some mare magic since they had it at tractor supply and have put in an order for magrestore. Someone mentioned vitacalm. They have that at tractor supply as well (easy to get). Is that a good option? I hate having to order things.[/QUOTE]
I had a mare like this years ago and she was herd bound. No screaming for friends when working, no trying to shoot out the gate and back to the pasture, no bad behavior - just extremely anxious. She broke my foot rearing and carrying on when I was leading her one time. It was like having a kite on a string during a storm, no matter what we were doing. She was at her worst when the horse in the stall next to her would be taken out. Didnât matter that there were other horses around - that horse was her security blanket.
We fixed it by putting her on Regumate and never EVER stalling her next to another horse. At shows, she was between tack stalls. At home, she was put on the end with an empty stall next to her and the tack room across the aisle. She was turned out by herself, in viewing distance of several other horses but not close enough to touch or develop a friendship. When she was alone, she was happy as a clam. She was fine if other horses would walk past or if she heard them elsewhere - as long as there was no horse LIVING next to her that she could get attached to. And at shows, OMG, sheâd get attached in five seconds.
I personally suspect this mare was weaned way too early. Her breeder told me she was weaned at three months, and I think this caused her to have attachment issues. Just my probably crazy opinion LOL.
[QUOTE=Tiffani B;8723954]
I had a mare like this years ago and she was herd bound. No screaming for friends when working, no trying to shoot out the gate and back to the pasture, no bad behavior - just extremely anxious. She broke my foot rearing and carrying on when I was leading her one time. It was like having a kite on a string during a storm, no matter what we were doing. She was at her worst when the horse in the stall next to her would be taken out. Didnât matter that there were other horses around - that horse was her security blanket.
We fixed it by putting her on Regumate and never EVER stalling her next to another horse. At shows, she was between tack stalls. At home, she was put on the end with an empty stall next to her and the tack room across the aisle. She was turned out by herself, in viewing distance of several other horses but not close enough to touch or develop a friendship. When she was alone, she was happy as a clam. She was fine if other horses would walk past or if she heard them elsewhere - as long as there was no horse LIVING next to her that she could get attached to. And at shows, OMG, sheâd get attached in five seconds.
I personally suspect this mare was weaned way too early. Her breeder told me she was weaned at three months, and I think this caused her to have attachment issues. Just my probably crazy opinion LOL.[/QUOTE]
You just described my horse to a t! Did you have my mare?!? Lol
We had a couple mares at the barn that were the same. They were on Quiessence for a while but it wasnt enough. The one thing they did try and worked wonderfully (on every horse Iâve seen on it) was Dr. Xieâs Jing Tang Shen Calm. It is amazing stuff and all natural herbs.
I use the Body Sore on my horse with amazing results. There is another brand" that makes something similar, I cannot say if it works (think its called Shen Calmer). But HIGHLY recommend.
[QUOTE=Ready To Riot;8723726]
Great to know rugbug.
And yes, we are surrounded by cows and donkeys and some mules.[/QUOTE]
BINGO. Livestock at both your current and previous homes and she was nuts at both. None at the trainers where she is sane.
BtTDT but the worst around here is when the deer are active, smell em, hear em, cant see em close enough to be sure itâs not something stalking them for lunch. No way to school for that either. Canât blame a horse bred to be attentive, energetic and quick to respond for reacting to what they perceive as a threat.
STUFF HER EARS. It will dampen distant sounds of unknown animals. Rub mentholatum on her nose (Vicks). See if you can time your rides to when the other animals are likely to be quiet. I rode my mare midday, especially in spring and fall when the deer are more active. I changed from the dawn, dusk rides after a few bad falls caused by bounding deer out of nowhere, never had a problem midday.
Worst experience was the deer getting into the paddocks and running the horses, made the horses even more reactive to unknown sounds in the trees around the arenas.
Guve it a tryâŠand she may have taught herself to expect to feel threatened so IMO, a calmative or even a bit of Ace is appropriate. Might even look into a course of resurpine or other long acting tranq so you can get that chain of expecting to hear something scary broken and she can relax on turnout.
[QUOTE=Ready To Riot;8723995]
You just described my horse to a t! Did you have my mare?!? Lol[/QUOTE]
If you had a crazy Saddlebred mare, then maybe! LOL
But it does sound like the livestock might be the issue. I used to ride in the Great Circus parade and there were TONS of animals. Lions, tigers, giraffes, you name it. We had to use Vicks and ear poms for most of the horses or theyâd go absolutely batsh!t crazy. And these were normally solid citizens - little kidâs show horses, older retired horses, etc. And since you said sheâs fine away from home, Iâd bet good money thatâs the problem.
It might just be one particular TYPE of animal, too. I boarded at a barn that had a donkey and a few of the horses were just freaked out about that thing. Most didnât care. The others would stop dead in their tracks and run backwards just seeing him, nevermind if he started to bray. So your mare might have a phobia of cows or deer or whatever sheâs seeing/smelling/hearing.
The other thought I had was that sheâs bored. Iâve had horses that act up at home just because they need something else to do. Theyâre sick of the routine and want to have some fun. But they werenât anxious/nervous and a good whack on the butt usually got them back to work.
Has anyone had any success or experience with this product?
http://www.vetoquinolusa.com/content/zylkene-equine
[QUOTE=Made In Canada;8725195]
Has anyone had any success or experience with this product?
http://www.vetoquinolusa.com/content/zylkene-equine[/QUOTE]
I tried it during injury rehab. Didnât notice any difference. On my vetâs recommendation, I switched to Confidence EQ.
I have known lots of horses to be terrified of specifically cows and donkeysâ even if they saw them daily. The very scent of cow patties at fair would cause meltdowns
I had one that was very aggressive when at home. Dogs were not safe and knew to stay out of his way.
He was however, reduced to a terrified mess when confronted by any sort of ground type bird. He never got over it. I can only imagine how difficult it would have been to manage if there were any birds, chickens/turkeys etc⊠consistently nearby.
Livestock or wildlife fear may be a problem to consider.
I have my 15 yr old TB mare on Mareâs Magic, along with SmartPakâs Smart Mare Tranquility and SmartMare Harmony.
She doesnât get ridden, but her daily behavior was hard to manage. I got her off the track to save her from a one way ticket to Puerto Rico. Sheâs stunning, & in great weight but has some meltdowns mostly when she comes inâŠShe has access to her stall and her paddock and field, along with her buddy, 24/7. She was just edgy and hormonal (I think). So far this mix of supplements has been a life changer for her (and me).
Alpha Omega Chill, just enough to do the trick, use as directed and it works.
Liquid supplement fed an hour before you ride right in her mouth.
Its gold.
I used it for my young horse at his first couple of shows, he doesnât need it anymore but I recommend it to anyone at this point.
