whbar158 - Ace does not always have the desired effect on all horses. For my mare it made her spookier, and dangerous because she did even stupider things than she did without the drug. Valarian, on the other hand worked wonders and I could safely get through the “hop on and trot 5 minutes” part of her rehab. My friend had the same problem with her Swedish Warmblood.
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whbar158 - Ace does not always have the desired effect on all horses. For my mare it made her spookier, and dangerous because she did even stupider things than she did without the drug. [/QUOTE]
My farrier says that he will not work on aced horses for this reason.
[QUOTE=fourmares;6094500]
whbar158 - Ace does not always have the desired effect on all horses. For my mare it made her spookier, and dangerous because she did even stupider things than she did without the drug. Valarian, on the other hand worked wonders and I could safely get through the “hop on and trot 5 minutes” part of her rehab. My friend had the same problem with her Swedish Warmblood.[/QUOTE]
Agreed, it would be something to test, what is funny is my crazy mare was that way from Valerin and products like Quitex made her crazier (if that was possible), but it is something that I would try. I have been around quite a few horses that have been aced (not by choice, and maybe than just quite a few…) and have not seen an adverse reaction, no real effect at the dosage given yes, but not get extra reactive. Of course not every horse is the same so it is always good to test it before using it for something like the farrier.
Exactly. Horses react differently to different things. Some do better on one sedative than another. That’s why it’s good that there are more than one option.
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Well Mrs. Bradbury, this is the first time I’ve stumbled upon one of your threads =] I think that you might be on to something, it might let the training come to the forefront instead of working around the fearful moments. From what I know about valerian, it’s much more common in the western circuit and the doses I’ve been told are to start with a teaspoon and don’t use any more than a tablespoon. It lasts 4-5 hours so the average dose is given one hour before the desired effect. I don’t know a horse that has been on it personally but have heard a lot of good testimonials about the pure form and products that involve it from the western kids. It’s also not uncommon to give it twice a day but I don’t think she would need it in the afternoon since she’s so calm on the stall
Yeah Mrs. Bradbury! I have used Calm and Cool with one of my horses and it helped him on trail quite a bit. I am now thinking about my mustang who is pretty good but gets very anxious and rather stupid when riding with more than 2 other horses. I don’t think I would trust myserlf trying to give a right dose of a herb unless instructed by a manufacturer who has hopefully studied the effects and givers me proper instructions. So thats my 2 cents.
For those of you who have used Valerian root, how much did you feed?
How long is a piece of string?
When dealing with “ground valerian root”, you have no way of knowing the concentration of the active ingredient…
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Although starting low and titrating up to effect works.
FWIW, That’s the approach I use with approved pharmaceutical sedatives and tranquilizers.
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Ancient post bumped up by new member.
Interesting,nonetheless.
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Have you ever considered allowing your horse to smell Valerian Therapeutic Grade Essential Oil or Vetiver Therapeutic Essential Oil. They love it and it is very calming for them. I use it all the time. You just offer it for them to smell. Don’t buy cheap oil it can do more harm than good. There is also a product called Compose 2X by Life Data Labs that is very calming and I use it on my mare when the weather changes or the wind gets bad, it helps her from going nuts.
Smell it??? You do realize that’s BS right? Not to mention the stuff stinks!
If it helps your horse be calm it’s likely that the placebo effect it gives YOU calms YOUR body language down, which she can read.
You do realize that science has now PROVEN that aromatherapy has physical effects now? Specifically, the scent of lavender has been proven to lower blood pressure and relax. So why wouldn’t it work with other smells as well?
“Why wouldn’t it work” ain’t science. Show me the study showing that smelling VALERIAN root extract is effective in calming horses. Please. :lol:
Sorry, didn’t realise you were specifically saying valerian root, I thought you were implying all oils/aromatherapy was BS. My bad for assuming and jumping the gun here
Actually aromatherapy is bs.
Smells work in people because they have pleasant associations. If you have a negative association with a smell, even lavender, its not going to calm you down.
Animals don’t have the same psychology or associations as people, so the smells that make (most) people (in our culture) relaxed don’t work on animals. You would need to find the smells or pheromones that specifically appealed to horses, not the smells that make people happy.
There is no direct physical effect on the body from odors apart from the psychological effects.
And for herbs that affect the body when ingested, just smelling the essential oil has no effect. Otherwise you could just sniff hash oil (instead of smoking it) to get high.
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I did a search of horse supplements that contained Valerian and settled on 2500mg/day. It was perfect for my retired gelding who had become overly attached to his turnout buddy, my mare that I ride 5-6 days/week. He would scream and pace the whole time we were riding. Had him on Valerian for about 3 months, the attachment behavior completely stopped. I took him off, and it hasn’t returned.
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Well, there is at least one published study that showed use of lavender straw vs. wheat straw as bedding decreases travel sickness and stress (salivary cortisol levels were measured) in swine.
Another showed decreased excitement in dogs riding in cars with the use of lavender.
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Oh, that’s interesting.
My question would be: is this specific to lavender or does it happen with any sweet smelling thing that blocks out the changing smells of a trip? Animals are so sensitive to smells and use them to interpret their environment, so a constantly changing olfactory environment could be upsetting.
Both of these studies were specifically lavender.
Oh, and wrt your comment earlier about associations w/smells–I recall someone who had a toxic grandmother who drenched herself in lavender, and the very smell of it was upsetting to this person years later.
The olfactory lobe is, I believe, one of the more primitive parts of the brain.
