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What is your opinion on using
tranquilizers to calm a horse down so you can ride it? I'm thinking of
our son's mare who is a little too hot at this time of the year.
Mary Alice, Rhode
Island
This is a great question. The general
issue comes up quite often, both in regard to performance and pleasure
horses. In our particular practice, it is most often stallion owners who
consider using tranquilizing drugs as an aid to handling stallions in
the breeding situation. I do have an opinion on this, but it requires
some explanation.
In general, for most situations I might
recommend carefully considering tranquilizing a horse for work or
breeding only as a possible alternative or adjunct after other behavior
modification methods have been tried. There have been rare instances in
which we judged their use effective, but usually not. There are many
reasons. On light sedation, some horses actually seem more likely to
kick or "explode." Their be-havior often is less predictable
than without tranquilization. Sedation impairs the horse's ability to
perceive the environment and to react accordingly. This has obvious
benefits and risks affecting safety of people and animals. For example,
for breeding stallions, it is rare that you can reliably achieve a level
of sedation that significantly enhances handling without having a
stallion so wobbly behind that he risks falling when he mounts a mare.
These considerations are just as
important when riding or driving a horse. A strong argument can be made
that tranquilization impairs the ability to learn. So, if the horse is
in training, it might be quiet and compliant, but could be less likely
to learn.
Tranquilizers can have variable effects
on behavior, even in the same horse from day to day. This holds for both
the positive effects and the adverse effects. If a tranquilizer is used,
the particular product, dose, and safety issues should be discussed
carefully with your veterinarian, who will want to monitor the horse's
response closely. This often is not practical for routine use. It is
rare that you cannot achieve equal or better results with training or
changes in diet than with drug tranquilizers.
My favorite approach to a horse such as
your son's mare is to try changing to a diet without grain and with good
grass pasture or free-choice grass hay to maintain good, but not fat,
body condition. Supplementation with l-tryptophan can also have further
calming effects on horses. Regular lunging or round pen work for 15 to
30 minutes, especially before riding, can work wonders at taking the
edge off a seasonally feisty mount. It usually gets the horse focusing
on the handler and reviews the basic commands.
I hope this is helpful. As you probably
expect, opinions vary among professionals on this issue. I'm happy you
brought it up and would welcome further discussion.
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