-
Long post alert. Sorry.
In a recent podcast, @Doc-t briefly touched on sedatives vs tranquilizers and alluded to a general opinion about their use. I wondered if he could go into more detail about them and their uses outside of dentistry.
I had a novel and dangerous situation with my horse today, and it pushed me to consider what my vet and I have discussed with regard to medications to regulate behavior.
Now, before anyone goes apes**t, I have been dealing with his inconsistent and sometimes dangerous behavior for five years, reducing most of it with the assistance and advice of some very talented, gifted, and compassionate vets, professionals, behaviorists, etc etc.
Today he was flat out aggressive in a way I have never seen. It was an unacceptable and dangerous escalation and I need to consider my vet’s suggestion to try trazadone. We had talked about this to manage some anxiety we couldn’t figure out, that usually only appears in the winter.
He was always low in the herd pecking order and stayed out of squabbles. A couple of years ago he began periodically “resource guarding” me. When this guarding behavior began he simply stomped at other horses, or pinned his ears if they were too close when I went in the field. Didn’t happen every time. I don’t ever go in the field without being acutely aware of my surroundings and his expressions or mood, especially since this started. All was calm today until a mare he gets along with looked over from roughly 25 yards away and started to approach. I slowly swung the lead I was holding to signal her to stay back and she turned away. He lost it. He spun and went after her at full speed around the field for several minutes, ears flat and teeth bared, accelerating when she tried to stop. It was only after he had pinned her near the fence and bit her that she double barrel kicked him twice and he pulled up. It’s like his brain had shut off and went primitive. Nobody was home in there. I waited at the gate for 10 minutes (talk about trying to meditate my way to a normal heart rate!) while he stood in the field staring at me, completely still. He finally walked up, I haltered him and we went to the barn like nothing happened. He was like leading a feather. Bizarre and damn scary.
6 Comments-
Gosh @KarenM this must have been horrifying for you. Thank goodness he doesn’t look at you like that mare although that has been seen in other horses.
There is a trigger occurring in the left brain conscious that is evoking an emotion requiring your horse to attack until victory is achieved.It is so strong that there is nothing on Earth less than a bullet that would stop him. This is something that I don’t think any horse professional could correct with assurance it would never happen again.
The use of trazodone in horses is not approved nor is it commonly used. It is used in dogs “off label” and there are serious side effects if dosed incorrectly. In addition, in dogs it lasts about 4 hours and needs to be given about 30 to 60 minute prior. I also am not sure if this drug affects limb movement so if he ran, would he be stable enough to not fall and hurt himself.
There are only 2 things that come to my mind on this. The first is to wait for another 10 years to go by and hope he ages out of this behavior. This, of course, may be unacceptable but is still valid to point out. Over time, triggers can become less active as the cost / benefit of taking action from the trigger is reduced (a lot of energy is expended and for what?)
The second thought is to greatly increase his energy output through directed exercise. In other words, work at cross country, endurance or competitive trail rides where the object of the “competition” is not next to him as he experienced on a TB race track. In other words self-competes. This may tire him enough that he actually refocuses his mind. On the other hand, he will become more fit which may add to his charging. Of course this training may be beyond your skills, available time or your daily energy (plus there are cold and wet days to contend with).
Have you considered a mask with colored lenses to alter the light and thus alter the serotonin / melatonin balance. I am not sure if this is a possibility but it is easier to add a mask and look for improvement in behavior than it is to do all the other possibilities. There is now a blue light blocking mask for horses – unproven in horses but well established in humans. They look orange and they eliminate the blue light from artificial lights and electronic devices. If I recall, your horse lives outside but is there a lamp on all night? If there is, maybe wearing this at night might improve his sleep and the conversion of serotonin into melatonin necessary for good sleep cycles.
https://xpertequine.com
These are my thoughts but I hope more come to me. Let me know if there is a light on at night where he lives. We all need the blue light of the sun so wearing this during the day doesn’t make sense. Unless he stares into his smart phone all day…..-
Thanks, @Doc-t . I don’t think I quit shaking until I fell asleep. There are no lights. I have cut off his cellphone use.
I know he lies down in his shelter (it’s like a private stall with a large paddock, with daily turnout in a pasture with 2 other horses) and presume he gets good rest but could something else disrupt sleep enough to send him off kilter like that? We have an unusually large, bold coyote around but the horses don’t seem to pay much attention to him.
I have seen those goggles. I’ll check them out. He’s a master at coating himself in mud to the tips of his ears so my only concern is him not being able to see when he does that. He can be turned out alone but this wacky stuff seemed to be triggered by me. Just bloomin’ weird. I seriously thought I would have to have the vet come and put him down.
Interesting and concerning about the trazadone and my vet’s recommendation. She said she has had good luck with it. We had to use it in dogs once or twice.-
Have you thought of borrowing a night camera to record a weeks worth of sleeping? At least this might rule out a regular disturbance of sleeping. I am trying to think of something you can do to rule out things as you mentioned euthanasia may become a possibility.
I believe any medical intervention that is short lived becomes futile and expensive. I still am not sure of what the trigger is and if we were sure of that, what would be the correct approach? Medicine, behavior modification, distraction? If you do the medical route then possibly a long acting tranquilizer such as reserpine may work for 1 week at a time. The oral reserpine is not as effective as the injectable and there are colic side effects with the injectable if too much is given. In addition, how would you know if it was working without attempting to trigger another response you have already seen? When would the effects of a long acting tranq be over? Testing may be dangerous to you and the horse.
The bottom line is that when a horse has a reaction like this only when a trigger is made – but otherwise is a gentle animal – and this reaction may threaten the health of you or other horses or himself then a solution may never be found other than give him away with warnings or euthanasia. And if the trigger is you, as you suggest, then you need to dig deep and determine what it is about you that causes this reaction. If successful then you might be able to change this thing through modifying you or the routines you have with him. Until this clarity of cause is found, I think we all are just guessing. We will think on this and I will see you in a bit.-
I thought about a camera several months ago. May revisit that. He went out solo today. Perfectly agreeable other than he’s quite sore. The detective work will continue.
-
Sorry this happened Karen. Maybe you have said this before but is there any chance he is a cryptorchid?
-
Hi Angela, no he was fully gelded and he’s 9 yrs old. I’m hoping it was a one off. That mare actually went after another gelding yesterday. Maybe something is up with her and there was some tension before any of this went on with my horse. Who knows.
-
-
-
-
-
-
