Rescue remedy for separation anxiety

[JinxyPoo]

My TB gelding has some issues with separation anxiety at shows...nothing horrible or dangerous, but certainly annoying. He basically throws a fit on the trailer when his friend leaves, then after 10 minutes or so he gets over it and goes back to munching hay...but for those 10 minutes it feels like he's going to knock the trailer over. Normally he'll walk away from his friends fine and leisurely walk to the ring, but this weekend when I took him away he threw a fit as well. Granted, one of his friends had just tried to jump the chest bar which was quite a fiasco, so he was a little on edge. We brought the other horse with us to the ring, and he would go school and go in the ring totally fine, but when we were waiting around he would not do anything other than stand directly on top of the other horse. If she took a step away, he would freak out unless he could take a step too. Like I said, when he goes in the ring he's all business and I never have a problem, but its just really annoying and makes me irritated and distracted.

I've heard rescue remedy is good for separation anxiety, I looked it up on smartpak and I was pretty amused that it's like 30% alcohol! He doesn't really need to be calmer, most of the time I have to convince him that he's a jumper and he wants to go forward, not lope around at 2 mph. Would rescue remedy help take that OMGOMGFRIENDZ edge off without making him half dead/drunk? Would anything else or should I just suck it up and deal with it?

Also I hadn't originally thought of this but would it be kosher re: USEF? It seems to be herbal so I'm thinking its okay? Although some people are telling me anything other than hay and water is OMGILLEGAL.

This is the ingredients list on smartpak: Ingredients:
Star of Bethlehem: For trauma and shock. Clematis: For the tendency to "pass out", and unconsciousness, being ‘far away’ and not present mentally. Cherry Plum: Fear of mind giving way, verge of breakdown, anger. Impatiens: For irritability, tension and fidgety. Rock Rose: For frozen terror and panic

[M. O'Connor]

Anything that is meant to produce a calming effect should certainly be suspected to be prohibited; check with USEF D&M before administering! However, while you can refer to the list of ingredients, that might not be the whole story.

It has been the case in the past that unlisted ingredients have been found to be present upon further analysis following unexpected positive drug tests. You can't always trust the labels, and you can NEVER trust the claim "won't test."

The phrase "won't test" is a particular peeve of mine--it infers that there are ingredients present that will be effective, but will not be detected. I have never seen a label that reads "contains no forbidden substances," which is more to the point.

Have you tried taking your horse to the show solo, without the friend? When they are too dependent on each other, it can get out of hand...

I recently came home from a show at which our yearling was unreasonable about leaving her nanny pony to go into the ring, and I have weaned them from each other cold turkey at the farm. No way could we put up with that behavior long term.

My suggestion would be to switch up whatever you need to at home so the anxiety is all over with before you leave the barn, and either take them alone or at least separately to your next few outings.

[slp]

From my personal experience with this product, it does NOT WORK AT ALL. They recommend to use 4 drops for dogs, 4-8 drops for horses. :confused: I tried this for my Australian Shepherd that has a severe panic attack every time we have a thunderstorm or if she hears fireworks in the distance. The drops are very small so the alcohol in the product is negligible at best, but it had absolutely no effect on her. I would think that if the recommended amount was 4 drops for a 50 lb. dog then a horse should be getting a significantly larger amount than 4-8 drops...but the product doesn't work anyway so save your money.

[hollyhorse2000]

Rescue Remedy is not an herb product. It is flower essences, which are not prohibited substances. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't (also works for humans and other animals.) I've personally had more success with flower essences from Green Hope Farm (google it.) They have an Animal Wellness section and I use the Anxiety for my horse. It has greatly reduced her pawing in the stall. (I was skeptical, too, but it really was a dramatic change.) Their Web site might also explain what flower essences are. Flower essences are a bit too "New Age" for many, but I do what works for me and my horse . . .

[besttwtbever]

I have used this product in the past with horses and I have never actually seen it work. One of my previous trainers swore by it and even used it on herself from time to time when clients got out of hand at horse shows (we had some pretty interesting people at our barn). I used it once or twice on a gelding of mine who liked to run and pull a lot but I never saw any results. As far as I know it does not show up on drug tests.

I would agree that your horse needs to get over this without the aid of rescue remedy. Some horses just get ridiculously attached and it can get to the point of being unsafe even if you're not careful. I would recommend that you separate them at home. If you can't bear to see him apart from his friends or whatever, then maybe just take him away from them a few days before the horse show so he doesn't act so bad when you get there.

[tullio]

We have had this problem before too and M O'Connor's solution is the only one that is a solution and not just masking the problem. You say that you have no problem in the ring, but I would not assume that you will never have a problem - if the behavior continues and the attachment gets stronger, you could certainly end up with a much more serious problem than you have now. We had two that traveled to events together and got so 'joined at the hip' that when separated, they both screamed and fussed for... well, longer than ten minutes. ;) It was not a pleasant day. Upon returning home, pasture and stall arrangements were juggled until they realized they could live without each other. That was much less painful and safer for everyone.

Good luck!

[Sarabeth]

It didn't work for my anxious horse, either. Save your money.

[bosox]

I have had great success w/Rescue Remedy w/a green horse and new places, an older horse who did not like to trailer w/o his buddies and just told my hunter friend about it for her unpredictable horse. All three situations are different--and it worked well for all of the above.

[ADD526]

im not sure if its legal and I know it wont work for all horses but I have used it. wanted to take just a little edge off of my horse. he just seemed a little worried through the winter months and I know I wouldnt want to be worried all the time so we tried it. I think it made a little difference but not much...a horse at the barn I work at is a totally horse with it...its quite amazing lol...Ive never seen/heard of it used for seperation anxiety but I guess its worth a try if you need to do something

[JinxyPoo]

Anything that is meant to produce a calming effect should certainly be suspected to be prohibited; check with USEF D&M before administering! However, while you can refer to the list of ingredients, that might not be the whole story.

It has been the case in the past that unlisted ingredients have been found to be present upon further analysis following unexpected positive drug tests. You can't always trust the labels, and you can NEVER trust the claim "won't test."

The phrase "won't test" is a particular peeve of mine--it infers that there are ingredients present that will be effective, but will not be detected. I have never seen a label that reads "contains no forbidden substances," which is more to the point.

Have you tried taking your horse to the show solo, without the friend? When they are too dependent on each other, it can get out of hand...

I recently came home from a show at which our yearling was unreasonable about leaving her nanny pony to go into the ring, and I have weaned them from each other cold turkey at the farm. No way could we put up with that behavior long term.

My suggestion would be to switch up whatever you need to at home so the anxiety is all over with before you leave the barn, and either take them alone or at least separately to your next few outings.

It's not a particular horse he has the issue with, it's any horse that comes to the show with him. He's fine when he goes alone, but for most shows, someone else is going to be showing as well so he's going to have a trailermate. He goes out with one other horse, but he used to go out alone and he still had the same issues on the trailer. There are no free paddocks so I couldn't put him out alone now.

I've heard a lot of people say it works and a few say it doesn't, and it's only $10 so I think its worth a try