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Not-So-Speedy Dressage

From Endurance to Dressage

Fluphenawhat?

1/7/2012

 
Serious business this post.  I'll probably lose readers after this, but hear me out.

Let me start by saying that my endurance roots have made me very, very cautious about administering any over-the-counter or even prescription medications to my horses.  The only topicals I use are fly spray, Showsheen or similar grooming products, Scarlet Oil and Betadine Scrub for wounds, and Coppertox (or lately, my vet-created version of that thrush buster).  And that's it.  There's no Banamine in my medicine chest, no Bute, no Corona (Dr. B hates that stuff), no expired medications, nothing.  If I need a medication, I always run it by Dr. B first, even if it's OTC.

My feed routine is equally as simple: quality hay, beet pulp, rice bran, fresh water, occasional carrots and apples, and horse cookies.  In the summer, I provide a serving of electrolytes if the work will be hard and the weather warm.  But really, that's it.  I very much subscribe to the keep it simple, stupid plan.  

But ... you knew there had to be a but or why the need for the initial defense?

Sydney is having some difficulty settling into his job.  We've eliminated every possible source of his anxiety: he gets ridden regularly, 3 - 4 times a week; he gets turned out daily; he's in a large stall with a run that allows for quite a bit of movement throughout the day; his weight is excellent; he gets fed appropriately; he's not being harassed by a neighboring horse; barn life is relaxed and mellow; he has correctly fitting tack; his teeth have been evaluated; he's not sore or lame; he has excellent feet that are well shod; and on and on.

Over the last month or two, at nearly the same time we ran out of daylight, Sydney started demonstrating anxious behaviors when asked to work.  He's a perfect gentleman in the barn, he stands very quietly for the farrier, he enjoys being groomed and saddled, and he even stands rock solid for mounting.  But when I start to ask for the trot, he occasionally gets very anxious and demonstrates some very naughty behaviors: bolting sideways, small bucks, small rears, head wringing, etc.  Sometimes his tantrums are over with very quickly, but other times they last for thirty or more minutes.

I have been working hard to figure out the reason for the tantrums and have altered my work with Sydney in order to reassure him that it really is okay.  Finally, after getting nowhere except worse, it was suggested that I try a cc or two of Acepromazine.  AAACCKKK! was my initial reaction.  No way, Jose.  Ain't gonna do it ... really?  It might help?  So, gulp, I did it.  I gave him a 2 cc dose orally.  It worked - or, I should say, it helped.  I followed it up the next day with a one cc dose, and again the day after that.  Each day went equally as well.

As usual, I called Dr. B with the results of the little experiment.  She understood my plan of attack.  We don't want this to be a permanent solution.  What we're hoping for is a window of time in which to teach Sydney that nothing bad is going to happen and that work is actually fun.  Acepromazine is a tranquilizer, not a sedative so it has no analgesic qualities that mask pain.  It simply gives the horse a sense of well-being.  If a horse experiences an event with a sense of well-being, he's more likely to be relaxed when presented with the same experience at a later time, like the next day.  And if he has many experiences in which he has a sense of well-being, he will (hopefully) become a more relaxed and less anxious individual.

Dr. B actually had a better idea than to continue administering Acepromazine each day.  Acepromazine is actually an antipsychotic that works on the brain.  It has a number of possible side-effects, as do all drugs, but most people find that the benefits of the drug far outweigh the possible risks.  We do the same for ourselves. We know that taking various medications can cause all number of side-effects far worse than the symptoms for which we are being treated.  Watch any pharmaceutical commercial on TV and you'll see what I mean.

Dr. B.'s suggestion was Fluphenazine, a close cousin to Acepromazine, but it has fewer possible side-effects. Of course I Googled Fluephenazine and was rewarded with page after page of horrific stories told by people who had administered the drug only to experience horrible side-effects.  Dr. B hates it when her clients Google stuff since most of the information we lay people can find is unbalanced and not very scientific.  She quickly reassured me that Fluphenazine is far safer than Acepromazine and is actually quite widely used.

So what's the downside?  Well, Fluphenazine is on the BANNED substance list with USEF, as is Acepromazine. It's not permitted in any sport monitored by USEF which means it cannot be used if you show.  In addition, the detection time for Fluphenazine is two to three months from the last administration of the drug.  That's a long time. 

Is there an upside?  Yes, here it is.  Fluphenazine is given as a 5cc IM injection.  It lasts for nearly a month and then begins to fade away.  This means that Sydney should experience a month-long feeling of well-being.  Our hope is that this will give us enough time to give him many, many work sessions that are anxiety-free.  I won't have to administer the Acepromazine each day since he'll have the Fluphenazine working in his body all day long.  Of course this means that Sydney can't show until about April, but it's no biggie since the first show I would consider taking him to is in June.  And, if we can't get him relaxed and working well, he won't be ready to show anyway.

If the first go-round of the Fluphenazine wears off too quickly, or isn't effective enough, the injection can be given again.  Dr. B has a permanent equine resident at the vet hospital who gets several doses a year.  Since I didn't plan on showing Sydney until summer, that gives me a month or two to decide if this does the trick.  Dr. B feels that since the Acepromazine has demonstrated to be quite effective, she's very confident that I'll see good results with the Fluphenazine as well.

So ... did I lose you?  Am I a terrible horse-owner for even considering administering an antipsychotic drug to my horse?  Let me know what you think.  And as always ... please consult your vet before giving your horse any kind of medication.  

Post-publish Edit - There's a follow-up post here.
Val link
1/7/2012 02:41:58 am

Safety should always come first, so I believe that is a worthy justification.

Here is my attempt to be helpful based on my own experiences, since the meds are temporary and you have ruled out physical problems:

Saddle fit is a bear and a very mysterious one at that. Even if the saddle appears to fit and is not outright hurting him, it could still be blocking him in the shoulders. Sydney would have no way of telling you this except by acting out or failing to comply. Saddle fit (and padding) is part science, part art. Experimenting with a friend's saddle (or two) if possible, could help eliminate this variable. Another informative approach is riding bareback, but it sounds like that would be too dangerous in this situation.

Training is another huge variable. If the training routine or style is not working for Sydney, this would be his only way of telling you. Now, this gets tricky, because some resistance is expected and will have to be overcome, but when does resistance cross over into the horse telling you that something is wrong? Like, I cannot do "x" because I am being blocked by my rider's "y" and when I try to do "x" anyway I feel discomfort (physical, mental, whatever) so I get frustrated and refuse to do "x" and then my rider tries harder to help me but instead blocks me more with "y" and so on and so forth. The problem starts small (barely noticeable) and escalates depending on the personality and tolerance level of the horse. Resistance can help you find the source of the problem and I believe that all riders come across this in one way or another. My guess is "shoulders", which can be affected by many things from tack to the rider's shoulders being tight, and rein length, especially because dressage asks the horse to lift his shoulders so they must be free to do so.

My horse moves much more freely when my shoulders are released. He also used to wear a saddle that was falling into his shoulders during movement. My horse rushed a lot and could not find a neutral head position (too high or too low) when he wore that saddle. It was not obvious that the saddle did not fit and it was a gorgeous, expensive saddle. I was even complemented on how nice it was by a judge, shortly before I learned that it stunk for my horse. He never showed pain to palpation or fidgeted in saddling, but was a completely different horse bareback. AHA!

Karen
1/7/2012 07:44:22 am

Val - thank you for taking the time to share. Figuring out what "bugs" our ponies can be a trying ordeal. I feel that my vet and I are on the right path. Ace doesn't mask any pain, so my pre-Fluphenazine trial of Ace proved that he's not actually in any physical discomfort. Dr. B feels that his problem is truly anxiety.

I am pretty certain he was sold to the trainer that I bought him from because he was anxious and no one took the time to work him through it. The trainer I bought him from rehabilitates horses and finds them new jobs. She called him an overachiever, which I knew was a fancy way of saying anxious.

Bareback is an interesting discussion. Speedy will not trot if I ride him bareback. If I ask, he pins his ears, if I ask again, he turns his neck and nips at my toes. If I continue to ask, he gets humpy and threatens to buck. He either doesn't like the feeling of my seat bones on his back, or he doesn't like how loose I feel. In other words, he moves MUCH better under saddle than without.

Riding Sydney bareback would not be safe. Several of the horses who train with JL would not be safe bareback. Cha Ching is four years old and 17'1 - no way should he be ridden bareback!

I am going to continue with the work we're doing and hope that Sydney can learn to work with a relaxed attitude. I think we're making progress, even if it is slow!

Erica link
1/7/2012 05:55:12 am

I believe your plan of attack is quite apt for what you're experiencing. Some horses simply need to relearn how to be calm, and sometimes the non-prescription approach will not work 100%. I think sometimes we forget that when horses come to us, we have no clue what REALLY happened to them before us.

Keep updated on the new injection! I've never heard of it before.

Karen
1/7/2012 07:47:45 am

You're absolutely right - I know Sydney came to me because his hunter/jumper trainers couldn't make him be a successful jumper. As soon as I started working with him, it was obvious that he had a tight neck. Since July we've been working on softening his neck with stretches and riding him in a way that encourages relaxation. He's nine years old. It might take a bit to undo 7 years of tense working (first as a race horse and then as a jumper).

Updates will be frequent - I promise. :0)

Karen

Nicole link
1/7/2012 06:30:35 am

Hey,

Have you checked for Lyme/EPM/other diseases with neurological symptoms? (It took us two years of trying to diagnose "weird mild lameness that switches legs" to test for it, and so while it may be a "duh" for you, it certainly wasn't for me when I was younger).

I don't mean to criticize your system- your horses sound like they're getting excellent care, and some horses are just a bit... quick to develop weird phobias. (My big guy was terrified of mirrors, poles on the side of the ring (not jumps- we'd jump anything- but if they were resting alongside the ring), jack russels, spray bottles, all sorts of things...). If these medications help you two work through these issues, then they're being used as they ought.

I just figured I'd throw out the suggestion, since we've had a bad few years of Lyme in my area (Hudson Valley, NY) and it presents very differently in each horse, though neurological change is the only consistent point.

Good Luck!

-Nicole

Karen
1/7/2012 07:51:41 am

Nicole - thank you for sharing! My vet doesn't suspect anything neurological, and he doesn't present any symptoms that would suggest so. On the other hand, it never hurts to check! :0)

As I mentioned to Val, above, the three days of Acepromazine told us a lot. With just a small bit of Ace, all the tension and worry was gone. This tells us that his issue is a true anxiety disorder. We're going to pursue that route for now and hope that our multiple therapies do the trick.

Thanks!

Karen

Lorna
8/25/2013 12:59:34 pm

I just wanted to let the writer of this entry know what peace of mind it gave me after putting Fluphenazine into google after a 3 cc dose was administered to my Saddlebred who is recovering from a fractured splint bone and beginning to come off stall rest. I was panicking that my horse was going to die of a reaction to this drug but after hearing your story I will probably be able to sleep soundly.
Thank you,
Lorna

Karen
8/25/2013 01:16:44 pm

Glad you found my story helpful, Loma. Sydney is healthy and well although we're still struggling with some show tension, but who isn't? :0) Best of luck to you!


Comments are closed.

    About the Writer and Rider

    ​I am a lifelong rider. 
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