Any recommendations on how to calm an extremely anxious horse

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TheWorriedWarmblood

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6 months ago we purchased a horse who'd been stabled for 22 hours a day , for his whole life, he's 6 years old.
He's now turned out in the day , and stabled at night.
Although he's quite happy in his stable , he's extremely anxious and the slightest inconvenience or new thing , sends him into an absolute meltdown.
Even surrounded by a barn of quiet , calm and generally non-reactive horses, he absolutely loses his mind when something sets him off. He will spin, rear, attempt to jump over or barge through the door and is a danger to himself and anyone around him. Especially as he's a very large horse. Once worked up, he'll be like that all night and work himself into a sweaty foamy mess. Once he starts there's no calming him, he's got no interest in treats , food, toys or anything else when he's like that.
Obviously I cannot spend all night at the stables with him, and it's not like I can just constantly sedate him any time something sets him off. Which I doubt would be possible anyway as he took 4 full syringes of sedation to have his teeth done , and the vet was gob smacked he was still standing as he'd had enough to knockout a small elephant. we've tried valerian calmer in his feed but he wouldn't touch it as he's extremely fussy. And its not like I can desensitise him to every random event that may or may not occur. Really hoping someone has some suggestions, because every time it happens I'm terrified hell work himself into colic or break his neck trying to break out his stable. All horses at the yard are in for winter , so keeping him out is not an option, as A its not allowed and B he'd be the only one out and freak out. There is nowhere else I can move him and he's generally happy in his stable until something sets him off and then he'll be on edge and worked up, for a week or more. I don't really know what I'm asking for, a miracle really, any hints , tips or suggestions, throw them my way.
 
I can imagine your worry…can you let us have his history? What have you bought him to do? What feed and work is he in? Has he always reacted strongly, even in the summer? My gut reaction knowing nothing about him is to cut hard feed out and give him plenty of work to make him physically and mentally tired. It is also possible that your anxiety and emotionality feeds his anxiety..if you are at the stable door trying to soothe etc you may be reinforcing his thoughts that there is something to worry about. I’d fit a weaving grill to prevent him getting out and just leave him to settle himself.
 
I would definitely look at some natural horsemanship, for example TRT can be a good starting place. It sounds as if he is rather overwhelmed by life and needs to learn how to cope with his surroundings. If he is dangerous when doing the exercises, do get a professional in as he sounds like an accident waiting to happen.
 
Urgh I totally sympathise!! My Arab was like this, he was 5 and came from a dealers yard. My first year with him was fine, then i moved yards and he changed completely in the stable area. He was wired to the moon! I thought he would calm down, I tried EVERYTHING but nothing settled him, like yours he would weave, spin, rear, threaten to jump, it was very distressing, i was at my wits end. Then last summer because there was no grass i had to keep him in on a night, i was very worried because there was no way i could keep him in without any company, my friend offered me a stable on another part of the yard and he was a different horse!!! He hasn’t weaved or even got a little anxious for 8months! In hindsight, he could see far, far away and i think that made him anxious and never able to switch off, now he can only see the small contained yard and now doesn’t have to worry about bears coming out of the woods to get him!
 
EllieBeast said:
My priority would be finding somewhere, anywhere, that he can live out 24/7 to decompress. Poor lad has been cooped up enough and he’s still so young!
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That with a good lead mare.

He is lost and scared and unsure of the world. He needs a good bossy mare to be ‘mum’ - to calm him and guide him and help him learn about life. In an ideal situation, one he can share a field with then hack out alongside. We call ours the ‘aunties’. They can turn nervous wrecks into confident ponies with ease given a little time.
 
Can he be moved to a different stable that faces outside?
When you travel him, is he the same in the trailer/wagon?
Sounds a little like claustrophobia due to not being about to carry out flight instinct when something triggers him inside his stable. Maybe he feels even more confined being in a box in a bigger box (barn stables)
That probably doesn't make sense but I have a similar one to that but a scaled down version.
 
I couldn't read and run. Offering a bit of solidarity here, going through the exact same thing with my new horse ATM. Same as yourself, tried all sorts of calmers & valerian. Some nights he will settle, what I've found works is having him the last to go in to his stable (tie up outside etc while waiting). Also try be one of the last liveries there, this way I can turn lights off soon after he's gone in. If my horse even thinks for a second I'm there or the yard is still busy- he's wired, severely anxious and about over the door. I've got a camera so I can see from.a distance he's eventually settling in the quiet. Maybe if allowed you could try that. Don't get me wrong, some days there's not a hope in hell. He also refuses to come in from the field in fear of being stabled. So when possible he lives out coming in for feed only.

Totally understand your worry here, I'll be following too for any tips 🙈
 
TheWorriedWarmblood said:
6 months ago we purchased a horse who'd been stabled for 22 hours a day , for his whole life, he's 6 years old.
He's now turned out in the day , and stabled at night.
Although he's quite happy in his stable , he's extremely anxious and the slightest inconvenience or new thing , sends him into an absolute meltdown.
Even surrounded by a barn of quiet , calm and generally non-reactive horses, he absolutely loses his mind when something sets him off. He will spin, rear, attempt to jump over or barge through the door and is a danger to himself and anyone around him. Especially as he's a very large horse. Once worked up, he'll be like that all night and work himself into a sweaty foamy mess. Once he starts there's no calming him, he's got no interest in treats , food, toys or anything else when he's like that.
Obviously I cannot spend all night at the stables with him, and it's not like I can just constantly sedate him any time something sets him off. Which I doubt would be possible anyway as he took 4 full syringes of sedation to have his teeth done , and the vet was gob smacked he was still standing as he'd had enough to knockout a small elephant. we've tried valerian calmer in his feed but he wouldn't touch it as he's extremely fussy. And its not like I can desensitise him to every random event that may or may not occur. Really hoping someone has some suggestions, because every time it happens I'm terrified hell work himself into colic or break his neck trying to break out his stable. All horses at the yard are in for winter , so keeping him out is not an option, as A its not allowed and B he'd be the only one out and freak out. There is nowhere else I can move him and he's generally happy in his stable until something sets him off and then he'll be on edge and worked up, for a week or more. I don't really know what I'm asking for, a miracle really, any hints , tips or suggestions, throw them my way.
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In addition to tactics to help him settle, have you tried him on Coligone? My boy suffers from really bad separation anxiety, so I give him 50ml 30mins before we take my sisters horse out, otherwise he'd injure himself within 5 minutes of being on his own. I tend to use Coligone every day am and pm as it helps keep him chilled out, but not zonked out if on sedation, and it helps him cope with the changes in the grass as he's sensitive to any change now he's older. Worth a try IMO
 
He’s in light work at moment , mostly lunging. He has only been broken in for 6 months , I got him just after he was broken in.

Feed wise he has access to as much hay as needed and only has non heating feeds , Care & Gain Mash & Micronised linseed, as he came in poor condition and we needed to build him , which we’ve done slow and steady over the past 6 months .

I need to clarify that 99% of the time he’s happy in his stable , it’s not the stable itself he has issues with. Even on bad stormy days , he’s happy to be stabled all day when others are in . And on an afternoon he’s usually waiting at the gate of the field, ready to come in .

It’s certain things that set off his anxiety…the hedge cutter , construction noise , other unpredictable things, and he just loses his mind entirely.

So to clarify, it’s not the stable itself that’s the issue or cause if his anxiety.
 
TheWorriedWarmblood said:
He’s in light work at moment , mostly lunging. He has only been broken in for 6 months , I got him just after he was broken in.

Feed wise he has access to as much hay as needed and only has non heating feeds , Care & Gain Mash & Micronised linseed, as he came in poor condition and we needed to build him , which we’ve done slow and steady over the past 6 months .

I need to clarify that 99% of the time he’s happy in his stable , it’s not the stable itself he has issues with. Even on bad stormy days , he’s happy to be stabled all day when others are in . And on an afternoon he’s usually waiting at the gate of the field, ready to come in .

It’s certain things that set off his anxiety…the hedge cutter , construction noise , other unpredictable things, and he just loses his mind entirely.

So to clarify, it’s not the stable itself that’s the issue or cause if his anxiety.
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In that case I would definitely look at the likes of TRT or other natural horsemanship techniques! He needs to learn how to regulate himself and his body when these challenges arise. We had a young stallion who was quite terrified of life in general. I did some TRT method with him (we do it with all of ours) and he was transformed. This was in a matter of days, as long as you do it right it can make a huge difference. He couldn't even walk past a bucket that had moved without scooting off in a flap, afterwards he was much more self confident. Essentially, they learn to regulate their posture, so when a big scary thing happens, they don't become upright, head in the air, panic etc. The TRT platform has a free trial, it's a great initial resource.
 
My take on it… take him off hard feed, just in case something in there is triggering him. Get a really good chiro/osteo/physio to him, in this situation I’d recommend Rob Jackson.

If a clean bill of health try something like trt method with him. I don’t use it personally, but I use similar. May take a lot of hard work, with sessions most days of the week, but it will show if it’s a behavioral problem.

You could of course try the 24/7 turnout in a herd… but tbh Id say that would be if he was going totally wild every time in his stable,
 
I second getting him assessed physically - quite often when a horse can't cope with unexpected triggers and/or finds it hard to come down from being stressed they have significant physical/soft tissue discomfort, in particular the physical/soft tissue discomfort feeding into a significant headache.

Personally I would always look for someone who doesn't try to do manipulations but works with the horse more passively, letting the horse dictate what is too much and where they need help. This can be just as impactful if not more so than the more invasive-type modalities that people offer because the horse is able to process what is happening to their body, rather than being left in a state of overwhelm, wondering what has happened to them. Sometimes after manipulations the body actually closes up more because the horse cannot process the fact that they don't 'need' to brace in those areas any more, so the improvement can be limited at best. Equally, when done well, the more supportive soft tissue work can result in any necessary 'adjustments' happening naturally once the areas of brace have let go of whatever historical trauma they were holding on to.
 
Trinity Consultants do a really good , effective supplement, have a chat with Simon about him. I would also agree ( while acknowledging you say the stable isn't the issue), he would probably be better if turned out with a suitable Aunty.
 
I have seen criticism of TRT from people I respect so I think there are probably even better groundwork and connection programmes, TRT just has a bigger marketing budget and has been accepted into the competition world. The usual one that I recommend is more postural with connection as part of it so I don't think that would be right for now. Worth having a look around for practitioners that offer connection and emotional regulation work and seeing what the feedback is.

If you're in the north east LS Horsemanship would be worth a chat with.

I can't see there isn't some sort of physical/medical issue though with such strong reactions.
 
Could you try a radio to drown out the triggering noises? I don’t think it will fully help but might to some degree.

My 2 don’t go berserk but when it’s quiet outside they will both pause eating and go on alert thinking they’ve heard something outside. (In fairness my smaller one instigates it the majority of the time)
When the rain is hitting the roof they never react like that as the noise drowns out whatever they hear when it’s quiet.
 
If you wanted someone to come and give sound advice and work with him Michael Peace is fantastic. Would recommend him every time. Good luck, I hope you can him sorted.
 
estela said:
If you wanted someone to come and give sound advice and work with him Michael Peace is fantastic. Would recommend him every time. Good luck, I hope you can him sorted.
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He really is and I totally agree. I hi k the issue with horses like this though is as they are not wired 24/7 pts difficult to commit to making an appointment and shelling out on £££ when chances are the horse would be totally chill on the day.
 
Have you scoped him? I’d start there, would be very surprised if he didn’t have some degree of ulcers given the yard move and stress he’s feeling.
I’ve had two now that had really mild ulcers but had huge improvements in their behaviour/ability to cope with situations after they’d been resolved.
 
TheWorriedWarmblood said:
I need to clarify that 99% of the time he’s happy in his stable , it’s not the stable itself he has issues with. Even on bad stormy days , he’s happy to be stabled all day when others are in . And on an afternoon he’s usually waiting at the gate of the field, ready to come in .

It’s certain things that set off his anxiety…the hedge cutter , construction noise , other unpredictable things, and he just loses his mind entirely.

So to clarify, it’s not the stable itself that’s the issue or cause if his anxiety.
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How does he react to those things when out in the field?
 
Stop wasting your money on calmers and supplements - he needs to learn emotional regulation. Warwick Schiller and Tristan Tucker are probably the best at demonstrating it. Both have online courses. Start with Tristan as probably a better starting point. It's just pure anxiety from your horse and they need to be able to regulate themselves or else it's dangerous. It can be done but takes a lot of time.
 
Speaking for solidarity! My gelderlander is now 19, I bought him as a 6 year old and he was totally psychotic. He is naturally very edgy and anxious, even now, but TRT had a massive impact on his life. I also use horse first Relax Me calmer, which has helped
 
As someone said above, Coligone. Treat as if he has ulcers.
Try craniosacral therapy, Bowen Therapy, aromatherapy, Equine Touch..
how bad were his teeth?
Where are you based? I know of an excellent track system yard near Tenbury Wella. I rehabbed a ‘problem’ horse there a couple of years ago. A mare who couldn’t cope with anything transformed into the safest, happiest sweetest horse anyone could want.
 
I would physically asses and let him live out 24/7 in a herd - other horses will help him with learning to be a horse and emotionally regulate - he did not get to learn how to be a horse while he was stabled 22 hours a day. Best of luck!
 
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