Horse calmer

[luv_tali]

Hey,
I have a pony that has severe separation anxiety when his companion pony is taken away, even just to be ridden. I would like to try giving him a calmer in a treat form to see if this helps. Has anyone had experience like this and have any tips on what is good to use?
Thank you
Natalie

 

[be positive]

A calmer is not going to help with true separation anxiety even some sedation will be unlikely to really work with a horse that is that very stressed, I did use a valerian based supplement for a while to help one pony that had become totally reliant on his field companion to the point that he would not settle even with others in with him if the favorite left the yard or field, it did help but at the same time he was gradually separated for slightly longer periods and then went in with a different group where he was not so attached to one particular horse.
I don't think the calmer alone would have made much difference it was the careful management that worked, he was never left alone, became more confident in general and accepted the company of other equines not just the one he had latched onto when he first arrived.

I think you need to build up the time he is left very carefully, a mirror in the stable would be worth a go but needs to be positioned in the right place for the individual if it is going to help, possibly so he can eat a net and still see his reflection without having to move, ours also settled better if he had haylage rather than hay to eat, otherwise you may need to consider a companion for the companion for an easy life.

 

[ShowJumperL95]

Agree with what bp said, a calmer will not work. My two got so attached to each other once they moved to a new yard and the only thing that helped was slowly lengthening the time apart from each other and now they do not mind at all leaving each other. It help hacking both out at the same time but with separate from each other with different horses so they got to know other horses on the yard.