IV sedation in horses - a few q's for you lovely people!

[EllieBeast]

Hiya, i have finally decided that the only way to get my girl clipped will have to be with the help of a vet.
i just have a few questions
1) how long after coming round will she be ok to be ridden, more to the point, could i do a dressage test the following day?
2) how much does it generally cost, inc callout.
3)how long does it usually take to kick in?
horse is 15.3 middleweight idx, weighs approx 580kg
i can always work on desensitising her still after she is clipped, but she is just too bloomin hairy!
thanks in advance
Sarah

 

[Sarah_Jane]

I wouldn't ride her the same day but she should be fine the next day - check with your vet to be sure.


I have just had mine sedated for teeth and the injection was £16. The visit was shared so half that of normal and was £14.60

The injection works within minutes so be ready to start almost as soon as the needle is out!

 

[EllieBeast]

Fabby, thanks. thats definately not as much as i expected, however i might have to see if anyone else wants the vet on the same day. might help with the cost!

 

[djb]

They all react slightly differently but:

- I think you would be ok to ride the next day - I think you have to give them 24 hours but she will probably look quite normal after an hour or two.
- Not sure of the cost - I'm guessing about £50-80 incl call-out and journey.
- It kicks in quite quickly - probably about 10 minutes - much quicker than paste.

Don't let her have anything to eat for a few hours after the sedation as it can affect the swallowing reflex and keep an eye on her while she comes round properly.

 

[emelia]

I had to do this for my mare last year so I hope the following helps -

1) you'll be able to ride her the next day though she'll be ok that evening it is best to get it right ou tof system as leaves them feeling a bit groggy
2) It cost me £75 all in
3)it takes about 10 mins to kick in - that was a 16hh ISH

My vet stayed there the whole time to make sure she had enough as she was really bad to clip. It does not last long though, only about 20 mins really, and so it took 2 of us with clippers, one each side to get a full clip done before she came round (and the vet to stop her falling over! lol!!)

Hope this helps if you need any more info just PM me. Good luck!

xxx

 

[Tempi]

ahhhhhhh my favourite topice, sedation for clipping!!!!!

cost me around £70 a time to get her fully sedated, but she needs a lot, it depends how much she 'takes'. callout for me is cheap as my yard is next to the vets and some of the vets have horses on the yard, so they do it 'on their way to do their horse'. it lasted around 30mins on Bloss until she started twitching a bit, but she really rights it. About 3hours later she had totally come round. you arent allowed to let them eat until they are fully awake, and i personally wouldnt ride the same day after theyve been sedated. I have competed the day after sedation tho and she was fine. I generally tend to lunge her in the morning before she gets sedated so she has a bit of exercise but dosent get too sweaty.

 

[EllieBeast]

Fab, thanks for your help guys. luckily She tends to only need clipping once a year, so i should only be shelling out once

we really have tried everything else for her, acp does nothing for her, i have been desensitising her for the past 3 weeks, and she still flips, and we cant twitch her for the duration of a hunter clip. hmm, better get earning those pennies!
Sarah

 

[EllieBeast]

The joys of a clipper-phobic horse hey P_G?!
thanks, i will probably give a couple of vets a shout for callout quotes (as el is registered with a couple

). and go from there. we wont manage it until a week or so's time though. cant wait to do two rounds of xc a stratford hills on the giant teatowel!! - me thinks i may need all my coolers

Sarah

 

[ajb]

I have to have my lad IV sedated-it costs me about £100 (affluent South East and all that )...the cost is normally in the "waiting" time for the vet..especially if its the first time you have Iv..they like to hang around in case needs topping up..my tip is to get a mate to help and clip a side each if your doing full..speedy and saves spending so much on vet time..also a tip with mine is tape some cotton wool pads over the eyes..took us took years to work out that the "blink" mechanismn is affected and the little hairs get in the eyes..each time after clipping he had gungy eyes for a few days but now that sorts that out...good luck

 

[EllieBeast]

thankyou! i'm in east anglia so these prices will probably be close to what i will pay. ooh the fun, someone else is doing the clipping, so will see if they can bring a sidekick!
Sarah

 

[JACQSZOO]

Before you go down this route - and I'm not a tree hugger honest! Let me tell you a little story!
My friend has a 16.1hh 12 yr old tbx exhunter who is a complete nightmare to clip - dangerous in actual fact, he has been sedated to clip (and his teeth) in the past. On Tuesday night I witnessed the most amazing thing.
My friend is into barefoot and has a lady called Mel Richards to do her horses feet. This lady also practices various "natural horsemanship" techniques, runs clinics etc.
Anyways, on Tuesday she clipped this horse for my friend. She used my corless avalon clippers (we had tried them on him previously and rearing and dangerous behaviour had resulted). She held him in the yard with a normal headcollar and leadrope with no help at all. He was a little restless at first but soon relaxed, he did have areas where he was'nt sure and would circle around her but she let him and he soon settled, that was basically her method, keeping the horses eye on her at all times and letting him work it out for himself.

If I hadnt witnessed it with my own eyes I would never have beleived it, this horse really was a liability to himself and anyone around him before!

 

[_jetset_]

Got her number? He he... having the same problem, just going picking up my 2 sedalin now!

 

[EllieBeast]

aw, if only i had the magic touch! unfortuanately i dont have the funds to shell out on a pair of clippers, and i cannot do it myself. im sure we could manage to clip her without sedation eventually (we managed last year, but we acp'd her so that it wore off half way through then she was fine, and again for her second clip but without any acp, however acp has stopped working on her now). the trouble is, she has a large workload, and is extremely hairy. so i need to get her clipped asap - especially as i want to make the most of my last winter with her. so i plan to get the hair off whilst she is sedated, so there are no more time restraints when it comes to her clipper training. i can continue her training once she is clipped but will at least be able to work her.
thankyou for your input, and i only wish that i could use that type of method. but unfortuanately i am getting pretty short of time now. we first tried to clip her early september, but failed (that was with acp) and i had to do a 3DE with a mammoth-coated horse!
Sarah

 

[JACQSZOO]

Good luck and I hope you have success this time. I totally understand where you are coming from, having horses that were difficult to clip (difficult not dangerous thankfully) I know how bl00dy frustrating it is.

 

[Pidge]

Only thing to add bar the no feed is no water either and try to have her on a shavings bed, so she can't eat the straw. You will know when she has fully come round usually a couple of hours. She will get sweaty from being sedated so make sure you have different blades for clippers that will go through the sweaty bits.

 

[EllieBeast]

Thanks, she is already on shavings, so that is a plus! she has been sedated like this before (for a tooth removal) and coped very well, so lets hope all goes smoothly!
Ellie is just scared, she tries to run out of the stable which is difficult when the door is shut! and just gets bargy (and she is a lot of horse!) never kicks, bites or rears.
Sarah

 

[TheresaW]

Used to cost me about £50 a time to get my mare sedated.

 

[lornaA]

can i just add to keep an extra eye on your horses after sedation. My horse has been sedated several times in her life most recently 4 weeks ago. After previously never having problems this time she took colic. The vet said this occasionally can happen with sedatives but it was the first i'd heard it. Thankfully i had been keeping an eye on horse and we caught the colic early and she was fine. Just be careful anything you put in a horse can disrupt it they can be very sensitive.