Sedaline - good idea or not for new entrants to the hunting field?

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corinnematthews

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I am taking my new pointers out tomorrow for their first meet. Both are young (5 & 6) and neither have hunted before. They are both racing fit (about ready to run) Others have told me that a couple of clicks of sedaline works well to take the edge off - I have never done this in the past (being quite experienced in the past at hunting new horses...) but both boys are very special - could be decent pointers and I do not want any accidents. What do others think?
 
Personal I wouldn't specially if you are planning on jumping. But I do know people who have used it to great effect.
 
i would definetly not use it if you are going to ride the horses. it would be a danger to the horse and the rider as it is a seditive and therefore it will slow down the reaction time and diffrent horses react diffrent to it. i can clip an unclippable horse on a few notches of sedaline and she staggers all over the place and would not ride her till the next day.
 
God no, seriously bad idea to dope them in any form IMHO. Especially if even thinking of jumping a twig on the ground. You can always take them home if not going according to plan.
 
OK my gut instinct is not to use it - but like the first person who posted - I have heard that people have used to great effect....We will not be jumping and it is very tricky country where normally there is lots of hanging around - no great gallops - which is why I thought that something that might take the edge off would be good! And the meet is with us - so no five mile hack to it, to look forward to!
 
Try gloabl herbs So calm instant. Fab stuff, have competed on it, and it just helps them concentrate but takes the mad edge off them.....
 
TBH, I doubt it will help. Sedalin is useful for jobs like clipping etc. but only for horses that need the edge taken off - anything 'bad' to clip will ignore it. Similarly hunting - if the horse is feeling a bit dozy as it arrives at the meet, the excitement will flip it awake PDQ.

Better to have it awake to start with - park as far as you reasonably can from the meet and hack there (letting the occasion arrive gradually!) MOST horses are fine first time - it's when they discover what fun it is that they can get stupid!
 
I don't hunt, but you would not believe the number of people who have told me to give my horse ACP when going XC and SJ because he is such a lunatic. This also comes from people who don't even know me or my horse.

It would worry me although for some reason I have tried all the natural calmers on the market without worrying (and without success too).

Apart from the fact I compete for the riding club where it is not allowed, I wouldn't dare to ask my vet for it :D

I have had my horse nearly 8 years now and just live with his antics.
 
Not my cup of tea I'm afraid though I know some very knowledgeable, experienced and sensible people who always give their youngsters ACP to hunt. It doesn't affect the heart per se but it does drop the blood pressure and the heart rate.

If you do decide to, remember to leave plenty of time for it to leave the horse's system before you run them - don't fall foul of dope testing!
 
Word of warning - a pointer that had been given acp last season fell in a ditch - it was as if he hadn't even registered it.
Possible been given too much so could you experiment with dosage before going, or as others have said, park away from the meet and hack over to take edge off?
Good luck!
 
totally agree with all the posts against. It's a sedative - wouldn't ever ride a doped horse.

there are loads of calmers available. I would try oxyshots or something.
 
i would agree with Not doping them -
can you hack all the way to the meet (i regularly hack 6 miles to meets) to take the edge off? or how far can you hack to the meet?
can you find someone on a really sensible horse to go with you?

go out and have a good time! they'll probably be fine if its a quietish day - and it'll be the next time that winds them up!

if you can have a reasonably long day this time and the next time it will help a lot IMO.
 
I can only tell you my experience and that wasn't using sedaline but i have used many of the calmers that are on the market. I used them because i used to show my mare but she got a few frights and started being a bit wild in the ring and i was losing confidence so i tried various calmers. they all made her beautifully relaxed in the warm up but every time once we were in the ring she would be fine for so long than explode worse than ever making it more dangerous and unpredictable. As i said i have never rode using sedalin but i have used it for clipping and the dentist and i find it very similar to the reaction i have had with the calmers in that all will go well for so long then thay just explode only your not expecting it because they've stood fine. i would say just be carefull I can understand your reason for thinking it could be a good idea but use with caution i'd say.
 
No because it can have adverse affects on some highly strung horses (or something that will be pumped with adrenalin etc) it can go from not working one minute to suddenly kicking in the next, when the horse is feeling calmer but causes them to act slower on reactions than normal, tripping up, not moving correctly so I would not use it unless if was for something that requires fast work...more for travelling etc I couple of notches on a sedelin wont make much difference on a big excitable horse (in my experience with TB's) unless you give them a good dose of it, to which would be dangerous under saddle.
 
We have a rather loopy 15/16 thoroughbred who is now 7 but when we bought her we were told that she plunged and was generally not a good hunter. She normally behaves erratically anyhow and rears and naps when in the mood.
My daughter has hunted her twice so far this season on 2 ACP and she has been fine. We were partly worried about how her behaviour might affect others, next time we will give her 11/2. She has seemed fine and has jumped ditches.
She is 16.1 and pretty sturdy for the amount of thoroughbred in her.
 
Well I did give them a dose - the meet was at home - so could not do a 6 mile hack there (!) The quieter horse, was very quiet after 2 clicks and for the livielier horse it hardly seemed to make any difference. The pack was a non-jumping one so that was not a problem. Both horses came home safely after about 2 hours out, which was the idea. I really do not think that I would do it again. But having invested so much money and time and effort in these two horses, I really did not want their first experience of hunting to be a nightmare (for any of us). Like all things, I think that you have to have had experience of horses generally and hunting etc. to know what to expect and maybe take the risk of using a sedative if you have some idea of what you are doing. For the uninitiated I would not recommend it at all!
 
Thanks for all your replies. I did use it, and for the quieter horse it worked a treat, and for the livelier one it hardly noticed. The meet was at home, so did not have the advantage of a long hack! This was a non jumping pack and both horses did two hours and came home safe. I would not use again, and I think to use it in the first place you have to be fairly experienced - i.e. recognise that your horse might be a bit different. I CERTAINLY would NOT use it when racing!
The only reason I used it was because we hunted in very trappy conditions - the animals would have a quick burst of activity - and then be hanging around for ages - and I just wanted a little bit of extra mallebility in awkward situations. Small boggy fields etc. I think that the message is DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!
 
Actually, like Gamebird, I know many a person who hunts on ACP- including a vet who gives one of his mares an extortionate amount. These people are all experienced, life long hunters, and whilst I'm not saying that becasue they're experienced they are automatically correct, just meaning that they are not novices.

I have hunted with ACP, like Judsatree, 2 x ACP the first two times, 1 and 1/2 the next two times, and 1 the last time, and then none. It really helped us both, and she was calmer, but certainly never felt in anyway unsafe. Again, this was 16hh TB type X mare, so 2 isn't a lot really. She jumped all day and never put a foot wrong.
 
The down side was that one of the horses I had hunted was hopping lame two days later! It turned out that it front boot had rubbed it, a small entry wound appeared and it became affected! So a whole new debate opens up on whether or not to use boots when hunting!! The irony was that this horse had never worn front boots up to this time! He is OK now, but it gave me a nervous few minutes as I instantly thought tendon!!!
 
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