shaking with excitement?

Nudibranch

Nudibranch

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I have a rescued TB mare (have posted on here before) with terrible separation anxiety. We are slowly making progress, we hacked out properly last week as opposed to long reining and she was great... however she still has an issue with adrenaline overload. Whenever something catches her eye - usually another horse - she starts shaking violently, sometimes it can be as simple as her field mates having a canter round while she's being fed. It affects her really badly, literally from head to toe so she can't even eat her feed properly. Once she calms down it passes, however once she's has an "episode" that's pretty much it for the day- she just can't settle enough to work again. It's quite frustrating because some days she will be as placid as an old donkey, others she's totally psyched up and there's no apparent pattern other than it generally involving other horses in sight or sound. It's not related to her being in season either. Has anyone had a similar experience? Am thinking of trying Tranquil E or Global Herbs Supercalm... All suggestions welcome!
 
poor girl! I have a rescued TB as well and she had issues when I got her. Is the shaking worse when you touch her? Almost like she's twitching or is it not affected? Mine would shake violently if touched anywhere and would take ages to settle afterwards. I found massage and building trust with her to really help. I don't know if its similar to your mare but maybe something like massage would benfit her?
 
It seems to be genuine trembling, more than twitching I would say. Sometimes she looks like her legs might even buckle! Gentle touch/massage doesn't seem to help, there's nothing for it other than to let her just calm herself down...it's pretty wierd to be honest. Am doing lots of groundwork, pressure-release, join-up etc which is definitely helping, she usually whinnies when she sees me and is starting to look to me for reassurance if she's a little nervous. Problem is, when other horses are around these "attacks" just come out of the blue. Am starting to wonder whether to involve the vet?
 
My mare is exactly the same as yours, she definately has days when she is more 'sensitive' . We had a very twitchy ride last night - no apparent reason for it but to be honest I've learnt to live with her ways. She absolutely hates seeing horses in loose in fields - it terrifies her yet she loves all other horses when she's in contact with them (she is kept with others, not on her own I might add). We can be stood in the yard waiting to go out and she trembles violently - again for no reason and not every time.

Take last night for instance I hung her haynet up and because I have to chuck a couple of buckets of water over it first it then drips a bit - hysteria ensues..... She stands in the opposite corner of her box and snorts and stares at it. I had to move her tea away from it or she wouldn't have eaten it! Daft mare.

I've had her since birth basically so I know it's just her nature. Sorry that isn't much help but you may have to find ways of coping with your sensitive little soul
grin.gif
 
Poor girlie!

My odl boy used to do something similar though the shaking wasn't as bad as you've described. An episode is a good word for it. He became totally oblivious to anyone or anything around him and would just get a glazed look over his eyes while staring at the horses and trembling.

In the end I moved him to my house with one other horse and more horses over one fence from him. (at the very bottom of his paddock) He settled straight away and it was never an issue again, even if he saw a horse out hacking. He was much happier.
 
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