New Horse Owners Often Ask, "Can I Give My Horse ACE Promozine to Calm Them when I Ride"

Many new owners who find themselves with a difficult or over active horse ask this question, "Can I give my horse ACE Promozine (ACE) before I ride him?" However, this is neither a common, nor a needed treatment for the difficult horse. Here is information on ACE its, administration, problems, and uses.

Uses for ACE

ACE is a depressant that affects the central nervous system; it causes sedation, relaxation, and movement. ACE however, does not relieve pain nor does it prevent a horse from kicking, running, or bucking.

This drug is used by veterinarians for minor surgical procedures and is used in combination with general anesthetics for more serious surgeries and procedures.

Administration

ACE is administered as an intramuscular injection or a intravenous injection, it is always a good idea to have a licensed veterinarian administer this medication to your horse as dosage is most important, along with the damage if ACE is administered accidentally intra-arterial. The accidental intra-arterial injection can cause disorientation, over excitement and can lead to convulsions, seizures and death in some cases.

Problems

The use of ACE in some male horses has been known to cause relaxation of the retractor penis muscle, which can cause the penis to drop out of the sheath. There have been reported cases of paralysis of the retractor penis muscle in some horses.

A drop in blood pressure or hypertension can occur if the medication is not properly administered. The use of ACE in horses in poor physical condition is contraindicated. Be completely positive that the horse who is being administered ACE is not dehydrated, septic, has an active infection or is in shock, as this may result in severe side effects.

Riding/Training a Horse who has been given ACE

There is no reason to use ACE on any horse for riding or training reasons. If your horse is overly excited/active, then ACE may just cause a rise in this level of anxiety. The injection of such a drug can cause the horse to become uncoordinated, slow moving, and reaction time may become hindered. The effects that accompany the use of ACE make its use more dangerous than beneficial.

Some horse owners indicate that the use of ACE is good for an uncontrollable horse when clipping, shoeing, and trailer loading. However there are several over the counter natural supplements that can provide the calming affect for your horse without the dangers of drugs. Or, even a bit of training and desensitization can help.

Closing

Many veterinarians consider the use of ACE for anything other than medical procedures to be animal abuse. It is the responsibility of the horse owner to know what is and is not a good thing for their animal. They are the ones who control what is given, taught, used with, and provided for their animals so; the responsibility of the horses well being lies with the owner. Even though some trainers will try to convince owners to allow the use of drugs for training it is the owners choice to tell them no. A trainer/owner who will give a horse drugs for the purpose of training will also be more likely to drug a horse for the market. Placing a horse that is for sale on drugs so that they appear to be calm, controllable or, what some purchases are asking for, "the bomb proof horse" is not illegal however; many horse owners suggest that it should be. There are many other natural items on the market to help calm the excited and hard to control horse, Mare Magic for example. Given twice a day in their grain or Timothy pellets this can calm the hard to manage mare.

Resource

http://www.myhorse.com/using-acepromazine-horses.html

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