Re: Pro Form Horse Supplement

[K S Swigart <katswig@deltanet.com>]

On Sat, 2 May 1998, Anne Kusmich wrote:

> He is not himself ... very skittish ... won't stay on cross ties without 
> going crazy.  Seems to be afraid of everything all of a sudden ... I 
> could go on and on ... he is just not himself.
> 
> Do I go on using the supplement and let him get use to it ...?  Do I 
> discontinue it immediately ... ?  Could it NOT be the supplement ...?

What is in the supplement?  Can't know for sure until you determine what
in the supplement might be causing a behaviour change, and what in the
supplement that is supposed to have the "quieting" effect on horses.

What is your reason for giving the supplement to your TB (since it was
recommended for your peruvian, what made you decide to use it for both?)

What, if any, other changes has there been in your horse's diet, stable
management, exercise program, turn out schedule.....etc. (e.g. have you
started working him differently now that you have your peruvian in a
different program, could it be associated with the lengthening of the
days--have you had the horse in the spring before?)

One should not immediately jump to the conclusion that it is the
supplement that is causing this behavior change (correlation does not
necessarily imply causation).  However, if you didn't really have a reason
for putting the TB on the supplement in the first place (other than
thinking maybe it would be nice if it had a "quieting effect" on him too),
then taking him off of it is no big deal, and if the behavior problem goes
away...well...the problem went away, and you don't need to determine what
the actual cause was.

Do not, however, assume that this means you have solved the problem.  You
have only made the problem go away.  Making problems go away and solving
them are not the same thing.  (Unsolved problems that we have just made go
away have the unfortunate habit of cropping up again...sometimes at the
most inopportune moments :)).

kat
Orange County, Calif.

p.s. I would, in general, be leary of supplements that are supposed to
have a "quieting" effect without an explaination for why this is supposed
to be so, since it is entirely possible that there is some naturally
occuring drug in the product that would be in violation of the AERC "no
drug" rule, and it is the responsibility of the rider to know this.