Acp???

L

Lesleymc

New Member
Jul 23, 2008
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Hi All,

I am bringing my 11 year mare back into work after over 6 months off. She is very very very flightly for the first month and needs lunged quite hard before she can be ridden. If not she is a danger to herself. I have been advised to give her some ACP's before hacking out just to take the edge off her for a couple of weeks.

I want to know if anyone else has had to do this and if it works without harming the horse?

Thanks
 
it works for some but not for all horses.

ACP was great for my boy when he was on boxrest/being walked in-hand and under saddle for the first few weeks.
If the adrenaline does kick in though the acp won't make any difference.

If you are lungeing lots before you start hacking again you probably won't find acp is doing much - you'll probably have worked the fizz out on the lunge already.

If your vet is recommending it, give it a ry and see for yourself. Each horse reacts differently.
 
My experience of acp doesnt work, its meant to calm the horse and you can give as many tablets and it really depends on the horse. A horse i was looking after had to have 12 pills in feed morning and night as he was stabled due to injury and the doseage went up but it didnt do a thing. I dont know about giving it to them for riding, hopefully someone on here can help you further x
 
I have good experiences with it, iused to give it to my horse before clipping and YO gave it to hers too.

She also used it for backing youngsters who had not taken well to it.

I think you should try it and see if it works with your mare and if it doesnt then atleast you can say youve tried.
 
I was hoping not to have to lunge her and use ACP instead as she has been out of work I would rather take it slower first instead of lunging her hard which could damage her joints.
 
I have been using it for years for laminitus, to calm him in the stable and it increases blood flow.

He is only little and got 6morning and 5 at night when stabled. Within 15mins he flopped straight down and stayed there for hours.

I would DEFINATELY not give it to him for hacking, I considered it when bringing him back into work as well but decided it would be too dangerous.

I even tried 3 to see if the effect was less, and found that either not enough didnt work, or too much he went straight to sleep.

You could give a low dose when turning out in the field in the beginning and experiment with lunging as well if the vet suggested it, but I wouldnt ride out like that. Rather take longer staying in the field a week or two extra to work off energy before hacking out with no drugs.

I knew a horse getting clipped once that had 23 total and was still rearing in the stable and got his feet over the top (about 6ft up) and got stuck. He was not going to be clipped. So others are right, sometimes it has opposite effect.

Also remember it makes the heart work more increasing blood flow, so is hard work on top of that dangerous?
 
I have heard of people using ACP for jumping. Was my vet who told me actually.......she said it is used for riding difficult horses.

If your vet has suggested it and you feel comfortable with it (cause you know your horse best afterall) then give it a go. If a horse can SJ at shows on it then it must be fine for a hack!
 
Try it in field and stable first in case she just keels over, rather there than out on the road you would have to wait 8 hrs to get her back home. :eek:
 
ACP is not recommended for clipping as it makes them more alert to noise. One yard I was on gave ACP out like sweeties if a horse had been on box rest. It can help but sometimes can make thing worse as the horse feels something is not right and panics. I have seen a heavily dosed horse flip over on tarmac.
I did try it to catch my spotty when i had problems with him but it did not work, only way to go was natural horsemanship.
 
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