So I have a new horse resident at my farm, this should be a new thread on getting too many horses .....
Anyways this fella was on a very, very long haul and is trying to settle into a new routine as well as recover from being hauled half cross canada.
What kinds of things do you do or give to get your new ones to settle. He has a nice new buddy in his paddock he loves. A friend of mine uses rescue remedy.

I know different people use different methods but when we get new horses in from over seas or from a long way away we do the following:

~We feed no grain or pellets for a min. of 24 hours. Lots of good quality hay though in front of them all the time. (we also soak/steam the hay sometimes to make it easier) (Please note if the new horse came with it's current feed we do continue feeding it but 1/2 the ration)

~The horse isn't turned out at all in the first 24 hours just hand walked 3x a day. The bedding in the stall is doubled to encourage lying down.

~After 24 hours we slowly start food again (or increase back to full ration). We add a pro-biotic, garlic and vit.E to the food to help jump start the immune system. We also have used rescue remedy but we didn't for the last couple as we didn't have any in the barn and I didn't find a difference...If the new horse is a pregnant mare we will also start them on their 'mommy' supplements and we turn out with a very aged fellow we are lucky enough to have here.

~Other then the older fellow if it's a mommy, the new horse is kept separate of the rest of the barn for a min. of 2 weeks or until the vet gives the ok.

Hope this gives you a few ideas

For sure it does, thanks for that.
How long do your horses post transport take settle in to a routine?
He's a nice horse dwb/tb and a seasoned shower not unused to moving and showing. He is just a bit of a nervous nellie particularily at feeding times. He's settling in well otherwise and we've been talking him out on walking hacks with no problems.

For the first week to 10 days we keep the routine like clock work and they seem to settle in by that time...but each horse is different. We have had horses walk of the plane and where completely settled and ready to go. Others will come from only Toronto area and take a month or two to settle in...you will have to play it by ear with your guy. I would suggest not to over whelm them until they are settled in though...

I found this litle gem of a supplement from a brand called BASICS. It's Thiamine Vit B1. Wow! What a difference in my horse. My guy is probably the most territorial and anxious horse I have ever seen at feeding time. He has never been a friendly horse in his stall, longing at me and trying to bite. I feed him one scoop of this stuff at dinner feed and wow...I can now go in his stall and fil his water bucket without having to bring a broom in as a weapon. He come over and nuzzles with me and is just generally overall more subdued. And the best part of all is the price...$22 for a pail that lasts me about 4 months feeding once per day.

Farys,
Where did you get this?

I buy it at DM Supplies in Hammond but I think you can have Apple order it in as they carry the basics brand. Not sure about Horseworld but might be worth a call to them to see if they can get it in. IMO works better than quietex, serenity, and at a fraction of the cost. It needs to be the Basics brand though as they produce the purest and most concentrated form of Thiamine in their product.

Update on my new fella
He has adapted really well and he is now completly switched over to our feeding program (Brooks fitnfiber and flax appeal) which has him much calmer and less worried than a few weeks ago.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Roka,

Thats great! Good luck with you new guy in the future

I use Cavalor Zen..get stuff. I can get it for you probably cheaper than say Apple. Actually the whole Cavalor line is excellent. Their liminent is USEF safe as it doesn't have camphor like the Tuttles, Vetrolin etc has which is now illegal to use!!!

Check out Cavalor

PM me or email me for Canadian pricing @
willowhackney@aol.com