Panicky Horse? Vitamin B Might Help

My gelding panics and becomes terrified when something changes in the environment. My veterinarian suggested vitamin B and sacking him out (systemic desensitization). Is there any evidence that vitamin B supplements help the abnormally panicky horse?
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Q. I would like to know if there is any evidence that vitamin B supplements help the abnormally panicky horse or, if like people with panic disorders, they really need to be on anti-anxiety medications first and ­foremost. I'm guessing there is nothing available for horses. My veterinarian has twice suggested for my horse vitamin B and sacking him out (systemic desensitization). I used about 50 mL of a 100 mL bottle of injectable B when he was much younger (three or four years old), but there was not enough of a difference in him so I stopped. Sacking out is not required on this horse, as you can do anything with him, although he absolutely hates rugs and will kick and bite them. He gets over it, and I can keep them on him, but the rug seems to increase his aggression around feed time. He is a 6½-year-old Hanoverian gelding. I have hardly had him in any work.

My horse is arrogant and the boss of the herd, but he is also sweet. You can fully body clip him, even on the head, and he is very good–no twitches, no sedation. His panicking occurs when something has changed in the environment and he becomes terrified. He has put me in the hospital twice because of his panicking. He needs to be in work constantly but he is not and has not been for a year, as I have no safe facilities.

Jennifer Hoffmann, via e-mail

A. Concerning the efficacy of vitamin B treatment for panic behavior, I can't find any published reports of research specifically in horses. I can find only one older study on vitamin B in horses. In that work they explored the effects of vitamin B-deficient diets on growth in young horses. Their report did not include any mention that behavior was addressed. So I have consulted about your question with Sarah Ralston, VMD, PhD, Dipl. ACVN, who is an equine nutrition scientist at Rutgers ­University. She ­concurs that a relationship of ­vitamin B deficiency and anxiety or panic has not been documented in horses. But that doesn't mean that vitamin B is not a valid treatment for panic-prone horses. The marketing of vitamin B supplements for horses is likely based on the limited research on the relationship of vitamin B deficiency and anxiety in humans. It is quite well-accepted that for people suffering anxiety who also have a vitamin B deficiency, supplementation to restore normal levels of the B vitamins can be helpful. Remember that an important missing point is confirmation that vitamin B deficiency can contribute to panic disorders in horses, but if it is the case in humans and other mammalian species, it's pretty safe to assume this might be the case for horses as well. Unfortunately, it is not easy to determine deficiencies in animals, unless they are extremely low

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Sue M. McDonnell, PhD, is a certified applied animal behaviorist and the founding head of the equine behavior program at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine. She is also the author of numerous books and articles about horse behavior and management.

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