# Using Ace To Trailer



## FlipFlopTipTop (Apr 10, 2013)

Hey everyone, Have a question here. My friend has moved to another province and had arranged to have her horse hauled last weekend. Ends up that was a no go, the lady hauling tried to "force" him on and was very rough with him and he wouldnt take it. Hes the type of horse who needs lots of guidance and encouragement, not handled hard and rough and demanded. She arranged for some one else to haul him. Her mom (who is still in our province) went to the vet for something to sedate/calm him to make loading and hauling easier (he has a pretty long trip two provinces over) They ended up selling her Ace. Now I was looking it up a while ago to possibly use for my horse who is being extremely difficult to trim atm and found that it woulnt be good as they dont have great balance when aced up. I will note that I did find a more natural calmer instead for him but havent used it yet
I did let her know it most likely wouldnt be a great idea to give him ace as he could possibly loose balance while on the trailer but they are talking to the vet more about it. 
Just curious if anyone has used small amounts of ace for trailering or if she should not use it at all. I told her to many call another vet for a second opinion but not sure if she did.


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## Phly (Nov 14, 2012)

Our daughters first pony was ace'd to haul her home. Not my choice by the way...
She was ace'd and hauled in a stock trailer. 30 miles only. Stayed up, calm and wasn't a problem. 
I wouldn't have used it myself, but the seller insisted since the pony was unhandled.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

This person doing the hauling is a professional hauler with insurance? Every pro hauler I have seen can load horses in record time, no fuss, no muss and no Ace required.


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## FlipFlopTipTop (Apr 10, 2013)

The person hauling him to Albert is yes, its Foothills Ranch and they are very reputable. She contacted them after the fallout with this other lady who she had issues with and they managed to be able to make arrangements quickly to haul him. 
The problem is where he is is too small of a road for the truck and trailer to come down so she needed to get some one to haul him from the barn he is currently at to foothills. They wanted to prevent any issues of him loading so they dont get turned down again. He will then be at foothills for atleast a day and then back on the trailer to Alberta. 

Shes wanting me to go help load him but Im not sure if I can. If me or one of the other people who have worked with this gelding in the past go to load him Im sure there wont be too many issues as long as we take it slow. Im just trying to find as much info about hauling a horse on Ace as possible to show her why she should or shouldnt do it that way. Personally I would never. Ive stood there calmly convincing a horse into a trailer, if they need the time then you give them it.


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## Honeysuga (Sep 1, 2009)

Panicky, drugged animal in a trailer...Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen... My advice, dont drug. Take time and be patient getting the horse in the trailer.


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## FlipFlopTipTop (Apr 10, 2013)

Honeysuga said:


> Panicky, drugged animal in a trailer...Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen... My advice, dont drug. Take time and be patient getting the horse in the trailer.


My same thoughts. Ill be talking to her tomorrow to try to really push just a mild calmer if ANYTHING. tried to be polite today when talking about it as shes been under so much stress just trying to get him out there. She really needs to know the risks in using Ace for this purpose. Im actually amazed the vet clinic sold her mom Ace for the trailer ride.


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## Cherie (Dec 16, 2010)

ACE works very well -- just don't use a full dose. A full dose would be 4 or 5 cc for a full sized horse of 900 to 1100#. Use 1/2 to 1 cc orally and it just takes the edge off with NO outward signs of be 'tranquilized'. You can ride, haul or trim horses with that small dose -- usually without a fight.

BUT, it does not train a horse and while they are less apt to fight or have a complete 'come apart', they can just 'lockup' and be just as stubborn as an un-medicated one. Horses that 'sull up' instead of fight are more apt to do this.

I carry ACE in the truck and have used it many time with wild or completely un-trained horses and have not had anywhere near the problems I could have had without it. 

It is VERY important that you do not let a horse get excited before you use it. Then it does not work at all. Give the small dose orally about 30 minutes before you are going to load or trim the horse and most just do what you want. They lose the 'flight' and 'fright' reactions but not necessarily the 'sull up' or 'tune out' reaction.

We took on a job in 1985 or preparing 300 horses for a complete dispersal sale. This was brought on by a divorce and a court order. We inherited 60 yearlings that were untouched. Some had been in stalls for 6 months and never taken out, stalls never cleaned, not halter broke and feet about 6 or 7 inches long. We inherited several with severe Strangles and some of the mares were ready to foal and still had yearlings sucking them that had never been touched. Withing a week ALL had been dewormed and trimmed. We used about 5 or 6 bottles of ACE. We had 9 weeks to get them ready for a sale and we made it work. They looked great, were trimmed one other time (also with ACE), hauled 80 miles to the big sale barn complex where the sale was and sold pretty well considering their lack of breeding.


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## greentree (Feb 27, 2013)

Be sure to give the drug while everybody is calm, and give it 20 or so minutes to work. Aceing an already excited horse is usually a futile effort. 

I had great results with a drug cocktail, but I cannot remember the exact ingredients or proportion, so I will not lie and try to tell you what it was. Your vet should know.

Nancy


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## FlipFlopTipTop (Apr 10, 2013)

well good news, they managed to load him within 20 mins without any calmers or ace. The first lady tried for an hour and didnt get anywhere with him. These people were very understanding and calm and he responded very well to that. He made it to the transport barn and will be shipping out tomorrow. The haulers do have the ace on hand for the trip if it is needed at all but most likely wont need to use it. He will be transported in a box stall too so hes a bit more comfortable and not as nervous. Im so happy she didnt need to use anything to get him on, it was just a matter of someone taking the time and not being harsh on him. So hes on his way and will be back with his owner tomorrow or wednesday =) Thanks guys!


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## smelmel (May 28, 2013)

if you can avoid it, do it. Buy from another perspective, if the horse is easily mentally damaged or scarred and this is one of his first experiences trailering and you have no options to train him to trailer in the mean time, it could be a major help. think about it, forcing a spooky horse to trailer the first time with no prep, the horses gets hurt on the trailer having a freak out, you now have the rest of the horses life to deal with being a 5 hour excursion to get him on because he`s traumatized. or you could give him ace, a small amount, keep it pleasant, and work on it later. all depends on the horse.


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## Golden Horse (Feb 20, 2010)

FlipFlopTipTop said:


> well good news, they managed to load him within 20 mins without any calmers or ace. The first lady tried for an hour and didnt get anywhere with him. These people were very understanding and calm and he responded very well to that.


Makes all the difference, the right person can work wonders, it did for my poor loader. I hope he loads well and has a good journey for the next leg, if he is coming west, at least he has no hills or corners to worry about until he gets to the Rockies......just the Saskatchewan highways.


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## FlipFlopTipTop (Apr 10, 2013)

We found out too that hes now on the big trailer to head out west. He loaded within 15 mins and calmly. She groomed him for a while beforehand to relax him and he had almost no issues loading. Hell be back with his owner, my friend, by about 4pm their time =) Its been a couple months since shes seen him so shes extremely excited.


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

Use of the term "Ace". When my horse was trailered here his owner said he'd been given Ace. Ok, after things settled down I wanted to research Ace. Lo and behold there are to drugs that use that term - acetazolymide, a diurectic which might be administered to an HYPP horse to be sure he pees and doesn't build up too much potassium. The other is acepromazine, a tranquilizer. So if I was to long distance trailer, say 4 hrs I don't know which Ace to administer. Isn't that just ducky. The horse is N/H.


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