Prescription Horse Behavior & Anxiety Medication

Horse Anxiety Medication

Horses can experience anxiety, just like humans. An important aspect of horse care is working to keep your animal happy and psychologically comfortable.

Anti-anxiety prescription horse medication, such as tranquilizers, sedatives and other options, can help calm a jittery horse. Anxiety medications for horses can be especially valuable in situations that might be stressful, such as traveling, loud noises or even horse grooming.

Anti-anxiety horse prescription drugs come in many forms. The two most popular options are tranquilizers and sedatives, often used as pain relief for horses and offer an immediate short-term effect.

Anti-anxiety horse prescription drugs come in many forms. The two most popular options are tranquilizers and sedatives, often used as pain relief for horses and offer an immediate short-term effect.

• Sedatives are short-acting and typically used to make a horse sleepy. For this reason, they are often used as horse pain medication, providing temporary relief and creating a more docile animal for veterinary work.


• Tranquilizers are another common horse medication for pain. Unlike sedatives, they don’t make your horse tired but calm your horse down and typically make them more docile. They can be useful anti-anxiety drugs for horses, but they also have side effects. Consult your veterinarian and develop a treatment plan before administering tranquilizers to your horse.

Consult your veterinarian and ask them about your anti-anxiety horse prescription medication options. They will help you choose the best solution for your animal.

There are more long-term anti-anxiety drugs for horses and natural horse supplements too. Many of the more long-term prescription anti-anxiety medicines for horses are the same ones you might recognize for humans—such as Prozac. These drugs work by changing the serotonin level in your horse's brain. These are also not without their side effects and are generally ineffective as a pain medicine for horses.

Horse supplements are generally safer and have fewer side effects but do not have as immediate or potent an effect as horse prescription drugs. Some examples of calming horse supplements include valerian root or magnesium. These supplements can be mixed in with their food or offered alongside horse treats.