How much does calm cost?

Dude's been having some difficulties over the last two days. 

At feeding time early yesterday morning, he was all sweaty, and his stall looked like he had been pacing for a while. The barn folks gave him a tiny bit of grain and went ahead and turned him out with his buddies. It was a cool and comfortable morning, and he settled once outside. Julie from the barn called to let me know about Dude's troubles.

When the horses came in from turnout in the afternoon he was kind of antsy. The barn folks wondered if his neighbor Sirius's departure for a show the day before had set him off, so they swapped him and Bestie, so that Dude would have Bubba (the definition of "laid back") on one side and Willow on the other. He settled.

I went to the barn later in the day, and he seemed a bit on edge, but nothing really out of the ordinary. I saddled him up and rode him out to the outdoor ring, and he was fine. Fine, meaning his usual pokey self heading out, and speedier self heading back in. Fine.

This morning, I got another call from Julie. Dude was doing all right in his new digs, but Bestie and her new neighbor Eve were NOT getting along. There was lots of kicking of walls, and Julie was worried about both horses. So, musical stalls again ... Bestie got moved to Sirius's stall, Dude got moved back into his old stall, and Sirius (when he returns tonight) will find himself in Bestie's old stall.

The horses didn't go out today because of rain, and I guess Dude was pretty worked up in the morning. Barn manager Paula ended up putting him on cross ties, where he settled down. Then he returned to his stall, where he hung out with his stall guard up. Mr. Demanding - he must be driving everyone nuts, but they are being very gracious and accommodating.

What is causing all of this commotion is a mystery to all of us. Dude had a bad time when his former neighbor Berry left a month or so ago, so maybe Sirius's departure for his show was just a bit more than Dude could take for departures. He is a horse that likes his world orderly, most definitely. And new horses (two of them) moved into his area of the barn yesterday, so there has been some upheaval adding to his neighbor's temporary absence.

The bottom line is that he just can't keep getting worked up, it's not good for him. After today's phone call, off I went to Guy's Farm & Yard to get some magic mellowing potion. I ended up with Vita Flex Vision and our old stand-by, Mellow Out. Vision got mixed into his supplements for the next few days (ha - literally an ounce of prevention), and I gave him the Mellow Out on a cookie this afternoon. For calming aromatherapy, Amelia gave me some lavender oil, which I rubbed onto his nose. He smells like he's been to the spa.

Fingers crossed that the Vision and Mellow Out work. If they do, then calm cost $60. Bur really, with horses, calm is priceless.