Advice needed head/mouth shy

[gailt]

I am planning to take my 3yr old youngster to a show later this month woolley mammoth or not lol. He got a really sore face begining of the year, they all did, i think a reaction to something they grabbed out of bushes, we had to apply cream everyday, sun block, so he wouldnt burn on top of it. He absolutely hated it but it had to be done, cruel to be kind thing. On top of that, he broke a cap and had a shard of tooth stuck in his gum, we didnt notice till we had the dentist here doing the others and i asked him to play with dancer, so dancer ended up having the gag in and this shard of tooth pulled, it seemed silly to call the vet to sedate it came out easy enough.

Now the problem is a combination of these has made him shy of his mouth. he throws his head away if you attempt to go in his mouth if you are holding anything,at 15.3 he can get away from you, ive worked on just gently rubbing his face etc, and he is much better, he is happy to be stroked on his face now, but that took 3 months to convince him i wasnt about to slap cream on him, but i am at stale mate with getting in his mouth without a fight. He will lower his head etc etc but if you are holding anything, even a pen lol you dont stand a chance, any tips please on what i can do, ive tried apple sauce on the bit, which he will lick but you still cannot get it in his mouth. Before this he would take a bit really easily. Im feeling gutted that ive made him like this but at the time i had no option but to look after the sores he is very pink skinned. Any advice guys?

 

[kerilli]

umm, i think i'd have a crunch day and get a nice rubber bit or apple flavoured one in his mouth, whatever it takes, (maybe even sedalin first if absolutely necessary?) and leave him in the stable with it on for a few hours. if you haven't used sedalin, then give him hay and let him cope with having a munch with it in.
that may help to get rid of his fear - once he realises that you aren't trying to do something painful and terrifying, that the end result is pretty minor really.
hope that helps!
btw, a stable with a very low ceiling is a good idea for getting the bridle on the first time if he does a good psychotic giraffe impression...
best of luck!

 

[Damnation]

I agree with Kerilli, get a nice flavoured bit and maybe give him a treat with the bit in etc to get him used to it. Everytime he puts his head down or lets you stroke his head give him a feed or a treat to reinforce nice things when he is stroked on the face?
Good luck!
Izzi x

 

[showjump]

My new 3 year old sounds abit like yours. She had a bad experience with head collar, and also when i got her she had a abcess under her chin that needed daily cleaning. - All this making her wary of headcollars.
She lets you put it on the buckle way (passing strap over poll very slowly) We have been trying to get it on over her ears, especially before a bridles introduced.
We put it on her nose, then when she lfts her head, give her a bite of a carrot, held at the height you want to to drop to.
The moved the headcollar in place, everytime she moves asking her to lower her head again for the carrot.
I started this on monday night, so did it once on, once off. The again tues morning, putting it on for field, then off in the field she is already better, so im just going to carry on untill she realises there is nothing to scared/ worried about.

Sorry its so long.

 

[kellyeaton]

take the bridle apart put it on like a headcollar in stead of a bridle use lots of treats for her to open her mouth once it is in then do the bridle up make her stand in her bridle with you being there give lots of treats like it is a game!

 

[gailt]

Thanks guys some good tips to try. I hadnt thought about taking the bridle apart, he is very aware and bright lol i have tried treats even though i hate feeding the youngsters treats, but he has figured out how to get it without opening his mouth lol.