Highly strung racehorse afraid of needles. Horse calmers the answer?

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Falbrav

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I am the owner of a racehorse who is currently 3½ years old. I purchased the chestnut filly as a yearling from a highly reputable stud and have looked after her myself for the past two years. She has just been sent away to be backed by a trainer. She is a very sensitive, highly strung and temperamental type.

Over the past two years my horse has had to be sedated/vaccinated for several reasons such as dental work etc. However, she appears to have a extreme fear of needles. The vet has only been able to successfully sedate/vaccinate her three times out of 6 attempts and even they were a struggle. The other times my horse has got herself so wound up she wouldn't even let the vet near her. My horse will also need clipping in the very near future and I can see this throwing up exactly the same problem.

I am thinking of trying her on one of the available horse calmers on the market to see if it helps in the above mentioned situations (I have been looking at Nupafeed and NAF Magic). I have previously tried Zylkene which had no effect on her at all, and even the maximum dosage of Sedalin Gel doesn't touch her.

Any advice on calmers or any other suggestions would be greatly welcomed.

Many thanks,
 
Use dormosedan gel or alternatively ask the vet to use a distance injector( so they have a connection on the needle so nly need to get near the horse once!)
 
Hi there! I also would advise you to try a twitch, basically just a wooden pole with a string attached to it - they are marvellous things! My mare was/is just the same, cowering in fear and getting really quite dangerous when a vet appears, but once twitched she just stands stock still and you can inject her all day long! We also do her teeth that way! Good luck!
 
Word of caution-please get somoene experienced in twitching as a young highly strung horse is not the ideal first horse to do! Neck twitching can sometimes suffice.
 
You have probably already tried this but I wondered if you have gotten a syringe (without the needle!) and used it as part of her daily routine - basically trying to desensitise her a little.
Running it all over her, even poking her a little once she is used to it.

Just another option perhaps. Good luck! :)
 
Go with the gel. My mare you cann't get near her even with a syringe and I've owned her over 10 years, but there are ways and means,not all of them work the second time and twitching just made her headshy.:(:(
 
I used to have a big 16.2 ID X TB who officially HATED needles.
She was a lamb the rest of the time!!!

we tried for 4 years to help - to desense her, to try it slowly, even had the vet there for 20mins brushing her 1st! - she was soooo clever!!!
She would run away, rear, barge whatever was needed! - She several times 'pinged' a needle out of taught muscle into a straw bed :rolleyes: never did find it! :eek:

The ONLY solution we found (Yes its not a natural or particularly nice - but it worked) - Have vet on 'standby' around corner - make sure needle is connected to syringe.
I walk in to lip twitch, 10seconds to kick in - Vet walks in quickly - Jab inject and done walk away - I let off twitch and mare goes back to her hay!

it worked everytime! - thank goodness!
good luck!
youll find something that works!
 
Most of the time horses react like this is because the handler is apprehensive and the horse senses it and expects something nasty, reacts as horse do and the cycle has begun.

Sedatives are all very well but not really the answer, you have to teach the animal that playing the idiot is not acceptable.

I will never accept any horse playing up in this respect and if it dies then I will give it something to be frightened of. I do not beat them up but I sure as heck will go into attack mode, make them run backwards around the stable with growling words and waving arms, making them realise that in attack mode I am worse than any needle or anything else around.
When they show signs of submission pressure is released and I carry on with whatever as if nothing had happened.

Is the horse afraid of me afterwards? No it is not, it accepts its behaviour was unwarranted and that I am not going to stand for it.
 
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If you're going to put on a calmer (not suggesting this is the right path forward - i think you've been offered some very good advice) i have heard of a few cases with horses being given the NAF Magic and at some point experiencing colic. I cannot say for certain that the magic was the cause but I have witnessed the before and after affects of a horse being fed magic daily and then not being fed it and there was a definite difference in how
Comfortable they seemed. I know they have changed the formula to improve digestion with Magic but just a word of caution.
 
I have to blindfold my mare to get the vet anywhere near her with a syringe, she's a very clever arab who HATES the vet, she strikes out at him and rears, my vet is very old (lol) and very good, so he knows how to handle her, she'd have these young student vets quaking in their boots....

I find when she can't see him she's much calmer, and he knows he's got to be quick, so he doesn't faff about stroking her, he just jabs her quickly to get it over and done with asap, so she doesn't get so stressed.
 
SophieLouBee said:
I have to blindfold my mare to get the vet anywhere near her with a syringe, she's a very clever arab who HATES the vet,
Click to expand...

Mmm ... I have a mare like that! She won't let ANY vet near her - she can smell them 10' away from her stable door and she starts throwing herself off the wall! So vet hands me the syringe and stands well away from the door! I hide needle behind my back, I don't swab first, and I put on a neck twitch then jab - I survive! :rolleyes:
 
My horse was terrible with needles and the best way I found to deal with it was to ensure he had a break from them. For example he had two injuries quite close together and had to be injected regularly, which obviously made him all too ready for it so I made sure from then until his jabs were needed he had time to forget about it. (I didn't attempt to clip ect).
Then when his jabs were due I would make sure he had been excercised and turned out first then as he was walking along the vet put the jab in his bum and he didn't even realise, as soon as he got in the stable he reared up expecting the vet to do something but the vet just stood there gave him a treat and he relaxed, the next time a lady vet came out and managed to inject him in the neck and he was fine as he obviously didn't associate vets with women.
I have had him sedated by a male vet since (silly sod got stuck on a gate) and while it wasn't perfect it was doable, walking them in a circle and neck twitching seemed to help.
I tried acp ect but didn't work.
 
In the long run, desensitizing completely is the best option imo. Or does the solution have to be the "quick fix" type?

Counter-conditioning is also very useful, i.e. rewarding a behaviour incompatible with the one you're trying to avoid or stop.

Sue McDonnell has written a really good article about both of these, giving step-by-step instructions:

http://research.vet.upenn.edu/Portals/49/How to Injection Shyness.pdf
 
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