Needle shy horse - gaaaahhhh so frustrating!

Meowy Catkin

Meowy Catkin

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My boy has always been fine to inject (vaccinations etc...) in fact he had an injection last week and was well behaved. So today, he was going to have an antibiotic injection but the little s*d took agin the idea and decided to rear in a very controlled manner, thus making it impossible to get the needle anywhere near him. GGGGrrrrrrrrrrr! :mad: So it's antibiotic powder for tea and breakfast for him for the next few days.

I'm now dreading his next vaccinations. Any tips - apart from putting him in a cattle crush or wrestling him to the ground and sitting on his head? :p
 
Bucket of tasty feed shoved under his nose just before vet or whoever sticks needle in. Has worked last two times with one of mine who would usually rear to try and avoid being jabbed :)
 
Well he ate his powder (I did mix it with a bit of beet) and I even managed to apply the topical cream despite him wiggling his leg in the air. I did tell him that if he'd had the injection - I wouldn't have needed to use the cream... he didn't listen. :p S*d. Good job I'm rather fond of him.
 
Give it to him in the rump, tap him on the bum for a few minutes then drop the needle in and when you push down the plunger dont do it fast that way it wont burn and he wont even know it has been done.
 
I did suggest that to the Vet, but she wasn't keen. I do understand as he was pretty wound up by then... maybe next time it would be worth doing that method from the start?
 
Faracat said:
I did suggest that to the Vet, but she wasn't keen. I do understand as he was pretty wound up by then... maybe next time it would be worth doing that method from the start?
Click to expand...

Yes, and tbh, I'd ask the practice to send a different vet. I have twitched a horse in the past who had been put off injections by having to have really cold, thick a-b injection in January. She always responded well to a twitch and the whole thing can be over in seconds, with no fuss.
 
I can get hold of a twitch. Horse really was being a plonker, I'm not sure that a different Vet would have done better. As I said he's always been fine, so it was a surprise.
 
Probably an extreme example but we bought a really genuine, bombproof mare in January and found out when her vaccination was due that she is massively needle phobic. Rears, bites, strikes out... the vet will only jab her now after she's had oral sedation! She had her teeth done on Tuesday and even after a full tube managed to lash out when he topped her up. In every other way she's an angel.
Fwiw, I had another mare who went nuts if you injected her in the back end. I warned the vet, who didn't believe me, and promptly got kicked! She was a lot better injected at the front end.
 
I'd try a diff vet, mine was a s*d to inject and had to be twitched, with a different vet he doesn't notice and stands still :)
 
i can definately feel your pain with this one, i have a 27 old cob who have had since a youngster who for as long as i can remember has been a t**t to inject barges squishes you against wall even took his stable door off once and did one, got this fantastic vet who liturally walks up to him says hello injection hidden and bang its done before he even has chance to realise, i think the key is to just do it, try not to make a fuss rubbing them where it will be and trying to distract with things, horses are way more clued up than are sometimes given, do it all very luckily without fussing them and then back off again so they dont relate you or vet and the injection as pain and scary. This has worked an absolute treat for my guy and is the only way he can be done, is now injected this way with no problem :)
 
mine became very needle shy, he fought the twitch very badly and also difficult to take his temperature, kicked anyone who tried. We couldn't even sedate him into the muscle to get him quiet enough to get into the vein. He had to go to vet hospital and they had to put him in stocks to inject him or take his temp.
He came home with instructions to send a blood sample in a couple of days time and their suggestion that I used a cocktail stick to try and teach him to be injected.

3 days later we got our blood sample in less than a minute and the vet said he was one of the easiest she had done. We got another couple of samples over the next few days until the levels had gone down sufficiently.
It only took a few sessions with the cocktail stick and the thermometer. I needed some way to reward his good behaviour when I was teaching him so I put a clicker round my neck and nuts in my pocket. (he wasn't clicker trained) He quickly learnt that one tiny prick, click and the reward was a great game.
Now I just have a short brush up session if the vet is coming to remind him.
 
This^^^^.

But I pinch the injection site with my fingers and shove a slice of carrot in their mouths at the same instant. That is standard for ALL my ponies when they get inoculations. That way they learn to associate the mild unpleasantness with something they like. It is far better to anticipate these problems and train for them than try to deal with them after they have become neurotic!

Flipping between TV channel the other night, I saw a bit of a programme where a psychologist dealt with a patient with severe agoraphobia. The psychologist played a guessing game with the patient while taking him on a short walk. By having his mind diverted, he was not able to concentrate 100% on his fears and found he coped much better.

I also read a post on here about dealing with a horse that was nervous of traffic. One poster suggested trotting the horse past traffic as they are more concerned about where they are putting their feet than the passing motors! It does make sense.
 
OK - so poke him with the cocktail stick and give him a treat. I can do that. :)

Yesterday he just took one look at the needle and said 'no way' and just reared and moved away when ever he was approached. The good news is - I was able to apply the topical treatment with no bother (he was better than yesterday and only waggled his leg slightly, so I just held it as if I was picking out his hoof and he was fine with that) and he ate his antibiotics again.
 
Give your vet a copy of this article, and then the two of you work together to get around the problem :) It is a slightly more sophisticated version of the carrot/injection method, for horses who have had a bad experience and generalised the situation to include not wanting anything to do with needles, vets, alcohol wipes... etc :)

Your vet may find it useful and be able to use it in other situations as well.

The Sue McDonnell Penn Vet article for horse owners: http://cal.vet.upenn.edu/projects/equinebehavior/FAQ/terrible.htm

and the published paper for vets:
http://cal.vet.upenn.edu/projects/equinebehavior/publixs/Papers/How to Injection Shyness.pdf
 
Faracat said:
OK - so poke him with the cocktail stick and give him a treat. I can do that. :)
Click to expand...

a very gentle poke to start with!!
Timing is everything. Touch the area very gently for a second, provided he accepts it click immediately and then move your finger and reward. Then use the cocktail stick very very gently for a second, click and reward. The clicker is to reward the good behaviour. Try it say 20 times then come back an hour later and repeat the sequence.

Other thing someone told me is not to let the vet run their hand down the neck in case they anticipate this with injections. Vet had done this when it all went wrong for mine. I don't let the vet touch the horse she just goes straight to the injection site and gets the needle straight in.
good luck. I really feel for you. It all went horribly wrong with mine and he was in the middle of colic at the time so it really did matter.
 
Some useful tips and agree about once the needle in connect the syringe and push the solution in slowly. In comparison, if you have ever had a sore dental injection a lot of that is due to the dentist injecting too quickly.

Another tip I read from a Richard Maxwell book about training young horses was getting them prepared for their first injection. A syringe, a thick rubber band, treats and patience! I did this on my yearling in prep for his vaccs and gelding and worked well.

Basically, you hook the rubber band over the syringe, pull back and let go which will sting when hits the horse, immediate give treat as distraction to take mind off sting. Keep repeating and eventually they will start to look for the treat and ignore the sting. more relaxed muscle = nicer injection too!
 
Not sure if anyone has mentioned it, but a needle into tense muscle is a lot more painful than a needle into relaxed tissue! So it makes sense to pre-train for that alone. Do they teach much about animal psychology in vet college these days?

Years ago I was in hospital with a bad back. In those days, they withdrew a quality of spinal fluid and replaced it with a dye so they could ex-ray the spine. The bloody needle was horrendous! I swear it was about 6 inches long and 1/8 inch in diameter!

One hospital sent three of us, all in our twenties, along for the injection each with a pretty student nurse to hold our hand. The injection didn't seem that bad, anyway we all put on a brave face in consideration of the female company. Another hospital, another injection. No nurses. My God, how that injection hurt!!!!
 
My girl is brill with needles....providing they dont use surgical spirit on her before the injection. The second she smells it,she rears up and wont let anyone near her....silly ponies x
 
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