Tips for needle phobic pony

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HaffiesRock

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I am having my pony sedated tomorrow so he can have his wolf tooth out.

Problem is he doesn't like the vet at all and she has to bribe him to give him his vaccinations, so I do not know how tomorrow will go.

Does sedation have to be given into a vein or can it go into a muscle?

Any tips on how to make it easier?

Never had a horse sedated before.

Thanks
 
It goes into the vein. Best thing is hold him on a bridle with his head in a bucket and hope the vet is quick!
 
With no disrespect intended, most horses like men have a hard time on focusing on more than one thing at a time so distraction is your friend!!! Either yummy food or something else slightly alarming such as a plastic bag on a stick!!! Lol!!!
 
My boy was best in a trailer as he knew he couldn't rear up in there....

I always found a deep bucket that covered his eyes always helped too ;)
 
My old mare was v phobic. We used to get the vet to talk in a whisper and put a farriers apron on so he didn't "smell" or look wrong. he also didn't swab the needle. We took a chance on the sterile needle coming out of the packet in to injection bottle. The with apple in hand, in to stable and bang - before she knew it job was done :)
 
Be confident with him, if he's not clipped shave the area where the vet will put the needle in tonight or first thing tomorrow so he doesn't have so long to worry about what vets doing. have a bridle on to hold him. Have him pretty hungry so you can filter feed him a carrot or something tasty to take his mind off what's going on behind him, cover his eye and don't tiptoe or whisper just be your normal self.
 
I keep a tube of sedalin here for Rhodri in case he needs vet treatment as he goes nuts over the needle for sedation.
He's the quietest pony ever till a vet tries to stab him, then he has a complete personality transplant, last time I got a kick in the shin, never before or since has he shown any tendencies to lash out.
 
Ditto fox hunter ^

Twitch, it's the only way to get a needle near my mare. After having regular blood tests the last few months id rather see her twitched than throwing herself around and stressing herself out.
 
My girl does not like needles at all. She also refuses to be twitched. Something that made her better on her neck for vaccinations etc is to get a blunt pencil pinch her skin and poke her with it as a vet would do. Then get someone else to come in and do it. Seemed to work with me!

She still refuses to have nerve blocks in her legs though!
 
All of the above but try pinching the area the needle has to go into to desensitise it. You can do this a few times every day before the vet arrives so the act of pinching at the time of the injection does not cause him to react.
 
I saw this in a book I was reading, think it was one by Richard Maxwell, but you get an old biro take the nib and inside contents out then stretch an elastic band you then knock the band off the pen when placed next to the horses skin and creates a slight sting and the pen represents the syringe and needle. .. no proof this works as never needed to use it for any of mine, generally use the tried and tested method of a bucket if I need to take attention away from anything going on. But thought I would mention it as an additional method you might like to try :)
 
My old boy was the sweetest most loving horse until a vet turned up then he turned into a beast who would aim and kick or rear and try to land on you. The only thing that helped was to put his driving bridle on him so he couldn't see what was going on with the blinkers. Oh and he was better with female vets too hated men
 
my friends horse was scared of needles, in the end we either had to blindfold him and stick his head in a bucket of food or sedate him with sedalin first then inject.
 
I have found that Domosedan gel works as well as i/v form. You just need to squirt it under the tongue and within half an hour the horse will be as sedated as if the vet had done it. It lasts a couple of hours, too.
 
On the assumption the pony will face needles again in the future, working on getting the pony okay with injections might be a good idea.

Some reading here:

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

http://research.vet.upenn.edu/Havem...eVeterinaryProcedures/tabid/2991/Default.aspx

"Behavior modification to overcome procedure shyness costs almost nothing if you can do it yourself, except some time with your horse. Most people who have been battling with a non-compliant horse typically are amazed at how little time it does take to turn a horse around."
 
My tip would be to change your vet! I struggled for years with the same vet as he was good at other things and all 3 of my horses became needle shy. Change of vet who is very quick and precise and they are all much better. My very needle phobic mare gets jabbed outside as once put in a confined space with a vet she starts to tense up.

As your ponys treatment is imninent I would use a twitch..
 
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