Borrowed from Dr. Sue McDonnell, arguably one of the most respected equine behaviorists. The entire article, including answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs), can be found by clicking here.
One of the most frustrating scenarios for horse owners and their veterinarians is the horse that is difficult to treat. We all have known such a horse, one which might start out fighting the annual Coggins blood sample and vaccinations. Or the one that dangerously refuses placement of the rectal thermometer. Or the one that successfully avoids the eye ointment or oral deworming. All too often, one thing leads to another, and you can't even get in the stall safely with the vet on the property. You have tried everything from the twitch to the blindfold. The more restraint, the more the horse fights. You start weighing the risks and benefits of "messin' with him" for routine preventive care. When you really do have to treat the animal, it becomes an explosive wreck. When he has a problem serious enough to require a trip to the hospital, signs are plastered on the stall door, "Caution: horse has an attitude!" Great, now everyone hates the horse that hates the vet. What can you do?
Sue McDonnell's usual first recommendation is to stop fighting with such a horse, and instead turn the effort toward teaching the horse to enjoy veterinary procedures. Yes, a realistic goal. Even the most difficult horse can learn to comply willingly with veterinary procedures for a reward.
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. What it will require is patient, calm, and consistent application of some straightforward behavior modification principles and techniques.
Most people find behavior modification a lot of fun. Some even feel a little silly at first. But the results are almost always immediately positive. If you are successful, there are many benefits. The horse will be a joy to treat, and so will have a better life and greater general trust in you. And all the people involved will have learned some powerful tools that are widely applicable to all sorts of human-animal interactions.
What Causes The Aversion?
Before we begin, there are a couple of important points to consider. First of all, horses--like any other animal--are born naive to the domestic world around them. Newborn foals might have an innate fear of humans in general. That usually is overcome readily with repeated exposure that has a neutral or positive experience for the foal. When it comes specifically to needles, tubes, or veterinarians, a foal's first response typically is neutral or even curious. Depending on the experience, positive or negative, the foal will either become more leery or more compliant.
Second, it's likely that your horse is fairly smart. Although there is no scientific data to back up the contention, many clinical animal behaviorists agree that procedure-resistant individuals often appear to be among the most intelligent in terms of associative learning ability. These often are the animals that take very few repetitions to learn or re-learn just about anything we normally expect horses to learn.
In my experience, horses which have started to "know the minute the vet drives in," or which appear to be able to see the tube of dewormer behind your back, have exactly the learning ability that will enable them to overcome procedure shyness quickly with organized behavior modification.
It also is important to realize that appropriately conducted veterinary examinations and treatments should not be painful. Injections, jugular stick, insertion of a rectal thermometer, or other ordinary veterinary examination might be mildly aversive or slightly uncomfortable for a moment, but not painful enough to evoke escape or serious resistance from an otherwise well-handled horse.
So, when a horse starts to be seriously non-compliant, it is time to step back and evaluate the whole picture, looking for what has become aversive to the horse. Improvements very often can be made in the method of restraint or the manner in which the procedure is done to reduce the aversiveness.
General Procedures
For gaining compliance with any procedure or manipulation, it is useful to consider that the job requires sending three basic messages to the horse:
1) The procedure doesn't really hurt (that much).
2) Ordinary resistance or reasonable reaction will not stop the procedure.
3) Tolerance of the manipulation can lead to a reward.
The behavior modification procedure itself is simple. All you need is the horse, the usual equipment for the procedure, and a reward. For most things I use a palatable food reward, in which case I do it before mealtime, and often in lieu of the meal. First, for whatever procedure the horse has been resisting, you just make a list of the preliminary procedures, identifying several distinct individual steps that lead up to the actual procedure. Then each step is repeated and rewarded individually several times.
In the case of jugular stick, your list might include: 1) approaching the stall with the syringe in hand; 2) entering the stall; 3) opening the wrapper of the syringe; 4) uncapping the needle; 5) holding off the vein; and 6) touching the vein, or whatever the preliminary steps used by your veterinarian.
The goal is to repeat and reward each preliminary step until the horse indicates behaviorally that he perceives that element as positive. How do you know that the step has become a positive event for the horse? When he begins to approach you or reach for his treat, you know that he now associates that step with a positive outcome. You can move on to another step. Once all of the preliminary steps have switched from negative to positive, you can start putting them together in the logical sequence.
You should reasonably expect that the horse might have some setbacks. It is important to calmly expect them, and try not to become frustrated or punish the horse.
With proper training, visits from your veterinarian can become a pleasant experience for both you and your horse!
