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RE: [RC] [RC] Horse with fear of vet - Laurie Durgin

My mare who is very sensitive and the kind you have to win trust with had a similiar occusrance right before I got her. The lady who raised her said the farrier she had come to trim smacked her with a tool when he did her. After that no one could touch her feet. (she remembers well). We had to do 2-3 months of desentisizing her in little bitty steps , and it still took years before she is "good" for the farrier. She is fine now, but she was real iffy for the first year then you still have to be slow and careful and she didn't like one hind foot picked up and held.
She is fine now but it has taken years for her to be confortable. Same horse after my fall, was shaking the next time I started to dismount, had to do some calming down repetetions for both of us.
Some horses you just can't "yank and beat', they are more complicated.
FWIW, Lots of carrots (I call it carrot/clicker training w/out the clicker) help smooth things over quickly.
The vet /your friends could do some approach and retreat with a "treat'. Then she won't associate 'strangers' with getting hurt. She is just afraid, and doesn't trust enough to feel others are going to take care of her better than she can herself.
I would never use a chain on this horse. It causes pain, pain reinforces her fear, and she knows she is going to die, so she is trying to defend herself. I'd make her move her hindquarters away, but not with a chain biting into her face.
Trust ,patience, firmness, breaking things in ittty bitty steps, 'practicing' , helped my mare, she may never be a plug, but she has begun to think first and listen to me. Laurie


From: Lysane Cree <lysanec@xxxxxxxx>
To: karen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx, ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: [RC]   Horse with fear of vet
Date: Tue, 17 Feb 2004 15:39:01 -0500 (EST)

Well, i guess that's possible but she behaved fairly
well with a different vet at the end of the summer,
and I was still the one holding the lead rope. The vet
did take a little more time to approach her. I had no
way of knowing that she would behave better with this
vet as she did give him a hard time on a previous
visit (when he approached her quite abruptly to listen
to her heart - she cow kicked and almost hit him).
One time when the vet couldn't get near to give her a
shot, my friend was able to give her a shot quite
easily with me holding a very loose lead (I had a
broken arm at the time otherwise I would have done it
myself). On another occasion, when I wasn't there, she
gave that vet a pretty difficult time.
I understand what you are saying, but I think there is
more to it than just me tensing up. The major
difference I have seen in her behaviour has been with
the way in which a vet approaches her (even the one
she is scared of, it would seem). She has her "rep"
made at the vet clinic (all of these vets work at the
same clinic) so they approach her nervously, expecting
her to kick or rear and be "crazy". She never behaves
like this with the farrier, but he talks very quietly
and he's patient and from day one gave her a chance
and took his time with her.
I have taught her to drop her head when I place my
hand on her poll, so she was standing beside me
quietly on a loose lead with her head low this weekend
when I was there. Its only when that vet walked into
the stall and she turned her hindquarters on him
pretty quickly that I tightened up on the lead rope to
get her hind end away from him. She doesn't try to
kick anyone else who goes into her stall.
The bad incident that she had with this specific vet
was last year when she was 8 months old - she was
nervous and he was in a hurry. When she kept shifting
around he grabbed the lead from me and he jerked on
the lead chain enough times that it cut under her chin
and smacked her with the lead rope about ten
times...she was so scared she fell down in her stall
trying to get away - that was the incident that
started the fear.  I'm quite sure she has not
forgotten him. She was stretching out her neck to
smell him while she was in her stall and he was in the
aisle talking to another boarder.
I'm not against discipline, I'll dish it out myself,
but the way he handled her as a baby was excessive.
Especially given that she was not handled much before
I bought her at 7 months old and had been handled only
by me and two other women at the barn. My filly has a
dominant personality to start with and will pin her
ears at any stranger she doesn't want nearby. Her
reaction to the unknown or to fear is to fight, unless
she is given a chance to look and understand. Then she
is perfectly manageable. She's 2 in April so still
very young.
The fact that the vet took the time to talk to her and
pet her and let her settle down before doing anything
like sticking a needle in her, helped alot in my
opinion. I'm not saying she's cured, but its a start.


Lysane and Mae West


 --- Karen Williams <karen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: >
I'm wondering how much of the problem is you and how
> much is the horse.  You
> know the "dreaded vet" is coming the one she
> "doesn't like".  As soon as he
> appears its possible that you tense up and get a
> tighter grip on the lead
> rope.  You seem to have a very sensitive horse.  If
> you tense up don't you
> think she will start thinking "uh oh ....
> something's wrong" and tenses up
> too?
>
> Its telling that they had no problem the next day
> when you *weren't* there
> .....  Think about it.
>
> The ride vets aren't going to be giving her shots,
> so why not get a
> stethascope and have friends and stranges around the
> barn practice going
> over her and listening to her pulse.  Make a
> concerted effort NOT to tense
> up when people approach her.
>
> Karen
>
> Karen Williams
> Spotsylvania, VA
> www.mattariver.com
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> [mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf
> Of Lysane Cree
> Sent: Tuesday, February 17, 2004 1:26 PM
> To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Re: [RC] Horse with fear of vet
>
>
> I had posted to ridecamp during the summer time
> about
> my filly's fear of the vet. I had received many
> responses and encouraging words, so I just wanted to
> let you all know that I think we finally may be on
> the
> road of recovery!
> I have been working with her alot, playing "vet"
> with
> her (minus the injections). There is one particular
> vet that she was the worst with because she had a
> bad
> experience with him, but she has been suspicious of
> all strangers, in particular vets. This summer she
> cut
> her leg requiring stitches and she was only
> moderately
> difficult - it was a different vet. This weekend
> though the vet came out to the barn where I board it
> was the one that she is really scared of. I wanted
> him
> to take a look at her mouth as she has been off her
> feed. Her reaction to him was instant - she was
> standing quietly on a lead beside me and as soon as
> he
> stepped into her stall, she tensed right up and
> wouldn't stand still. He left her stall, her head
> went
> down; he came back in with the injection, up went
> her
> head. She totally got into defensive mode even
> though
> she hasn't seen him in close to a year.  He was not
> able to treat her and no one had a twitch around, so
> he said he would return the next day with a twitch.
> I worried about this all night because I don't
> really
> care for twitches although sometimes it can be
> necessary, and I had to be at work. While brushing
> her
> the night before I tried to remind of the things we
> had been working on and poked at her neck as if to
> give her a needle and played with her mouth and her
> top lip.
> The barn manager called me and told me that she was
> an
> angel and didn't do anything when he gave her the
> shot. They didn't even have to use the twitch.
> Yahooooo!!!!!!!!!!!  But this time the vet took the
> time to pet her neck and talk to her and let her
> calm
> down before trying anything. I have been telling all
> the vets to do this or to feed her some carrots, but
> they are often pressed for time and don't want to
> take
> the time.
> I am so proud of my filly. There is hope. Her fear
> is
> always nagging me because of course I can't even
> think
> of her doing ctr or endurance if she can't stand
> being
> near a vet. Kind of a problem!! Anyway, thats my
> story
> and hopefully things will only get better. I knew
> they
> only had to give her a chance.
>
> Lysane and Mae West
>
>
>

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