Vet phobias

I was asked to work with lovely Harvey as, after a period of intense treatment for cellulitis, he had become so dangerous with the vet to the level that they refused to come out to him anymore. He was striking out with his front legs, kicking and aggressively biting to the point I believe he caused injury to a vet when they tried to pin him into a corner. It was also impossible to administer oral sedation via syringe. Harvey’s owner was understandably upset that her horse was not only so fearful but also worried that she wouldn’t be able to get the necessary veterinary care that he might need going forwards.

When I met Harvey he was extremely suspicious of anyone except his owner going into his stable. We decided the most sensible goal was to teach him to accept a syringe orally so his owner could sedate him herself before the vet arrived and hopefully gently start to make it a less stressful experience for him.

I always use positive reinforcement to deal with fear-based issues, there is just no way stressing a horse out more by moving their feet or flooding them with stimulus is going to make them feel better emotionally about the situation, even if it gets compliance eventually. It can also get people hurt.

I stayed working in protected contact the whole time with him on the other side of the stable door, not only for my safety but for his comfort as well, having people in his space had become scary to him.

I started teaching him simple hand targeting which he picked up quickly and seemed to enjoy. I then tried to do the same thing just holding an empty syringe in my hand and he immediately disengaged and went back to his haynet despite me working with extremely high-value food rewards. I just waited for him to engage with me again and eventually he was confidently targeting the empty syringe with his nose. There is such a positive shift in the horse’s emotional state once they realise they are allowed to say no and leave.

The last thing we worked on in that session was shaping him putting his head into my arm with my back against the door, as you would when administering a syringe.

I left his wonderful owner Kaytlin with a shaping plan to eventually introduce touching the syringe to his mouth once he was really comfortable with putting his head into her arm, then putting something tasty in the syringe and administering it. She has done an absolutely amazing job and Harvey will now co-operatively take oral medication over the door with no restraint. Now they have a good baseline to work from and Harvey is in a much better place to receive any veterinary care he may need.

I’ve attached a short video Kaytlin sent me from one of her training sessions with him, he is so happy to engage and confident with the ask. Such a difference to the suspicious, scowly boy I met.

I saw a lovely post from a vet practice the other day where they were showcasing how they used positive reinforcement training to help a horse with needle phobia. The comments were full of people calling the horse a brat, saying he needed to be taught manners, he needed a leader, they were spoiling him etc. It baffles me that the industry is so opposed to science and seemingly being kinder to our horses? A horse that is fearful is not being disrespectful or rude, and punishing them by moving their feet around or refusing to remove the scary stimulus until they give in is going to be traumatising for them, even if you use pleasant-sounding language to describe it. Also seems like a really great way to get someone seriously injured.

The most logical and ethical way to help a horse with fear is by using very small, incremental training steps and food rewards to create powerful positive associations. Not by applying unpleasant pressure until they stop trying to get away and calling it kind.