Needling?

We just utterly failed at giving Bundy a Penicillin and Tetanus shot.

One for the neck and one for the butt. He leapt away the second the needle touched his neck the first time.

We then put the spare needle in first which stayed in while he leapt away. Then went to attach the syringe and he leapt again and pulled the needle out and onto the ground.

Second needle stayed in while leaping, attached syringe and got about 1ml in before he leapt and pulled it out again.

So we tried his rump - Got it in but he leapt, bucked and kicked out and the needle hit the ground.

Fail.

There was lots of patting and talking and relaxing in between, no dice. I'll call the vet to come and see if she can do it tomorrow, but any tips on making it easier on him? He is a really big wuss and was quite violently leaping away.

What works for my big sook is to have someone on the other side stroking and pinching his neck while the person jabs the needle in the opposite side. A lot of the time the needle will jump out of a tense muscle, so quick and nimble is key.

Good luck. I'm sure others have tips as well.

I started off on the other side stroking, but didn't think of pinching. I moved after the first go as he nearly jumped on me.

Thanks!
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What I do is I brush my guy for awhile, paying special attention to his neck, so when I get the needle ready he thinks I'm just going to brush him. Then I take a bucket and fill it with grain/carrots so he pays attention to that. Then before he knows it the needing is in and out.

Do NOT put someone on the opposite side of a horse that is scared while trying to give it any kind of shot. This is just asking for a major accident.

There is really not trick to giving shots. It's about having the horse desensitized and used to odd things all the time. That being said, if you have to get injections into a horse now and don't have time to train you can always have your vet do them with your horse in the stocks at the vet's office. Or you can try twitching him. Also rather than the quick tap and jab approach which is an aggressive move and more like a predator, try quietly pinching up a bit of skin on the neck and then sliding the needle in at the base of the triangle. You may want to pinch the skin up several times before you try to insert the needle so that the horse gets used to it. But on some horses the repeated stress of being pinched actually makes it worse and you are better off just getting the needle in there the first time.

Penicillin can also go in the neck, it doesn't have to go in the butt. Doing it in the neck is safer for you. Tip your horse's head towards you slightly whenever you are giving an IM injection. This helps to prevent tightening of the neck muscle and also encourages the horse to spin his rear end away from you should he get scared. You shouldn't give more than 15 ccs in one area. Once you give the first 10-15 ccs, pull the needle out of the muslce but not out of the skin and redirect it so that it enters a different area of the muscle to give the remaining drug.

I read this in some other vaccination thread, but you can try desensitizing him to needle pricks by taking a tooth pick and poking him with about the same force as you would a needle.

^ We attempted to give the penicillin in the neck, and the tetanus in the rump. The first time she didn't tap, I think she was just rubbing and then slid it in.

Bummer, I was hoping there was a trick :[

He is generally really quiet - he doesn't care about thumping, pulling prodding, etc - Just as soon as the needle went in or it moved when she went to inject, he was like a whirling dirvish. I should have remembered from last time, he had a tetanus, but he wasn't quite as bad.

I hope out vet can get them doen without too much trouble, he really does need them now, the leg was quite swollen this morning :[

Yes, you can use a toothpick or anything else sorta pointy but not damaging as part of your desensitization training. You pinch the skin up and then poke with the toothpick--or I use a fingernail because it's easier to keep track of ;) But the key is to keep doing it until the horse stands still and then backing off. And to work on this several days in a row and then do it again randomly just to keep him used to the idea that it's "just something that people do".

I hate the tapping method. It warns the horse something is coming. I needle boarders horses sometimes and one in particular you could not needle. I would walk into the stall with the halter in one hand and quick as a rattler I would strike out putting the needle in the neck and then I would put the halter on. I got away with it and then attach the syringe and inject.

Your horse sound like he is really afraid of needles?

So the vet came out and she couldn't do it either. Luckily, she thinks his leg will be ok, if not, she will have to try something else.

Rios, he is - But we hadn't done it in so long I had forgotten. We could get the needle in and it stayed in while he jumped away, but when we attached the syringe he leapt away again and it pops out.