My horse, Harley is EXTREMELY petrified of the vet. What can I give him as an oral tranquilizer before the vet arrives? Is there anything I can eventually do to help him with his fears so I, the vet, and him don't have to deal with this anymore?
LOL I am not dismissing the fact that the horse could be a jerk. His past is very suspicious and unknown so that could also be it as wellIs it possible your horse IS a jerk? Or that your VET is a jerk?
Not to say either is, but there IS a reason this happens.
Please don't be defensive and angry about that^^.
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Of course -- but it has become an excuse instead of a reason. Most unacceptable behaviors are rooted somewhere in the past in some fear -- rational or otherwise. That is why I am not interested in the background of any horse I buy or train. I do not ask and would not expect to hear the truth if I did get an answer. You have to deal with and have to train what you have at hand. Psychoanalysis is not necessary. To be an effective trainer / owner / handler, you have to deal with what you have and have to teach new, better, more acceptable behaviors to replace the bad ones.He is reacting out of fear. He hates needles.
I have had the same thing happen to me! Now as an adult I just choose not to get needles but my horses DONothing more constructive to say, the others have it pretty much covered...
But your horse sounds like me! It used to take 4 people to hold me as a kid, then they would trick me (slam a door or pass the needle around the back and poke me). Now I just shake, cry, and jump. I went to the dentist to get a small filling done (she probably could of done it w/o novocaine) and I was still panicky on 0.5mg of Xanax plus 20 minutes of breathing nitrous like I was huffing paint. Everyone tells me to knock it off, relax, don't look, etc.... Ain't gonna happen. If I were you horse, I'd need the works! If I could control myself I would, but sometimes my sense of fear goes beyond my sense of control. I couldn't imagine how that must feel as a prey animal.
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