Now, I haven't tried it, but a fellow who's always had to twitch his horse to deworm it no longer has to. He uses duct tape, about a 10" instrip and sticks it between the nostrils with the lower end flapping. The horse can't quite reach it with either lip or tongue but it keeps it preoccupied.
New way to twitch a horse
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Really? I've used duct tape (the real kind) to hold paper towel or tissues, etc as temporary bandages while working. They did no damage, and it wasn't painful, when I took them off.
But if that is a concern for some, use the "Duck tape" kind that comes in silly patterns and does not hold as well.
Maybe we have some freakishly strong duct tape here, but we use it here to cover music cases to make them waterproof, and a single layer can last 4 years or more, and to mark dots on pavement, which can last over 2 years. What sticks out to me is that the entire strip, except for the dangling bit, would be in full contact with the horse's face. for bandages, less than half touches the skin (at least the way I do it).
I might be wrong (and might test it tomorrow) but it seems to me that this would be like taking a 10" strip, smoothing it down, then pulling it off. I suppose it wouldn't be any worse than a normal twitch, but if it pulls out the whiskers...Or those little hairs a horse gets on the upper lip.
Or, maybe I'm thinking of more tape being in contact than really is? cause I'm thinking at least a 4" strip on the nose.
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Now I'm curious, too. :lol: I have used duct tape to hold boots together and they were waterproof. Hmmmm.
Either way, I don't think this is a bad trick to have in case a situation comes up. I've had horses turn their noses up at meds put in applesauce, mashed banana, etc. I could see one of mine that I had to doctor for an eye injury being fascinated with tape (lightly!) stuck on his nose/muzzle. I got it done and he was a gentleman, but he would have liked this!
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sounds like you could use painter's blue tape and get the same results except that the blue tape would come right off.
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There's a video on facebook about it but I can't find it at the moment. The horse didn't toss his head that much, just mostly wiggled his lip around trying to get at the tape.
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that wormer, the paste stuff, has a strong taste. you'd have to dilute it in a barrel full of applesause for my lease horse to not know it's there and turn up his nose. and if they do, you've wasted the wormer, since you have no choice but to throw it away.
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what bugs me is why would you have to twitch a horse for that? Why not work on it in between doses so you don't have to? My own horse is no angel about it, but I work at it. Using an empty syringe and desensitizing her once in awhile. Horsemanship isn't just the riding, it's how we handle and care for them too.
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You Really intend to duct tape a twitch to a horse to deworm?!?!?
Here's what to do, and it will take a Saturday and Sunday to accomplish:
(1) save a used dewormer cartridge
(2) fill it with applesauce or molasses--you can buy a small amount at any grocery store
(3) halter your horse and hold the lead
(4) use approach and retreat, 5x-7x, stop and pet the horse, until he/she is showing no fear..REPEAT, REPEAT, REPEAT ALL AFTERNOON
BE PATIENT!!!!! According to Dr. Miller (of imprinting foals fame), it will take 20x as long to retrain fear out of a horse as to train a horse who has no fear. Look for your horse to become curious about the syringe.
(5) when you horse lets you get the syringe next to his mouth, squirt the applesauce or molasses on the side of his mouth, then retreat
Take one whole afternoon and desentitize your horse to the syringe. At some point, IF YOU ARE PATIENT, you'll be able to squirt a little sweet stuff into his/her mouth with the syringe.
At that point, stop.
Next day, repeat, until he starts looking for the syringe and the sweet stuff.
When you get him to not fear the syringe, deworm the next time with QUEST, bc it is a dissolvable gel and your horse won't need you to hold his/her head up to not spit it out.
REINFORCE your retraining by using a syringe with sweet stuff in lieu of a treat. Then, he/she will be enjoying deworming, instead of dreading it.
Here's what to do, and it will take a Saturday and Sunday to accomplish:
(1) save a used dewormer cartridge
(2) fill it with applesauce or molasses--you can buy a small amount at any grocery store
(3) halter your horse and hold the lead
(4) use approach and retreat, 5x-7x, stop and pet the horse, until he/she is showing no fear..REPEAT, REPEAT, REPEAT ALL AFTERNOON
BE PATIENT!!!!! According to Dr. Miller (of imprinting foals fame), it will take 20x as long to retrain fear out of a horse as to train a horse who has no fear. Look for your horse to become curious about the syringe.
(5) when you horse lets you get the syringe next to his mouth, squirt the applesauce or molasses on the side of his mouth, then retreat
Take one whole afternoon and desentitize your horse to the syringe. At some point, IF YOU ARE PATIENT, you'll be able to squirt a little sweet stuff into his/her mouth with the syringe.
At that point, stop.
Next day, repeat, until he starts looking for the syringe and the sweet stuff.
When you get him to not fear the syringe, deworm the next time with QUEST, bc it is a dissolvable gel and your horse won't need you to hold his/her head up to not spit it out.
REINFORCE your retraining by using a syringe with sweet stuff in lieu of a treat. Then, he/she will be enjoying deworming, instead of dreading it.
Using the tape is not twitching, it is distracting them that is all.
I had a gipsy cob come to me for clipping. The owner had been unable to worm him amd the vet had no success either.
He was a pig ignorant horse that used his weight to get out of doing something that he didn't like.
I had no time to mess around. I took a towel, doubled it over, put it over his eyes so he couldn't see. I had the owner hold a tray over his head , as I started to worm he raised his head, his ears touched the tray and he lowered it immediately.
I knew he wouldn't hurt himself. Worming done in less than five minutes from finding the towel and tray to actually worming him.
I had a gipsy cob come to me for clipping. The owner had been unable to worm him amd the vet had no success either.
He was a pig ignorant horse that used his weight to get out of doing something that he didn't like.
I had no time to mess around. I took a towel, doubled it over, put it over his eyes so he couldn't see. I had the owner hold a tray over his head , as I started to worm he raised his head, his ears touched the tray and he lowered it immediately.
I knew he wouldn't hurt himself. Worming done in less than five minutes from finding the towel and tray to actually worming him.
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Hope you find it, I would really like to see it.
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Yes, some horses don't like needles, some are difficult to de-worm, but you can teach them to accept both.
All of my horses learn to accept both de -worming and shots.
I am not going to mix it in apple sauce, hoping the horse gets the entire dose, be that an antibiotic or a de -wormer.
Horses are only as good as we expect them to be.
All of my horses learn to accept both de -worming and shots.
I am not going to mix it in apple sauce, hoping the horse gets the entire dose, be that an antibiotic or a de -wormer.
Horses are only as good as we expect them to be.
One horse will fight being dewormed. He had a long history of this prior to my getting him. His previous owner, a vet, wound up administering a mild tranq. It wasn't for lack of various training techniques. Something about the smell set him off. I might try the duct tape altho I finally figured something out that's worked every time. My other horse will suck the tube out of my hand if not tightly held.
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I still can't find it. The farrier just put a 6 inch piece of duct tape on the horses nose (vertically) and only stuck the one end to him. The very wiggly horse then spends a lot of time wagging his lip around (and flapping the tape) trying to pull it off. It just distracts him by giving him something to do.
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I got in on deworming thirteen yesterday. Twelve of them I had never handled before and probably will never see again. One was especially difficult.
I tried the duct tape to distract him and it worked. I didn't mash it on. It came off easily. I'm quick with the plunger. I had three more to do after him and he followed me around. Curious guy, it turns out.
So, I would say there are times this is useful and I think it never hurts to have lots of things to try.
I tried the duct tape to distract him and it worked. I didn't mash it on. It came off easily. I'm quick with the plunger. I had three more to do after him and he followed me around. Curious guy, it turns out.
So, I would say there are times this is useful and I think it never hurts to have lots of things to try.
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Thanks for trying.
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