Needle Shy

What’s the best approach with a horse who is scared of injections? Roger Lee MRCVS offers some expert advice

- Roger Lee

JUST producing a long, sharp needle in front of some owners is enough to make them leave the stable in a hurry. This doesn’t matter, because someone else can hold their horse while he’s injected. But what if it’s the horse himself who wants to get away?

A needle-shy horse is expecting something unpleasant as soon as he sees the vet. In human psychological tests, this stage of anticipation is rated as more unpleasant than the painful event itself. The problem is that the horse is usually right — the majority of vet visits do involve an injection, a vaccination, sedative, nerve blocks or joint medication.

What’s more, we know from magnetic resonance imaging studies of the human brain that fear and anticipation further increase the pain felt when the injection is finally given. It would follow that on each occasion, the horse’s needle phobia gets worse.

When a vet is called to inject a needle-shy horse, the first aim is to get the injection done safely. After that, however, vet and owner should work together to break the cycle of fear and resistance.

The biggest obstacle to injecting a scared horse is a scared handler. A nervous owner may think they’re using soothing words, but their body language and tone of voice are shouting, “I’m frightened, because I know something bad is about to happen!” The horse then takes his cues from that.

It goes without saying that the vet needs to be confident and unafraid. It’s important, too, that the horse is adequately controlled. If he is prone to plunging forwards, a bridle or Chifney is essential.