Behaviorist help... un-blanketing

[quietann]

Not sure if I posted about this before, but around the beginning of February my mare got really unhappy about blankets, especially having them taken off. At the same time she got really ticklish about grooming.
This is a horse who normally wouldn’t even care if I forgot to undo leg straps and she ended up with the blanket wrapped around her hind legs. She is not perfect by any means, but her general ground manners are very good.

At the worst, I couldn’t take off her blankets myself, and needed the BM to do it. I’ve had this horse for 10 years and have, well, taken pride in how “self sufficient” I could be with her WRT blanketing, injections (before I got Dupuytrens disease and lost the use of half of my dominant hand), taking her places etc. So this was a blow to my ego

Vet consult revealed: no ulcers, no Lyme, no obvious female issues. Vet still thinks there might have been a rough transitional heat, and her heat symptoms, normally hardly noticeable, were a bit more obvious. May put her on Regumate in the fall.

I did learn that it was much easier to take her blanket off either outside or in the aisle, compared to her stall, but she’d typically whirl around me and get super anxious. Some of the problem was static shock (It was our first winter in this barn, and it’s crazy how the static builds up. Rubber matted floors everywhere doesn’t help… One thing I found helped, WRT grooming, was keeping my hands wet, and grabbing either her mane or her tail with my non-grooming hand. But I need both hands for the blanket.)

So I started playing with the idea that when I was removing her blanket, if she stopped wiggling or moving around even for a second, I’d take a break from removing the blanket. Classic negative reinforcement/removing pressure, in behaviorist terms.

And then the weather got warmer, and blankets weren’t needed, and I sort of forgot about the whole issue …until Monday, when the temps were in the 40s and it was raining, and she had her rainsheet on when I got to the barn. She was still reactive though not as bad as she had been. I went back to the “stop if she stands” idea, though I’ll admit I did not give her enough of a break when she did stand.

So … behaviorist help here. If my goal is ultimately to have her accept the whole procedure, and stand still, am I shooting myself in the foot by removing pressure (the unblanketing) when she stands?

(Note: no debate PLEASE on whether blankets are necessary or not. This is an older mare with arthritis, who grows very little winter coat, living in New England.)

[beowulf]

You ruled out the big guys - what about back-soreness? Any time a boarder horse got crabby about blankets, the owner was informed and usually the diagnosis was some back-soreness from increased work, not great saddle fit, weight of winter blankets, whatever - some robaxin and mesotherapy and it went away.

As far as your behaviorist question… hmm… are you tying her? Or is she loose? If you think static shock was the culprit, I think what you’re doing won’t accomplish much - she needs to learn that the blanket being pulled off isn’t hurting her. Is she the type to be aggressive about food? I’d almost try a few sessions of putting a lightweight blanket on her and off of her while she’s eating, until it’s NBD. Then I’d be doing it again, a few times on/off, each time I needed to put something or pull something off. It might not be easy to do for you and I’d suggest tying her if you haven’t already.

[ThreeFigs]

If it’s static, which can drive horses nuts, have you tried anti-static sprays and/or dryer sheets?

[SonnysMom]

For the static I find Vetrolin shine sprayed directly on the blanket everytime before I put it on works better than anti-static sprays or dryer sheets. I can spray the horse directly with the Vetrolin shine and still have the saddle stay where it belongs- Show Sheen makes every thing slick and build up to a nasty coating.

My arab cross can get reactive about blankets coming off. I make sure I am really careful about preventing the static starting in the fall. He anticipates that he will get zapped so gets anxious. I tie him or cross tie him. He is fine with unbuckling everything. It starts when I start to actually remove it. I just very very slowly peel it off. I talk to him the whole time and pause if he gets too wigged out. I still try to be methodical but not tentative when I take it off.

If I never zap him in the fall he generally is fine. Therefore everytime I put the blankets on I spray the insider before I put it on. I am particularly careful about fleece coolers. I don’t make the barn staff spray the blankets. They don’t need it every time so if I spray them periodically that keeps it under control. The fleece needs to be done every time. My trainer and I know to spray them every time.

From a behaviorist standpoint I have no idea. I just know what works for him.

[quietann]

@ThreeFigs

If it’s static, which can drive horses nuts, have you tried anti-static sprays and/or dryer sheets?

I have, with no success.

[quietann]

@beowulf

You ruled out the big guys - what about back-soreness? Any time a boarder horse got crabby about blankets, the owner was informed and usually the diagnosis was some back-soreness from increased work, not great saddle fit, weight of winter blankets, whatever - some robaxin and mesotherapy and it went away.

As far as your behaviorist question… hmm… are you tying her? Or is she loose? If you think static shock was the culprit, I think what you’re doing won’t accomplish much - she needs to learn that the blanket being pulled off isn’t hurting her. Is she the type to be aggressive about food? I’d almost try a few sessions of putting a lightweight blanket on her and off of her while she’s eating, until it’s NBD. Then I’d be doing it again, a few times on/off, each time I needed to put something or pull something off. It might not be easy to do for you and I’d suggest tying her if you haven’t already.

Hm… interesting idea about back soreness, but if anything she’s been far less sore (other than the front hooves, see other thread) than she was before I moved her last April.

I found that holding the lead rope while taking off the blanket worked better than having her loose or having her tied. Frustrating thing is that before all this started, I could ground-tie her in the aisle, take off her blanket, and groom her and she would stay put.

She is food motivated, and giving her hay to eat helped calm her, if she was loose in her stall. Here’s a FB post about that, written when things were getting better…

[I]Today with the mare:

(Arrive at barn, she is in her stall with no blanket on)
Feronia: munch munch munch
Me: Curry curry curry
Feronia: munch munch munch
Me: brush brush brush
Feronia: munch munch munch
Me: (swap brushes) brush brush bru…
Feronia: OMG YOU ARE BRUSHING ME!!! EEEEKKK! MUST GO LOOK OUT THE WINDOW!
Me: get her turned around, grab her tail, brush brush brush
Feronia: OK you have my tail so I can’t go anywhere. Munch – stink-eye – munch – stink-eye – munch

Then I rode her bareback and she was very good, and comfy as usual because her back is broad and her spine doesn’t stick up.

Return to stall …

Feronia: munch munch munch
Me: Brush brush brush
Feronia: munch munch munch
Me: Grab rainsheet to turn her out in, because it’s supposed to start raining soon. Throw it over her.
Feronia: munch – stink-eye – munch – stink-eye – munch … OMG YOU ARE TRYING TO FASTEN THE FRONT CLIPS!!! EEEEKKK! MUST GO LOOK OUT THE WINDOW!
Me: grab her halter and lead rope, put it on, turn her around so her nose is by her hay again
Feronia: wellllll OK … munch – stink-eye – munch – stink-eye (while I fasten the front clips) and then munch munch munch (while I fasten the belly straps).

I turned her out, and she went back to munch munch munch.

Remember, kiddies, horses are half-ton rabbits.[/I]

I do think that starting to practice this all now, with her eating hay, would be a good idea.

[quietann]

@SonnysMom

For the static I find Vetrolin shine sprayed directly on the blanket everytime before I put it on works better than anti-static sprays or dryer sheets. I can spray the horse directly with the Vetrolin shine and still have the saddle stay where it belongs- Show Sheen makes every thing slick and build up to a nasty coating.

My arab cross can get reactive about blankets coming off. I make sure I am really careful about preventing the static starting in the fall. He anticipates that he will get zapped so gets anxious. I tie him or cross tie him. He is fine with unbuckling everything. It starts when I start to actually remove it. I just very very slowly peel it off. I talk to him the whole time and pause if he gets too wigged out. I still try to be methodical but not tentative when I take it off.

If I never zap him in the fall he generally is fine. Therefore everytime I put the blankets on I spray the insider before I put it on. I am particularly careful about fleece coolers. I don’t make the barn staff spray the blankets. They don’t need it every time so if I spray them periodically that keeps it under control. The fleece needs to be done every time. My trainer and I know to spray them every time.

From a behaviorist standpoint I have no idea. I just know what works for him.

I think this is where I am headed with her. Vetrolin Shine did help with the brushing, and it makes sense that spraying her blankets could be useful. I have a huge bottle of it, too. She was definitely anticipating getting zapped on Monday, even though there was no chance that it would happen.

I pretty much stopped using fleece on her when this all went down, because fleece just has too much static.

[pluvinel]

I did not have the behavior issue…but did get shocked myself when removing blankets this winter, so I figured that if the horse was not complaining…yet…eventually we would have issues.

So I bought a bottle of the “Static Gard” spray. I pick up the blanket and spray it on his back progressively as I am removing the blanklet…EACH AND EVERY TIME. That’s what it took to keep the static from building up.

So…first thing is to eliminate the negative connotation the horse has with removing blankets…which in my case (operative words…in my case)…was static.

Next is remediating the bad behavior. I have always used both negative and positive reinforcement. Negative in the sense that he is not allowed to be rude around me…for any reason…so there are corrections for that. Positive reinforcement so that when the “bad behavior” occurs, eg., when he is controlling himself…he is rewarded.

This approach works for things like sheath cleaning and any other “procedures” that I have to do around a horse that the horse may take exception to.

[CanteringCarrot]

I haven’t encountered a lot of blanket static but I live in a wet/humid climate.

Have you tried rolling off the blanket in stages?

I mostly due this in the winter because it’s cold and I figure it’s better than quickly pulling off the blanket.

I will undo all straps and then fold back the front. I’ll then groom the horses front (neck/chest/shoulders). I’ll fold it back a bit more and get his back/sides/belly. Then finally I’ll remove what is left on his rump and groom there.

I guess you could do that in reverse too. Or I’ll do halves instead of thirds.

[ThreeFigs]

Vetrolin Shine – what a great idea!

[jetsmom]

How are you taking blanket off? Over head with front buckled? Unbuckled then pulling towards hind end or pulling sideways?
Try it differently. Roll down toward butt or fold up towards front.

[Simkie]

Have you considered rechecking Lyme, or just treating? I’d be suspicious that was a false negative, which is apparently not uncommon according to my vets.

[Texarkana]

Over the winter, I coated the inside of my blankets with Static Guard every few days, sometimes every day.

I sprayed my brushes and my horses with Eqyss Marigold spray before and after grooming.

If it’s just the static shock, this would be the perfect time of year to work with her about taking the blanket on/off.

I used to have one horse who was a saint, but would get aggressive and angry if you pulled the blanket the “wrong” way against his hair… like people who slide the blanket back into place, then pull it forward against the lay of the hair to buckle the front. It also irritated him if you drug the whole blanket across his body to remove it, as opposed to folding the front back and lifting it off his hindquarters. This was probably 20 years ago, so I don’t doubt it was pain related to something we didn’t have diagnostics to confirm… but maybe a simple change in blanketing technique might appease your mare until you can figure it out.

[hank]

I have an older (20) Morgan who is as opinionated about his fly mask. He seems to want to keep it until after complete darkness, which isn’t always possible. I have had to up the treat ante to peppermints. As in, if he lets me have the mask nicely, he gets a peppermint. That’s the only time he gets a peppermint. He loves peppermints.

[quietann]

Taking off the blanket… I don’t drag the whole thing off, or take it off over her head. Undo all fasteners, fold the neck cover back if there is one, fold the front back to her withers, and then fold that back over her hindquarters, and remove by pulling to the side.

in the winter, I usually groom the exposed area after each fold back, so neck. Shoulders and front legs, back and belly, and then hindquarters once the whole thing is off. She was getting really nervous about the blanket just sitting on her, though.

She hasn’t been retested for Lyme but it’s a go-to whenever there’s “weird” issues, because of where we are located. I’m pretty diligent about tick prevention. She was successfully treated for a tick borne disease last fall ( didn’t test positive for Lyme, but had symptoms suggesting something tick borne.)

this is definitely the time to work on it! Current plan is to get the vet as soon as blanketing season begins, if she shows problems again. She may go on Regumate in the fall, since the problem may be related to transitional heat.

[SonnysMom]

Someone mentioned spraying brushes with Marigold spray. I forgot I spray the brushes with the Vetrolin Shine too.

[akdraft77]

I read somewhere that touchiness can be tied in with magnesium deficiencies. Is she touchy other times, or just when you un-blanket?

[quietann]

@akdraft77

I read somewhere that touchiness can be tied in with magnesium deficiencies. Is she touchy other times, or just when you un-blanket?

Not at all ticklish or touchy. She is on Mag5000 and has been on that or a similar magnesium supplement for years.

[IPEsq]

Spraying the blankets only works to an extent. Doesn’t seem to last. I have one super sensitive to static, and his fly sheet gets him too, so it’s an all year thing.

The best is to unbuckle everything, fold back neck (if there’s a neck cover). Slide your hand under the withers area until you have as much of your forearm on the horse’s back between horse and blanket. If you are on the near side, this will be with your left arm. So, you pull blanket back by sweeping arm across horse’s back. Your elbow catches the blanket and pulls it back with you. Use other hand to grab rear of blanket and once you get to the bum, it’s a pretty quick motion because this is usually where the static still will happen some. You might get a big zap yourself, but we are trying to minimize the horse zapping. Touch something metal in the stall and put blanket away before touching the horse again. In any event, using the forearm approach seems to break the static charge to some extent across the back without zapping.

[Showbizz]

I posted a few years ago that I had an elderly pony who suddenly became super sensitive to anything remotely electrical.

It included unblanketing, and refusing to drink in the trough every one else would use in the winter with a heater - she would get “shocked”, but no one else did. I never came close to an answer. I do sense it has something to do with the aging process.

I hope you figure it out. I see future research potential.