Farrier is kind of slow & horse has little patience ( 4 shoes).Vet gave me dorm gel and told me to administer under tongue. Not sure I will be successful getting under tongue( not to mention he could spit/ drool it out). Someone told me to rub on gums (gloved)& it will work just as well. Horse is 17.2 WB and a bit reactive.
Any advice ?
Thanks
When we use it, we just squirt it in like wormer and make sure the barn stays quiet for 40-45 minutes. The ones I’ve needed this for are hard to syringe in the first place, so under the tongue or rubbing on gums would be a big nope.
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Under the tongue makes a big difference. It’s designed to go in the large vessels there. Squirting in like wormer has never worked for me at all. Do your best to get it under the tongue.
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My vet has me use it vaginally in my mare 
works like a charm!
Under the tongue is a big deal with this stuff. It’s not hard to do by any means but the initial aim is the trick. Otherwise you really don’t get your bang for your buck. Your mileage may vary
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Another vote for sublingual.
Put the syringe where the bit goes, slanted down, aiming for the base of the tongue.
Some may get spit out, but enough should hit the big vessels there 
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It definitely has to go under the tongue otherwise it’s not absorbed correctly. I’ve had a few times my horse didn’t even seem sedated from the oral so I know use IM dorm which works better for us.
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If your farrier is slow, I don’t think dorm alone is going to do the trick. It doesn’t last that long, like maybe more like 2 shoes.
My vet makes up an IM cocktail for situations like this with dorm, torb, and ace. Torb helps quiet the feet, and ace tends to help it all last a bit longer.
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I had a 16.1, 1400 lb horse who was bad for the farrier when I bought him. It was just too dangerous. I had the vet give me some IV sedation to administer for this scenario. We used it probably 4 times with the farrier. After that, the horse no longer needed it. He was a good boy. He just needed to learn that it would be ok.
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I’ve used dorm in hairy situations where it was impossible to get under the tongue. Gave orally and always still took affect.
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I have had some misses, as well. I’m just here to tell you that the directions on the box will give you the best effect.
Fair enough, however every horse responds differently to sedation and the duration of sedation varies even if given exactly as directed. However, every time I’ve given it orally, sublingual or not, it has taken some degree of affect. It would be ideal for OP to do some sort of test run to see how profound the sedation is, how long it last and how quickly the horse responds to the drug.
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I slide it along the cheek. Maybe more is under the tongue than I realize, but it has always worked for me.
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You can also give dorm IM. If you’re comfortable with IM injections (I am) and your horse is okay with them (my horse is), I find that much easier to manage than the oral gel.
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^This! I have a horse that came with some farrier fear that we have worked through, finally, but for awhile, I was using the dorm gel on him and it was such a hassle. He hates oral syringe, and trying to get under the tongue was even more difficult. I’d have to time it just right so he had about 45 minutes for it to take effect, and it wasn’t always THAT effective. But he is super star for IM injections from me so I switched to dorm IM and it was so so so much easier. Give it and he’s already groggy in 6 minutes. Lasts plenty of time for me (just front shoes, and my farrier is pretty slow). Plus it is significantly cheaper if you can get a bottle of the IM liquid vs. tubes of the gel.
Thank goodness pony boy has settled into tolerating farrier work without drugs, although if we ever add hind shoes to the mix, I’m pretty sure we’ll have to sedate again. He’s not a bad boy, just very fearful after some bad experiences (prior to my ownership, and fully disclosed by seller).
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Thanks for info. Although I can give IM, my vet will only give the paste ( liability I guess). I plan to try my best to slide under tongue. He is quick & reactive & at 17.2, I know that head will be up & out of my reach in a flash. Maybe a peppermint just before ?
Or might that make for more calamity.
Maybe make a peppermint mush or dilute molasses, etc. Put it in the syringe and practice getting it under the tongue. Give him some pleasant experiences with it before trying with dorm.
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Do what you have to do this time, but it sounds like this horse needs some additional desensitizing to general care.
Syringes full of applesauce, lots of them, in the future.
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Yeah, I have a 17.2h horse who I had to clicker train to stick a dewormer tube in his mouth.
I don’t hide it from him, I’ll show it to him and hold it and if he touches it, he gets a treat. Then I increased the ask gradually (over days) until he would stick it in his mouth and hold it for a few seconds. So now with oral dorm or dewormer, I make sure I do the clicker training a few days ahead of the dosing day, then administer the meds. Then the next few days I refresh the clicker training with the empty tube until he’s back to “normal.”
I used IM dorm on my older horse and it seemed to be a lot more expensive for the dispensed IM than just buying a whole tube of dorm gel.
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You can also use a twitch. Apply it, let it take effect for a moment, then give sublingually.
