Horse horrified of spray

[PaddockWood]

And you DO want this mare getting used to being sprays and around sprays cuz sprays happen. It might be the vet needs to do something or as we know there are times and reason you need to spray something. You can give her a wonderful gift of seeing it’s ok and help her develop more confidence.

I also love that Carson James video.

I have also taught my guy “down” which is a relaxation posture where he drops his nose to the ground. Shaping that behavior has helped him so much when he’s worried or bothered.

[Salty]

I agree completely.

I have a 5 year old mare who hates being sprayed with fly spray. She doesn’t mind being sprayed with anything else. So I just spray the finishing brush and brush her with it. For your 20 year old lease horse, you can do the same, and it works really well.

[OverandOnward]

@PaddockWood

And you DO want this mare getting used to being sprays and around sprays cuz sprays happen.

At 21 years of this mare’s life – why?

Sprays happen because people happen. People can adjust. The mare can’t, at this point in her life.

If the mare were even 5+ years younger, I’d try to desensitize properly. But at 21 many horses are no longer learning well, and their life obligations are much more limited anyway.

The vet et. al. can be warned and coached, and told that spraying is not an option, plus the responsible party can be there. Just don’t do it. A requirement of handling this mare. This should already have been decided by her owner, it shouldn’t even be a question.

There is no point in upsetting her with this now, at 21 yo. It just isn’t needed, at all.

[S1969]

@PaddockWood

It might be the vet needs to do something or as we know there are times and reason you need to spray something.

I can’t think of anything my vet would ever spray on my horse.

@sparkygrace

I agree with others who have advised to not bother trying to fix this. The mare is 21, she’ll hurt herself. Get a nice mitt and rub the fly spray on her coat. Many horses have quirks or dislikes ; fly spray is hers.

This. I own this mare. She’s almost 30 and has been this way from day 1. I can chase her around a stall with fly spray if I must (she doesn’t really get upset but she does want to avoid.) But it’s just as easy to spray on a mitt or a cloth and wipe on her. Not that she enjoys that either - the smell of fly spray isn’t a favorite.

But when I need to put repellent on (spray or swat) I use a mitt or cloth (or my hand). It’s not worth a rodeo and usually results in not getting the repellent where it needs to go anyway.

[PaddockWood]

I’m open to being wrong but if she were mine…

[candyappy]

@Jumpingranch

only issue/quirk owner told me is this horse will kill herself and everyone around her if you try and flyspray her and she’s crosstied.

@Jumpingranch

she will panic and last time they did it she flipped herself over in the crossties.

So knowing her aversion to being sprayed, especially in the cross ties, they did it anyways

My mare had been this way since she was a yearling,. She turns 20 this Fall. I bought her as a weanling and she had never been sprayed , so it is just her own phobia.

She had huge eyes, snorting and would actually strike at the hand holding the bottle.

2 years ago I decided it was time to just get her over it.

Filled my bottle with water , holding her rope and just started spraying her lower legs. We went round and round so many times I was dizzy.

I just kept spraying no matter where she tried to go. When she finally stopped I gave her a couple sprays and stopped too. It took just a couple times of this and she just stood.

Just did this for 2-3 days and she has been fine ever since with me just holding her halter. If flies are bad she will actually stand and let me put fly spray on her anywhere without being restrained or even wearing a halter.

It is a fairly easy fix. Never , ever spray her in the cross ties.

[imbassetma]

My mare hates any sprays, but it’s more the droplets hitting her skin. I spent money on some good spray bottles that make the spray much more fine mist and she has no problem with that.

[lenapesadie]

I think a bigger issue is that the mare isn’t OP’s either. The horse is leased by OP not owned.

I myself might try some counter conditioning or clicker training or CAT H on an aged horse with a similar quirk IF it was my horse. Someone else’s horse though I’m just wiping stuff on and moving on with my day.

[PaddockWood]

I’d ask the owner if it were me and if they were ok I’d work to help the mare. What if she’s in crossties and someone nearby who has no idea sprays something and she freaks out? Things being sprayed happens a lot around horses. At least in my barn. I’ve got at least 4 bottles of stuff sitting out right now. Sore No More, Fly Spray, Red Horse ACV spray, and Microtek. I even wonder then if a water sprayer at the end of a hose bothers her?

To me if a horse is struggling with something I want to help them solve it.

[lenapesadie]

The OP states the mare is ok with neighbors being sprayed but will choose to leave if allowed to if loose and not tied. The owner has laid out parameters of what not to do, try to spray the horse while crossties or while it’s running circles around OP on the lead rope.

There is zero need for the horse to be trained to tolerate being sprayed.

Presumably, if the OP had experience effectively using any of the methods we agree are likely to be effective training this horse to accept being sprayed, they wouldn’t have made this post. Ditto for the owner. We can safely predict that any handler trying a new method will make mistakes. We can therefore anticipate a long learning curve of education for handler and the horse aged horse she does not own if OP should try something new. We are advised that this horse has flipped over when put under too much pressure from a spray bottle. I see zero reason to advise OP to undertake this task that could potentially be dangerous, using methods OP is inexperienced in, that OP will need to explain to the owner, that any staff and the owner are unlikely to ascribe too. Just wipe products in the horse and everyone’s happy!

I’m happy to be corrected and learn that OP and horse owner are the most woo woo gurus alive, have tried all methods discussed and that this horse still does not tolerate being sprayed. In that case, the conclusion is the same. Wipe the horse down with products before the horse gets pushed over threshold again and someone gets hurt.

[S1969]

@PaddockWood

I’d ask the owner if it were me and if they were ok I’d work to help the mare. What if she’s in crossties and someone nearby who has no idea sprays something and she freaks out? Things being sprayed happens a lot around horses. At least in my barn. I’ve got at least 4 bottles of stuff sitting out right now. Sore No More, Fly Spray, Red Horse ACV spray, and Microtek. I even wonder then if a water sprayer at the end of a hose bothers her?

To me if a horse is struggling with something I want to help them solve it.

There is nothing wrong with trying if someone has the skills and patience to do it right. I guess if I were the owners, I might say “no thanks.”

But, if the OP has the interest, ability and time - why not.

If it were me, I’d probably install some clicker training on the horse, and some desensitization at the same time. Use a spray bottle (of water, at first) around/near her but not on her. Teach clicker for rewards of various kinds. Then spray onto a mitt and click/treat for a while. Then add a single spray on her body near the mitt and click/treat. Slowly and in a stall (wearing a helmet). Hopefully the mare likes grooming so you can get her happy with that and add a single spray here (with reward) and there and build from it.

My guess is it wouldn’t be that hard, but still may never translate to being able to spray while on crossties. But it might be that a little work would go a long way. It’s hard to say whether the owners will want to gamble on it being done properly, but that’s a different story.

[Scribbler]

My worry is that because the owners have proven themselves to be idiots with the cross ties incident, that any work the leaser does will either be undone immediately, or will encourage the owners to do something stupid and dangerous. Don’t put training on a lease horse that the owner can’t maintain or understand.

[OverandOnward]

My question is – why bother this 21 year old horse? This will not improve her welfare in any way. Just feed the human ego.

Training means a certain amount of stress for the horse. Absorbing what is going on. Some mental process to change a behavior. Or to resist.

She’s 21. And she’s still in at least some work, even if it is scaled down, which is likely a good thing, at least for now.

Other than that, why can’t she have the least bothered, most relaxed existence, from now on?

If it were a younger horse, I’d have a different answer. But - she’s 21! There is NO point in troubling her with this.

IMO, in this case, the humans need to climb down from their ladder of optional expectations, which are about their ego, not the horse’s welfare. Just an opinion.

[S1969]

@OverandOnward

If it were a younger horse, I’d have a different answer. But - she’s 21! There is NO point in troubling her with this.

Well…as the owner of this same kind of horse at 29 1/2, I kind of wish I did take more time when she was only 21 to solve some of the quirks. But, as she lives in my backyard, it’s ok if she’s quirky. AND I knew she wouldn’t ever be ridden by, or sold to anyone else.

If the training is done properly - it shouldn’t really be must of a bother. But it could be a big investment of time that could be undone by the next rider.

[tabula_rashah]

Not your horse, 21 and prone to flip- nah, I’d just work around it
Different circumstances- I’d be in the roundpen with some clicker training and a lot of spray bottles full of water and then we’d go back to learn about tying and how pulling back is not the answer

[candyappy]

@tabula_rashah

Not your horse, 21 and prone to flip- nah, I’d just work around it

This person is leasing, riding and handling this horse and if the training isn’t attempted in the crossties I don’t think she would flip? The problem with crossties or tying hard and fast is that the horse will panick
but if OP just gets the mare used to it when holding and lets her move it just might be something she won’t have to work around it.

Even old horses can learn something new or get over an issue and not be overly stressed out while doing it.

[RedHorses]

@candyappy

but if OP just gets the mare used to it when holding and lets her move it just might be something she won’t have to work around it.

Except that the horse’s owners have very specifically said they don’t want this done.

On a lead rope you essentially end up lunging her with a spray bottle, she will panic and run circles around you if she is sprayed. Nothing dangerous like running you over/bolting but they don’t want this done because they don’t want her to panic and start bolting on the lead.

[candyappy]

@RedHorses

Except that the horse’s owners have very specifically said they don’t want this done.

I don’t think they have to worry about it being done. I just said it isn’t as traumatic as one may think to work with an older horse on this.