Worming magic. Technique works great for a whole lot of things. Easy on you, easy on the horse.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCZLjlBp9dQ
I agree with the others that you have a TRAINING PROBLEM. Not a worming problem. Not a trailer loading problem.
Sure, I understand sheās had some bad experiences in the past. But that doesnāt mean that she canāt be TRAINED to better handle herself.
Call it fear. Call it trust. Call it respect. Call it whatever you want to call it. But the bottom line is that your horse is thinking for herself, rather than listening to what you are asking her to do. (Or better yet, itās her lack of thinking thatās allow her to just panic when stressed.)
If the horse is pushed to the point of panic, she is being pushed too fast too hard.
Training is a very delicate balance. You do have to push the horse to a point where they are uncomfortable (that is how they learn) but then you have to know when to stop pushing, or else they are going to freak out and panic.
And it takes a good trainer to know where that ālineā is.
You shouldnāt be fighting with her. And it shouldnāt be āhoursā that you work on it. Youāre going about it the wrong way.
The horse is the one who should be doing the work ā not you.
And sessions are more education when they are frequent (daily) and short (15 minutes or less).
A horse that pulls back when tied, freaks out in a rope halter, refuses to load onto the trailer, and fights to be dewormed does NOT have impeccable ground manners. Sorry, but she doesnāt. Iām sure thereās other subtle (or not so subtle) ground work issues that are present.
Nevertheless, you can positively move forward with her with training. I know you said you have worked with trainers but clearly you havenāt found the right one yet. Keep looking. You donāt necessarily need a self-proclaimed natural horsemanship guru ā you just need someone who understands horses. Period.
Itās not about getting her to accept dewormer. Itās about her letting you put her head where you ask ā¦ no matter what you are doing (even if you are happening to put something in her mouth).
Itās not about getting her onto the trailer. Itās about her letting you tell her where to put her feet ā¦ even if you are asking her to put her feet into a trailer.
Etc. Etc. This is why it all comes back to groundwork and having a horse that does what you ask it to do, no matter what. Especially when you have a horse whose first instinct is to panic, like yours. You have to retrain their brain to THINK instead of panic.
I find it the best to work on ground work about 15 minutes per day. You want the horse to learn, but you donāt want to fry their brain (or they wonāt learn anything). If they accomplish my goal for the day the first time, great. Weāre done in 30 seconds. Or maybe the horse is having a bad day ā it happens. Iāll readjust my goal and still end the session on a positive note. Try again tomorrow. But its a daily committment to making lasting progress over time.
She isnāt going to trailer load in a day. Or accept dewormer in a day. Or stop pulling back in a day. Etc. These issues are long standing and they will take a long time to consistently correct.
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For the deworming issue, check out the ādonāt break your vetā YouTube series video on deworming. Itās put out by the British Equine Veterinary Association. Itās less than 5 minutes long and very helpful. Maybe molasses or carrot juice in the syringe instead of applesauce?
I am having trailer issues, as well. My horse has always been an eager loader but during the past 5 years whenever I take her somewhere bad things happen to her. She first got laminitis ā misdiagnosed as thrush by both her farrier AND her vet (both have been replaced, as you can imagine. I had never seen or had a horse with laminitis so I took their words for it). Anyway, 20-degrees of rotation which amazingly was fixed and from recent x-rays current vet said heād never know, from the x-rays, that sheād had anything wrong with her. In any event, she has had one problem after another ā head-shaking syndrome (which necessitated having two tumors on her neck excised), probably a tendon problem (probably from a bad trim that may have exacerbated a minor injury that could have been caused by the laminitis), a corneal ulcer, and now who knows what is going on with her eye but it has been a long and painful bout for her that has required (so far) 4 trips to the vet, each one having something painful done to her. So, she is really not wanting to load even though she is very respectful of me and is a perfect trail horse who is fearless on the trail. So, I have a vet appointment today to look at the eye, which of course looks wonderful (but it will recur so I HAVE to go) and NOW there are thunderstorms raging on. I canāt delay because ice is predicted for tomorrow through the weekend. She DOES hate thunderstorms (I have ridden her through them, although walking to lower my profile) when I had to but when she is at her barn she runs and hides. Today I will have to be loading her, which she hates, in a thunderstorm, which she also hates. It has been so cold and icy and rainy that I havenāt been able to work her on loading. I am just hoping for the best today ā but expecting the worst. I have never had to bribe but I might do so today. I HAVE to get her there. This eye thing is costing me a fortune and if this vet cannot fix it, Iām going to have to take her to the Veterinary College and I know that will cost an arm and a leg. So, I have to get her to my vet in the hopes that he has another idea of what to try. In brief, the eye swells, weeps horrible fluid but when given Banamine it improves. Iām also using atropine and triple antibiotic ointment with steroid (she was checked twice for a corneal ulcer). I stopped this once when the eye had been perfect for four days and it iced, snowed, etc. and I couldnāt get to barn and so my helper did it for me (she lives next door). By time I got there 3 days later eye was as bad as ever. Vet flushed out tear ducts ā took 4 tries to clear them, so we both were hopeful that that would do it, but same thing happened. Cleared up perfectly only to start swelling and weeping again. I am at my witās end. Any suggestions would be very much appreciated. Thank you.
By the way, the eye is perfect now. A little moisture at the tear duct ā about half the size of a penny ā but it is perfectly clear. I am just afraid to try to stop the meds again. Also, I have been traveling 30 miles twice a day to medicate her eye because I board her and no one there wants to be responsible for the medication. this has been going on for weeks now so you know Iām anxious to get it fixed. PLUS, I donāt want my poor dear horse to suffer. She is such a sweetie.
My vet gave me a trailer loading book that is out of print to help with my horse (he didnāt have a trailer loading issue, but it actually helps with getting him more confident, responsive, and attentive). Basically itās all about teaching them forward. So you teach them to walk forward when you say walk. Say "walkā, give light tap on hocks with dressage whip. They must step forward a fraction of a second before you (so they associate āwalkā with moving forward, vs. you stepping forward). Praise praise praise. Rinse and repeat. Same for trot and whoa. You can also teach ābackā (although I never did).
Once oral cues are very thoroughly instilled, you can start with the trailer loading, which is just approach the trailer and āwhoaā before he stops on his own (praise praise praise). Turn him aside, re-approach, rinse, and repeat.Quit before he gets too anxious and try again the next day. The rest is obvious.
I have found teaching oral cues helps with any situation where āforwardā is a problem. Balking, rearing, stopping and spinning when my horse decides itās time to go home (sigh). Very handy!
I am not so sure that a horse objecting to a horrible tasting substance being squirted in their mouth is just part of general poor training is valid .
My mare DOES have excellent ground manners, and she will happily take a tube or syringe full of applesauce, baby fruit, molasses or even water. Itās not the tube, it is the medication. The more I (or the BM) insisted, the more upset she got.
I was shown an easy fix by a vet- I stand on the right with tube in my right hand. With my left, I reach into her mouth and grab the bars of her mouth and hold her jaw, preventing her from throwing her head around, then insert syringe/wormer into mouth on the right and itās all done.
Last summer she was ill and on omeprazole plus a foul tasting antibiotic 3 times a day for 6 weeks. If someone attempted to give meds just holding her halter, we had the same dancing, throwing her head and body around, but with holding her jaw it was easy, no matter who did it.
Success!! Using the Warwick schillerās method, Dawn got wormed today! No rearing, fussing, head tossing, and no dislocated shoulders! It was amazing!
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I agree with Scribbler. I suspect sheās āimpeccableā on the ground because youāve never challenged her as you do when you have to medicate, deworm, etc.
To know for sure youāll have to do something on the longe or in the round pen that she absolutely hates to do and then push and see what happens. This is a program that is not without risk to you and the horse. But if you want a horse you can rely on youāve got to KNOW what youāre dealing with, not BELIEVE you know what youāre dealing with. Frankly, Iād consult a professional in your area and ask them to lesson you and your horse on the ground with the intent to push the horse to and beyond the limits. If you induce the highly resistant behavior you will have an answer. If you donāt you have an answer but it might not be the final one.
Good luck in your program.
G.
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Another here who says training problem.
If impeccable on the ground. Donāt tie without a wall behind. That will stop the pulling back enough to get a worming syringe full of molasses water or whatever she likes. The look on her face will be one of disbelief. Give it again. The 3rd time you should be able to give without a halter on. It depends on the horse of course. Keep it up and give her this randomly through the month. Always 2 syringes. On the real day, the 2nd syringe is the wormer.
With training on the float. Only good things happen near or on the float. Donāt get her in quick and shut her in. Ask her 2 steps on, Praise. 2 steps off. Praise. 4 steps on, Praise 4 steps off. Praise. When she goes in. Mega praise and ask her to back out and praise. You donāt shut her in until she is standing happily without being shut in.
They were right with untying her before undoing the back. NEVER tie without something behind them. Untie first. Which is why you teach the 2 steps on and 2 steps off. It teaches them to back off slowly. In the end you should be able to back 2 steps halt and ask forward 2 steps while in the float.
When you can do that you can then say she is impeccable on the ground.
For the worming issue, try a fruit rollup. wrap it around the wormer tube. works like a charm. Works great for bitting issues too.
For the trailering issue, teach her to tie first. Get a tie blocker. Tie her to something and feed her there with a hay net. Make tying her happy place. Bonus points if you tie her to the trailer. Works even better after they are tired and sweaty from a nice work session.
Get her nice and light on halter pressure. especially lowering her head. This might help.
I had a big warm-blood that took me three hours to load when I bought him - it didnāt go well. I went to a clinic the next week where the guru told me I was not being firm enough. He essentially used a hook at the front of my straight load trailer as a pulley and sucked my panicked horse into the trailer. It was incredibly traumatic for the horse. It took even longer to load the next time. (And he broke my ramp)
You have to patient, make the right thing (loading) easy, and the wrong thing (refusing) not so fun. You have to set aside enough time that you are not rushed.
At first, it took two of us. I have a straight load with a ramp. I stood in the empty stall with the butt-bar up so my horse could not come in on top of me - safety first!!. I talked to him and pet him and encouraged him to come in. Meanwhile, a horse-savvy friend used a Parelli stick and string to add pressure. (only enough that the horse showed he didnāt like the pressure - usually, hitting the ground was enough, sometimes, she thumped him with the rope - it was rhythmic and not abusive - just pressure). When the horse made ANY step toward the trailer - even a weight shift, or pointing his nose that way instead of evading-, all pressure stopped. If he backed away, pressure increased. Sometimes, we would seesaw for an hour or two before he would offer an extra step. We always quite when we had relaxation, never when he was panicked. I always expected even just a slight improvement from the last session.
I kept goals small. He was so severe and so explosive, that the first day, I was happy to get both front feet on the ramp and have him be relaxed, eating carrots, and taking deep breaths. Then I tied him to the trailer to eat some hay.
I upped my expectations each day. Baby steps. Lots of praise when he loaded. Mine loves being talked to and pet, so I used that to my advantage. If you do that, be safe about it. Make sure you arenāt in the horseās space or in a pinch point where you can be hurt. Donāt put your arms through metal dividers - its an easy way to break them.
Once he started loading OK, if he exploded out for any reason, the pressure on the back end drove him back in, where he could rest. There was always food in the trailer.
I played desensitization games in the trailer. I made noise. He got pretty comfortable.
We did lots of in and out and in and out. When he was loading, I would ask for half-loads, back one step, come back in. I tried really hard to get him soft and accepting.
I never locked him in there until he was relaxed and standing in there on his own, not trying to leave. When I finally did, it was no big dealā¦he was ready. I locked him in, then I let him right our and put him away.
It took me a week to get him loaded and the better part of a month to get him really comfortable. Now, I can throw the rope over his neck, and he hops on in like he has been doing it all his life. He also stopped sweating when I trailer him. He used to look like a drowned rat within minutes of trying to load him. He has come a very long way.
Give it time. Break it into steps - small victories. Donāt be in a rush or youāll lose patience or get one of you hurt.
If you are too nervous, your horse will know. If you arenāt comfortable teaching this, find a reputable trainer. Donāt load this horse alone! ALWAYS have help!
Good luck!
