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[RC] Vet phobia - Lysane CreeHi, I'm wondering if anyone can give me some insight...my 1 year old had a bad first experience with the vet. She was scared and he was in a hurry with 25 other horse's to vaccinate. I think I talked about this one time on ridecamp. Her reaction to things she doesn't want to do because of fear is to fight. So she kept rearing and jumping around. And he yanked on the chain a bunch of times and smacked her with lead rope on the shoulder. Now she won't let a vet near her. Last night she colicked. I have a broken wrist and its my dominant hand so I can't do much. When the vet (a different vet, same clinic) got there, he tried to listen to her heart and she kicked at him sideways, a very deliberate kick. Luckily she missed. Each time he approached she flipped out. He wanted to twitch her but couldn't get her lip. I tried (she's good with me about having her mouth handled) but she knew what was up. He wanted to twist her ear which I really didn't want, but was willing to go along with given the situation. Couldn't get close enough to do that, although she has always been extremely good about her ears being handled. My friend and I were the only ones who could do anything. So I had to lift her lips with one hand while my friend held her, so the vet could see her gums. And then my friend had to give her an IM injection while I held her. She is normally handled by me and the other workers at the barn, all of whom are women. I hope this is not a man-phobia as well. I don't have any men around with horse experience willing to work with her. I could dress up the way the vets dress in one-piece coveralls and make myself smell like medicine and wear a stethoscope and do practice "exams" with her...think this would work? As a last resort (money of course being a concern) there is a good male trainer within a couple of hours from here that I could probably make an arrangement with for training - "role-playing" as a vet. Any other ideas, suggestions? She's only 1 so I have time to work on this but it really concerns me because I can't make a distance horse out of her if she can't be handled by a vet! At the same time, I want to get it resolved as quickly as possible because when she needs treatment like last night, letting herself be handled by the vet is pretty crucial. We all know how to give IM injections at the barn, but would have been stuck if she needed an IV injection. Help! Lysane and Mae West Holliday ______________________________________________________________________ Post your free ad now! http://personals.yahoo.ca =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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