Dear Alpha Mare,
Since the day my Canadian, Logan, was born he has never liked needles. I don’t blame him! When the vet came out to give him his vaccinations, he took the first vaccination no problem, until the medicine got released into his system, at which point Logan decided he and needles were not friends. On the second vaccination he moved around a lot, but the vet was able to give him the shot, albeit with effort. Logan even allowed the vet to give him the strangles shot up the nose, but Logan was obviously not pleased. How do I encourage Logan to stay relaxed and stand still for a needle?

Dear Christine,
When it comes to shots and needles, I dare say there isn’t a being on the planet that would jump up and down and say “pick me!” In the case of paranoid prey animals like horses who are already on the ready for the worst that might happen, the key is providing them with a frame of body that will literally create an endorphin-flowing frame of mind. This will enable them to cope with and over time dissolve the anxiety of such a potentially stressful experience.

Research shows that a horse’s memory is second only to the elephant’s. As horses are very pattern-oriented, they will replay the tapes of related life experiences, both good and bad, to determine how they should feel about a given situation. There is no question the feeling of a needle in skin is less than savory and can never be made such. Receiving a lollypop to ease the mind after the fact may work on humans, but as horses stay very much in the moment it is the moment that matters, not the moments afterwards.
The ultimate feel-good shape physiologically for any horse is standing square, with a full bend and drop of their topline. With their back stretched out and their head down low, a steady stream of endorphins (think valium) flows through their spinal column and to their brain. It “blisses” them out to the point they literally feel all is right with the world at that moment. When you feel a horse in this posture, you will feel everything in their body let go. The brace disappears, they blink, lick and blow. They even yawn from the release of any anxiety. When you have a horse wrapped around you in this posture you will know it is indeed making them feel good, and they will attribute this to you, which is critical.
To get them there, however, is the trick, as it requires full awareness and attention to your own bedside manner. You will need to multitask, be consistent, have lots of patience, compassion and, I dare say, stubbornness in some instances! Here’s what you do.
Should your horse have a peaceful stall and barn, one in which your horse is comfortable, this will let you encourage them to focus on you and not external distractions. Keep your body bent away from your horse’s head and remember to breathe deeply. Stay calm and as zen-like as possible; you are moving around your horse in a way that can be viewed as an invasion of their space and potentially claustrophobic.
Quietly walk up to the left shoulder. Should your horse counterbend (look out to the right, throwing his barrel towards you), gently touch the girth area while making sure your core is folded off and away from his head. He should then willingly bring his head back around toward you.
Don’t beat yourself up if you have a horse that is head-shy by virtue of the fact that people’s cores have forever been up and on their heads and faces - a fact that horses find so rude and offensive they generally turn away from us in pure defense. Until you learn that their language dictates this as only a “bully” position, truly everyone is guilty of this.
When you learn to keep your “push” (i.e. center of your body) aimed at the body of the horse (shoulders back to hind end) rather than the head, they can begin to count on and trust this awareness from you. Only then will they be willing to bring you their head and relax without stress. This is a very big first step, and you should be willing to give it as much time as necessary for them to see that you are truly consistent and dependable. Thus having earned the right to ask for and receive their head (see photo #1).
Remember to use gentle pressure to the girth, not jabbing or hard. Too much may cause them to come around with aggression due to the uncertainty of whether or not you will be open to their head coming around to you, rather than being inadvertently pushed away by inappropriate body language.
Once your horse feels safe with its head wrapped around you – not up, out and away from you – you can then cup the side of the head with your left hand, holding it across the bridge of the nose, while your right hand slides down the topline. Try to prevent yourself from pulling the head towards you. If your horse feels like your body language is not allowing for comfort with its head toward you, ask from the girth button to bring the head back to you, not by pulling the head toward you with the left hand on the bridge of the nose. I assure you, as soon as he feels this pull, he will initiate a knee-jerk reaction to turn his head out and away from you. Then you’ll be starting over.
You can flex the head and neck down and in (around you) by kneading it back and forth as you encourage it to relax and drop (see photo #2). These motions should be slow and gentle. You need to make sure your body stays folded away from the head as you ask. Once you sculpt your horse into this position, just breathe and relax yourself and hold it. It won’t take long before your horse realizes this position feels really good and you’ll feel him relax into it. When you feel this, drop your hands and see how long he holds it himself. If he brings his head up and out again, and they are bound to do this, from habit if nothing else, gently ask again. In just a few repetitions, your horse will realize that given a choice, feeling good (dropped and down) feels so much better than bad (up and out) and will choose the first (see photo #3).
Once your horse understands that you know how to give it this “blissful feeling,” he will look to your hand as an answer to his craving. On his own he knows he gets himself “worked up” and “bent out of shape,” but your hands and presence always soothe him and remind him to stay relaxed. These are the moments your horse remembers, and it is why he will start to choose to be with you rather than other horses. It’s not magic. To a horse, it just makes perfect sense.
When your horse knows you are there to make him feel good, all the time you are with him, it will shift his mindset and he will start to relinquish his fears. He will begin to make a conscious decision to trust your ability to keep him safe and comfortable. And even in the face of such distasteful events as vets and needles. When he knows you are there for him - that you know how to give him what he needs - he will try to work through his fears and anxieties. Horses will always have their “moments,” but with the shepherding of a truly benevolent caretaker, their frame of body can truly transform their frame of mind.