Worming
I have devised a little trick that even the toughest of horses who people claim cannot be wormed can be very quickly and calmly. All you need is a carrot, apple etc and the wormer. No halter and lead rope and no yard is needed. My philosophy behind this is not to restrain or make the horse feel stuck in any way. A wide open space is also a safer place to work with a horse that has tendencies to become upset and fight.
So to begin walk out into the paddock and feed the horse a couple of carrots and give them a pat as you normally would. Then run your hand down their face and place your finger inside the corner of their mouth. (Horses have a gap from their front teeth to their back, this is the bars of the mouth where the bit sits, so you can’t get bitten there). If the horse reacts and pulls back stop immediately and wait until they stop then start again by running your hand down their face and once more place your finger gently inside the corner of their mouth. Repeat this until the horse is used to it. Then repeat the process but this time have your other hand gently holding their nose.
Then show the horse a carrot/ piece of apple and repeat the steps of running your hand down their face but this time placing the carrot inside their mouth. Once again any reaction then stop straight away. Show the horse the carrot again and repeat the process. Once the horse realizes that it’s a juicy carrot going in the corner of their mouth they will probably be happy to except it. Repeat this a couple of times. Then on the final time instead of letting the horse eat the carrot pull it back out. Now you have the horse anticipating another treat.
Now the trick is to have the wormer hidden from the horse in your hand and as you reach the corner of their mouth instead of a carrot going in, place the wormer inside and depress the plunger. (Always make sure that the wormer goes onto the rear of the tongue and not on the inside of their cheeks. Wormers have active ingredients in them that can irritate a horse’s mouth. Also depress reasonably quickly, ensuing the marker on the worming paste is at the approx weight setting for your horse). Before the horse realizes what’s happened and even thinks about reacting, the jobs done. However this is the time the horse may pull away, let them and then reproach them and give them a pat. As wormers are not the most pleasant tasting things the horse may not be interested in any more treats for awhile.
Even when not worming a horse this method can be used so they’re used to having their mouths handled. Then when worming time comes the job is already easy to do.
It seems a bit mean, considering your trying to build trust with a horse, to use black mail like this but it is such an easy and non aggressive way to worm a horse. And I can honestly say I’ve never come across a horse that I couldn’t worm using this method. It is also a safer way as the horse has no time to get worked up and put up a fight.
It is also recommended that horses not be worked the next day after worming as the ingredients in the wormer may upset the horses stomach and may make being ridden uncomfortable for them. Especially to avoid the risk of colic it’s a good idea to give them a day off.
Another good plan is to worm all horses on the same property at the same time. Then hopefully all worms will be expelled at the same time and there’s less chance that the horses will pick up each others worms as the ingredients in the wormer should stay active for a couple of days until the worms in the manure die.
Cheers Elizabeth
I bought a 4yr old thoroughbred 5 days ago, and i wormed him today. He was practically impossible and it got quite messy, he’d keep moving his head, throw it up and around, and the whites would show in his eyes. He wont eat carrots or apples, just sniffs them and looks away. He’s not fussed on having his mouth played with. Should i keep trying to touch his mouth so he gets used to it? What can i do so he’ll be used to getting wormed?
Hi Kelly,
Yes I would persist with handling his mouth. He doesn’t know and trust you as yet so I’d keep patting him and then holding his nose gently and touching his mouth. If he pulls back let him go and then repeat. Once a horse learns to get out of something by playing up such as tossing their head etc they’ll keep trying it. So if you persist with him he’ll soon learn he can’t get away with it. What’s he like to bridle. Can you hold his nose and put the bit in ok? Being a race horse the poor thing has probably never had a carrot or apple before. When he gets to know you and trust you a little I bet he’ll change his mind about them haha!
It’s good you’ve got a little time now until the next wormer is due to keep handling him so he’s used to having his mouth played with etc. You never know what background a horse comes from and what experiences they’ve had.
I’m not sure about a horse getting used to being wormed. I accidentally wiped my mouth once after worming my horses and it’s vile tasting stuff haha! There are flavoured wormers available now but I haven’t used them as yet.
I guess it’s just discipline and respect that a horse will stand quietly for you, also a horse’s personality plays a huge part in what they will and wont do. That’s why I out smart a difficult horse by not letting them know a wormers coming until it’s too late.
Hope this has helped and good luck,
Feel free to write again or you can email me at: info@theoutbackhoof.com
Cheers Elizabeth