Went out this morning and saw the quills in Hawk's nose. I called a neighbor to come and help me, as my husband had already left for work. Gave him some banamine and then we managed to pull them all out with the needle-nose pliers. Almost every horse I've had since we've lived here has had quills ONCE. Hopefully Hawk learned his lesson and won't get so up close and personal with one again.
I'm thankful I didn't have to take him in for a sedative. What I did was rub the pliers along the soft part his mouth near the quills till he stopped moving, then pulled out a quill quick. I think the tip of the pliers rubbing helped desensitize the area a little. He did rear up after some quills--I suppose they were deeper--but never lost his head. It took a little while but we got them all.
I'm thankful I didn't have to take him in for a sedative. What I did was rub the pliers along the soft part his mouth near the quills till he stopped moving, then pulled out a quill quick. I think the tip of the pliers rubbing helped desensitize the area a little. He did rear up after some quills--I suppose they were deeper--but never lost his head. It took a little while but we got them all.