I need some advice

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Jodie M

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I hope this it is alright to post here! I figured since you all deal with horses who have been rescued you might be able to give me some advice.

background info on the horse:

He is about 14 hh, gelded and has been handled lots. He got tangled in a straight wire fence and did major damage to his back legs. He completely severed the extensor tendon in his right back leg and has nasty lacerations on both back legs. He was treated by a vet, stitched, bandaged (right leg splinted also). Currently he is on antibiotic injections twice a day, powdered bute and has to have a topical antibiotic on once a day when I change his bandages. He is on stall confinement for 1 to 3 months and his worst leg will be splinted for up to 3 months depending on his healing process. He has been at my house since late in the evening of the 24th. So not only is he having to deal with the pain of his injuries and having his bandages changed and having needles twice a day but he is also adjusting to a new home, new people, new horses etc etc.

I need advice on the best way to handle building trust with him as I am the one who is hurting him by giving needles and changing his bandages. I have noticed that even in the couple of days he has been here he is getting friskier everytime I have to do something to him. I am worried he is going to kick me, partly because it's going to hurt him and partly because it's going to hurt me. Tonight I had a heck of a time getting his shot into him (in the butt). He was starting to kick out but more as a warning. I finally gave up and gave it to him in his neck (which I have never done before).

How is he ever going to trust me when I keep hurting him?

Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer!

~Jodie~
 
You need to spend time with him other then giving the shots and changing the dressing. Brushing him, talking to him and just being around him. What happens is they learn to enjoy being with you and look forward to seeing you EXCEPT they do learn very fast what time the shots are given and the dressing changed. You would think that you could fool them but they are smart. Some horses will come right up to you to be loved on and then at shot time even if you have no shot with you, you will not get within a hundred yards of them.

Not much you can do. Other then letting him know kicking is unacceptable. A give a treat right after shots and bandages if he was good.
 
EXCELLANT advice by Wee!!! Exactly what i was going to say. BE SURE you dont only go to him to give shots!!! otherwise you are definately associated with the cause of the pain. I feel so bad for him!! Bless you for taking him in.
 
Do you have someone else that you trust that could give him the shots and change the bandages while you are the one that pets him and comforts him during the process? Then you are the "good guy" and the "friend" in the process not the meanie. My vet always comments on how calm and gentle our big horses are when getting shots, blood drawn, etc. Reverse psychology in action. They are not much of a fan of her though. I also recommend spending as much time as possible just hanging out with him. Treats, talking, grooming..even just hanging out with him on a long lead rope munching grass while you read a book or just sit and enjoy the sunshine. I've done that before and the horse will graze in circles around me and once in a while will come over and nuzzle me or look for a scratch behind the ears.
 
Thank you!

I have been spending a lot of time with him and he has been getting lots of attention from my kids (teens) as well. He is in a temp stall for the moment because we had one day notice about his situation....the owner's husband was going to shoot him
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I just couldn't leave him there! We are building him a permanent stall right now. Thankfully he is only about 20 ft away so I can sneek over to love him up often. But I guess it may take more than the average amount of time to build trust with him since he has been through so much in such a short period of time. He only has 4 more days of shots then will be switched over to oral antibiotics...that should ease his stress somewhat.

Thanks again for your input...I do appreciate it!

~Jodie~
 
This sounds so much like a gelding my friend rescued and I helped her rehab. I want to give you a little background first....he was pastured on about 50 acres with a herd of mares and a stallion at an Arab breeder (I use this term very loosely) he was a gorgeous well bred arab blood bay and walking on 3 legs my friend noticed him and that his leg was sliced open from hock to heel and very nasty looking....she asked the "breeder" about him and she said oh him he is worthless as he is a gelding..my friend metioned that he needed the leg looked at by a vet and the "breeder" said naw he isn't worth putting any money into ....in the end my friend called me I called someone with a trailer and we went and picked him up and brought him home. Had the vet out debrided the leg wrapped it we did a antibiotics for 7 days then unwrapped the leg and had to scrub it twice daily and cold hose it for 15 minutes twice daily....this went on for quite some time but he healed up and had barely a limp (his tendon had also been severed) while he was healing we ended up naming him "pogo" cuz that horse could zip around pretty good on 3 legs
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The kids loved on him and brushed him and took him carrots everyone adored "pogo" that met him Once he was healed we started ponying the kids around on him and he thought he was a king and paraded about head held high and tail up....I never should have let my friend sell him BUT she did to a wonderful family with his very own kids to raise..last I heard they were showing him some and loving him to pieces.

Not sure if this helps you at all but your rescue reminded me of this one
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I have done so many rescues over the years but this horse has always stuck with me he was so appreciative of just being cared about.....and someone else was going to just throw him away
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He is associating you with "bad things that hurt me"

He has no way to figure out that all these shots and changing dressings are actually helping him to get well. All he knows is that you hurt him all the time......

this is a tuff one. I've been there plenty of times.

IF you can get someone to help you, I'd have someone in the front, feeding him treats, carrots or feed while you change those bandages on the back legs. He's probably wanting to kick you because those wounds are hurting him so bad.

Just like if you were hurt, and the doctor has to look and you are saying "don't touch it, it hurts"......same thing.....

If you don't have any one that can help you....sorry to say, but while you are underneath him changing his bandages, you should probably put a twitch on him., if you really think you are going to get kicked...atleast that will keep his mind on his nose not on clobbereing you back there..

also while doing his shots, can you just tie him up where he eats and give him some feed in his bucket?

I'd try to reverse his opinion of you best I could and get him to associate you with good things too, not just shots. Bring him carrot treats, brush him and love him, talk gently too him and sympathize with him. But horses really respond with a possitive attitude with something good to eat while you have to do the dirty work.
 

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