Not mini horse related, but big horse related

[Ferrah]

My leased 22 year old QH/Arab mare has had a terrible fear of plastic bags (or anything plastic sounding for that matter). She has had this fear for as long as I can remember (at least 5 years.) She has already broken at least five halters and six leadropes because of this problem. All the boarders at the stable I board at will yell "watch for plastic Ferrah is coming!" when they see that I am bringing Ferrah into the ring, then everyone knows not to bring out plastic or throw a blanket on a horse. As you can imagine putting a blanket on Ferrah can take me as long as half an hour.

I have tried to get her over this fear for the last five years. I would try to get her used to the plastic by rubbing her with a short stick which is her "happy" stick, until I could touch her any part of her body. Then I would put the plastic on the short crop and try to touch her with it and she would just flip out every time. I tried trying to calm her and use this method for months. I would even go all the way to other side of the arena and wait until she was comfortable and use the retreat method, as soon as she was uncomfortable I would go back to where she was comfortabe. Basically I stood on the far side of the arena for two months.

I am out of ideas now! I have tried putting the plastic on a longer crop and tying her up and just touching her with it, but she just ends up breaking a leadrope or a halter. Even twitching her doesn't seem to work. She will stand still for awhile but she will suddenly 'explode' and rear up to get away. I have alos tried feeding her treats of of plastic and tried to get her to associate plastic with treats, I tried that 5 days a week for a few months too with no improvement.

I am just about out of ideas! What could have caused her such a fear of plastic? Is this just a quirk I will have to learn to live with?

 

[Marty]

OH get over yourself Ferrah! lol

My best guess is that she is flat out goosey as sin and also hates the noise of it.

I would definately also suspect that the horse's real problem is that she knows she can rear and haul back and bust ropes on you and she is just using the old "scared of the plastic trick" to throw you off to be a weenie. Betcha she just doesn't like to be tied. Ya think? But I'd find out for sure:

I don't like my last ditch effort idea a whole lot but it would most likely work. I'd tranquilizer her and then do whatever you wanted with her. You could give her a tiny shot of ACE to calm her down or some of that herbal stuff, which I don't have a lot of faith in. But all in all I would say that she needs something to calm her down while you sack her out once and for all.

I had a horse that absolutely would rear and strike out and paw over clippers every single time and this horse was flat out big and dangerous about it. Twitching didn't even touch his problems and this went on and on. Finally I gave him some Ace, just enough to take the edge off and got that puppy clipped up. It took about 4 times at different intervals but after that, he was a whole lot better.

And before anyone wants to slam me for it, no I am certainly not one for drugging a horse unless I'm desperate and it's him or me.

 

[Ferrah]

I'm not so sure thet tying is her problem. She will stand quietly for hours on end as long as there is no plastic around, as soon as she hears plastic she gets jumpy. She will also not haul back on the rope when I do other things she doesn't like, like touching her mane (she hates this but will not react violently) and clipping, she hated clipping at first, but never once pulled back....so I'm not sure if tying is the problem.

I think I may have to resort to more desperate measures because she is getting pretty dangerous about this, when we go for trail rides I wam always on plastic alert! Once on a very long all day ride she saw and heard plastic on a fence and reared up, spun around on her hind legs and high tailed t in the opposite direction. I did get her turned around and got her to walk past the plastic, but it was a struggle!

Maybe I am not using one method for a long enough period of time? Is 22 years old too old to learn that plastic is no her enemy?

 

[~LadyBug~]

I agree with Marty. Unfortunately such a fear of such a common thing is a hazzard to you, her and other people/horses around her.

You can buy a vial of AcePromazine Maleate from most country vets, if you explain what you are going to use it for. Ace can be given Intravenously, Intramuscularly, Subcutaneously, or even orally. IV is the fastest method but I dont reccomend it unless you are trained in this. My next choice would be IM, but again you need to know what you are doing. If not just shove it right under the skin, you will just be waiting a little longer for results.

Check with your vet on the dosing for your horse's weight, and remember you dont want to put her on the ground, just get her nice and lazy, because if she is not concious enough, she will forget the whole experience

once she is tranqued, gather all the plastic you can find and do absolutely everything you can with it. rub her all over with it, make noise with it, throw it, flap it, roll in it

Good Luck!! and no 22 is not too old for her to learn something!!

Ashley

 

[Nickermaker]

I've had horses that have had issues with plastic bags also. What I do is tie plastic bags around on the fence in the corral. I tie them by the water tanks, and by the feeders also. I do not try to restrain the horse just let them be lose in the corral with all these plastic bags hanging around. And if there happens to be a breeze that is all the better - I do have one corner that does not have any bags - this is their "happy zone" in case the breeze blowing the bags is too much for them. But they do get used to them this way, then I work on working with them on plastic with a halter and lead rope. They actually get so used to the bags tied around that they will start ripping them off and actually sack themselves out with them without any help from me.

 

[keeperofthehorses]

My big goofy paint horse gelding has Nylonoia. I found this out the hard way when I bought him an expensive custom nylon-lined winter blanket. What a mess. Stitches to the horse and the blanket. Dang near killed us all. This fear extended to my nylon jackets, saddle covers, garden flags, you name it. He would get downright dangerous around anything made of nylon.

Anyway, at the time I had a wonderful dressage trainer. She helped me do some work with him in the round pen. Within a few days I was able to blanket him by myself again, and he was not bothered by wearing it at all. If you have a friend nearby with experience with this, maybe it could help. I was amazed at the results. Guy & I both were helped so much from my trainer's guidance. Guy gets a couple refresher sessions at the beginning of each blanket season. I do this myself now, but I never would have started without someone with a lot of experience.

I've also tied the plastic shopping bags to fences to keep my horses off of them when the hot box needs repaired, and that also helps to dispell their fear of plastic, as they eventually end up removing them.

Good luck with your mare.

 

[shminifancier]

Ah yes I remember training a Welsh pony for a friend because that pony was sooo afraid of things like that... And after a little over an hour not only did I have a big sheet of plastic draped over his back, but He was following me around like a puppy Dog

And all I used was the training technique called Round Pen reasoning taught by John Lyons... After all the stable I was at in AZ. the Lady that owned the place taught John

So I had seen it done day in and day out

Cool....

 

[Marty]

I am a round pen person but not at this time as of yet.

This horse is just way too freaky and she might nail somebody bad and soon. She needs to be desensitized and learn how to relax first before put in a round pen in my humble opinion. Let us never forget that a horse that is this goosey to the touch, and acts this way will flee. If locked in a round pen at this time to be worked with or sacked out, once she realizes she is trapped in there, she could easily panic and go bonkers and bust out of there and tear herself up. No fun to be stuck in a round pen with a horse that's freaking out, trust me.

You can try equine massage to get the edge off. Linda Tellington Jones had a video if you believe in that stuff. I do, to a point. Can't hurt. You can also try acupuncture as well. But the person that does it better be an expert. That does work in my humble opinion on a multitude of things.

When I say to give her some ace for your protection as well as to calm her down I'm only suggesting like half a dose to make her workable without you getting nailed. A full dose would probably be 10 cc for her. I'm thinking like only like half and see where it gets you. It buys you some time to work with the horse without them trying to murder you. But by all means discuss this with your vet and get his input. As I said I am not into drugging no horse if it can be avoided, so please don't nobody get the idea that I do this as a pastime because I certainly do not.

Now there is another little something that I have to keep here for when Sonny has freak out on a couple of occasions due to hunters. He's had a couple of bad episodes that have run him through gates and fences and had him messed up mentally for days where I couldn't get near him so I have used it for his own protection from hurting himself. It's called "resurpine" ......Often used on high strung horses or race horses that have totally lost it and become unmanageable. . The horse absolutely does not get any kind of drugged or in a stuper, or horse zombie at all. I never did understand how it works exactly so ask your vet about this. Ask your vet about the whole thing actually. He may want to run a blood test........or a CT scan lol........

Last but not least, contact also Heather from Mulligan's run. She messes around with herbal remedys that might suit your fancy.

DISCLAIMER TO LURKING JERKS THAT ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE ON THIS FORUM : I am by no means giving out veternary advice. These are only suggestions that I am throwing out there to help with training tips.

 

[MiniHGal]

I would second the plastic bags on the fence....depending on the size of her 'area', I would start small--1-2 bags--so that she isn't totally overfaced and decides to leave. Do you have any info from old owners? It almost sounds like a 'man-made' fear(got hurt or stuck in it or something)....maybe someone has some imput.

Fascination also hates bags, but she'll go past them....just eyes them very warily. I could imagine her coming like your mare if she got 'caught' by plastic at some point.

 

[Jill]

Can you staple one in her stall, or above the fence where her feeder is if she eats outside, so she has to touch it a little to get her food?

I question at her age if you can really make a difference at this point...

If it helps, I can tell you my own Derby is a very brave and laid back horse. The only thing I know that he is afraid of would be plastic bags. Rumor has it "my" Sunny is also afraid of them and he sounds like he's a laid back, brave boy, too, except when it comes to bags.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

This mare has actually sensitised you to plastic, now you have to desensitise her

She has taught you to look out for the stuff and to avoid it, and by the sounds of it, taught the whole barn as well!! Put the bag up in her stall, but not over her feed, not at first, put it somewhere neutral so she can freak out in peace, but still eat!! Then move it - every day- so it is a "new" bag. End up with it over her feed area . Once she will take that put it on the floor, so she must walk over it it get out etc- you think of stuff

I think she is having "flashbacks" Was she a Show Horse????? If so, the original occurrence may have had nothing to do with a plastic bag, there may just have been one there and that is what has stuck in her mind, which is going to make it hard to dislodge. I tend to agree with Marty about tranking her- but I would use tablets as they take longer to wear on and off and remember- if this is a "flashback" it could be the result of drugs in the first place so be prepared for her getting freakier and having to think of another way of doing it. I would look at some of the "fashionable " ways, there are bits and pieces you can pull form each one that may be of use. Good Luck

 

[~LadyBug~]

Equine massage would work well WITH the ace to help calm her down. I am a certified Equine Sports Massage Therapist (ESMT)

PM me if you have any questions i can give you some tips!

 

[Lisa-Ruff N Tuff Minis]

I've had horses that have had issues with plastic bags also.  What I do is tie plastic bags around on the fence in the corral.  I tie them by the water tanks, and by the feeders also.  I do not try to restrain the horse just let them be lose in the corral with all these plastic bags hanging around.  And if there happens to be a breeze that is all the better - I do have one corner that does not have any bags - this is their "happy zone" in case the breeze blowing the bags is too much for them.  But they do get used to them this way, then I work on working with them on plastic with a halter and lead rope.  They actually get so used to the bags tied around that they will start ripping them off and actually sack themselves out with them without any help from me.

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this is what I have done and it worked great. I have a very neurotic 20 year old T/B and he gets like this over things some he really wasnt afraid of 6 months ago.. I just go with the put it everywhere he will want to go like feed and water and in his case his favorite cribbing spots and he will get over himself after it is just there 24/7 and keep adding more and more crazy stuff as she gets used to things slowly just dont do much at once a couple bags tied to a rail in her stall and then go from there

make sure she is in a large pen so she has room to get away from the death bag without hurting herself..

I personally would be VERY careful about using drugs on a older horse for something like this but that is JMO

 

[Miniv]

I don't think drugs are the answer either. It doesn't solve her fear (which I feel is man-made too) and you sure can't keep her drugged all the time!

Desensitizing is probably the way to go and you've received some great suggestions about it.....either in a round pen or a stall.....

One thing I would warn about is using a BAG that isn't torn open. A horse is like a 2 year old human child with all the trouble they can get into and could suffocate themselves with it.

Keep us informed on your project, okay?

MA