Tired of having your horse’s nose up in the air as your dewormer paste drops all over the ground? Follow these five easy steps to make deworming easy for you and your horse:
1. Halter your horse and stand facing him off to the side.
2. Gently rub the corner of your horse’s mouth with your fingers or palm. Follow your horse’s nose if it goes up in the air, keeping your hand as close to the mouth as you possibly can. Release only when your horse drops his head back down, even just the tiniest bit. Continue this exercise until you can rub both corners of your horse’s mouth with your hand and your horse does not react.
3. Take an old dewormer tube (or a new one with the cap on) and rub the end/base of the tube on the corner of your horse’s mouth just like you did with your hand. Follow the same release measures as you did with your hand during Step 2. Continue this exercise until your horse does not react.
4. Next, insert the still-capped tip into your horse’s mouth. As soon as he opens his mouth, remove the tube. Repeat at least three times on each side, or until your horse does not react.
5. Consider using calming remedies if your horse remains overly anxious.
The key is not to make a big fuss about deworming. By preparing your horse with your hand and the old tube you’ve shown him this is no big deal.
Holistic tip : It’s best to have fecal counts done on your horse prior to deworming to ensure you use the correct product and if your horse really needs to be dewormed.
-- Kim Baker, KB Natural Horsemanship, 303-981-2127, kim@kbnaturalhorsemanship.com , www.kbnaturalhorsemanship.com