Got up at 5.30 a.m. this morning to make sure that I had time to catch Anna before Matt the farrier turned up and to ensure that she got her feet done before I go away on holiday. It's been almost three months since I saw her last and I was absolutely delighted when she walked up to me and asked me to catch her. That has never happened before and indicates a really significant change in her attitude to people. It also meant that she had time for a grooming session and a healing session from Karen before Matt arrived. She scored ten out of ten for her behaviour with him too.
Next it was back to the Forest to work with a seven year old Thoroughbred eventer that objects to being injected by rearing and running backwards. The vet has indicated that she wants to twitch the horse the next time she comes. Within an hour of my arrival, and with front feet not even coming a millimetre off the floor in unison, this horse had been mock injected by me, M, Mum and Dad on every part of his neck and back whilst loose in the school and then in the stable in exchange for a click and a treat every time. We imitated the vet as far as we possibly could by waling directly up to the horse in an efficient manner, taking hold of the head-collar, looking him directly in the eye and pressing really hard with the needle-less syringe in both an intra-muscular and intra-venous position. With practise, which for them will include wearing something that smells of a vet (i.e. of anaesthetic) and over six months to go before the next annual vaccination is due, they should hopefully be able to convince the horse that the real thing is just a 'bad one' and carry on as normal.
Almost before I got home I received this email from S's owner: "I just want to say a huge thank you for your work with Splodge today. For me, the most amazing aspect was his reaction to you in the first few minutes of going in to his stable - with any other stranger he would have at least moved back and been wary, or even hidden in a corner while assessing your intention - his reaction told me a lot about both him and you.
I know there is no certainty that he will accept the vet next time, but at least we understand what we can do to try and help him.Many, many thanks again for today, Meg, Simon and I were incredibly impressed with your approach and understanding - you are a real breath of fresh air."SV
