Teach Your Horse to Take Oral Medicine Willingly

If you've been looking after your horses at home for any length of time, you've probably experienced this scenario or something similar to it.

You hide the tube of de-wormer, Omeprizol, clenbutoral, bute, or some other medication that must be given orally through a syringe.   You put on your horse's halter, stroke his neck and speak softly to him.  But as soon as you pull out the syringe, your horse does his best imitation of a giraffe or pulls away from you and hides his head in the corner of his stall.

If you manage to get the syringe in his mouth, you both end up wearing more of the liquid than ends up in his mouth.  Did he get enough?  Should you try to give him another dose?

Here's a tip to get your horse to willingly take his medicine.  Every day, give him something tasty from a syringe.  Apple sauce, apple juice  or molasses all work well.  If something he likes comes out of that tube, you'll have a hard time stopping him from taking it.

If the problem is with de-wormer, then he'll be getting the yummy treat everyday for 3 months or more before he gets the nasty tasting stuff.  He'll remember the good experience in the long run.

I once had to give a very young foal oral medication - twice a day for several days.  She was only a few days old when it started.   As young as she was, she was not halter broke and she was feisty.   She was not opposed to using her hooves - front or back - to defend herself.  I needed to find a way to make this process easy for both of us.  She had ulcers so adding stress to her life was definitely not helpful.  She also was very accurate with her little hooves and I didn't need to deal with that stress - or potential injury.  Cute little baby hooves are very sharp and pack a powerful punch.

I put some molasses in the syringe making sure there was some on the outside.  After introducing her to the irresistible taste of molasses from my finger, I offered her the syringe.  Yummy!! She took it all and was looking for more.  So, I layered molasses, medicine, molasses in the syringe.  Every day, twice a day she eagerly took the syringe - I didn't have to hold or restrain her in any way.  Easy peasy.

If your horse has a metabolic disorder that is adversely affected by sugar than you might want to replace the molasses with another yummy treat like home made apple sauce (just cook the apples without adding any sugar).

What tips do you have for getting your horse to willingly take nasty tasting stuff from a syringe?   What other creative treats would you put in an oral syringe?  Share your ideas in the comments.

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