Fly spray

[Marsha Cassada]

I've had Scout about 10 days now. I can tell he is feeling more comfortable here, as he is starting to get bossy with me. He was gelded last Tuesday but he is about 11, so I can't expect too much cooperation yet, I suppose.

Flies haven't really been a problem, yet, so I haven't forced the spray issue. But twice now I've tried to spritz him and he came unglued. I hate the thought of him getting into a habit of jerking back on the halter with the whites of his eyes showing, and also holding him with one hand to spritz with the other can be a little dangerous.

I've thought I might try holding him in the round pen, when he jerks at the spritz, let go and do some work. Every time he stops I spritz again. Hopefully he will see that he can flee from it and it really isn't going to hurt him.

What are some techniques to try on this older, unsocialized boy?

Marsha

 

[chandab]

Have you tried hosing him off like you would to give a bath? Sometimes it helps to start that way, and then you are just using water not wasting fly spray on misses. That way you could slowly work from his legs up. Just a thought.

 

[targetsmom]

When we got our first mini, Cowboy, his reaction to fly spray was a lot like Scout's. People told us to just spray him and let him deal with it. That might work for some but it DID NOT work for Cowboy. We have had him for 5 years now and he is still afraid of any sprays. Yes, he is better, but with him it is a big trust thing, and we lost some of his trust trying to force the issue. He has been a challenge in other areas too, but has also been shown quite successfully by handlers that he trusts. Even in trail!!!

Try spraying some on a cloth and putting it on that way.

 

[krissy3]

I have 2 that hate the spray , and 2 that are great. With the 2 problem ponys, I used a very soft mister, you pump it up and then hold down the button , and it lets a quiet fine mist that you can hardly feel. Ask your hairdresser for one , or go to a Beauty supply. If you cant find one just use a quiet and soft spray bottle. Start with water first , no smell , and no sting if it gets in a cut or eyes of the horse. A lot of it is the smell of the stuff. Ok, so hold , or have someone else hold the horse talk calmly show the bottle , spray it away from the horse so he hears the sound , get your hand wet and touch his leg, so it is already wet, keep telling him EASY, Its OK, GOOD BOY, then when he is calm enough when you touch him with wet hands , then maybe give him just the smallest squirt on the leg, do it until he stops wiggeling , once he stops wiggeling stop as his reward , do it a few times , and stop for the day . Thats why its good the have the pump up kind of spray bottle , so you dont have to keep pressing it and making that noise. This worked for my horses in the past ... but something calm , slow and gentile workes for those nervious wrecks.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

I will try the water on the legs and look for a mister. I do rub it around his eyes with my hand and he is fine with that. I'm sure I could put it on his legs that way, too, perhaps even using a cloth instead of my hand.

He is also a long way from wearing a fly mask--the sound of velcro sends him into outer space.

 

[Lacie]

Ooo super sensitive horses are fun! I would fill a spray bottle (assuming you're using pump, and not aerosol) with water, and spray it away from his body. Just keep spraying it until he stops moving. Afterall, you shouldn't be getting him wet yet. (this might work better after a really good workout!) And when he's still, or even halfway better.. Just stop and let him chill. Just keep repeating this until he doesn't move, and get gradually closer to him. If he stands still, get closer until he moves, and try to keep that distance until he stops. Eventually, you should be able to just spray him and he should halfway accept it.

My paint was so bad with flyspray at first, we'd butt him up against a wall... He still doesn't like it a whole bunch, but he's tons better. You can actually stand him in the aisle and he's still..ish. Then eventually, you could attempt aerosol if that's your choice.

 

[love_casper]

Oooh ooh I know I know!!!

I have had countless horses afraid of flyspray, both my own minis, and many big horses at the barn I board at. Approach and retreat is nice, but the key with an unconfident horse is actually retreat retreat retreat!

So what I do is fill a spray bottle (preferable one that doesn't make that much noise) with just water. Get your horse on the end of a leadrope, preferable a rather long one so that he can drift if he wants to - the last thing you want is for a scared horse to feel trapped. Let him get as far from you as he wants to, don't make him follow you. Start spraying the bottle AWAY from him, as you walk away. This way he gets desensitised to the spraying without having any pressure on him. Keep walking away until HE starts putting more slack in the line and approaching the bottle himself. Might take 3 minutes, might take and hour, but take the time it takes and it'll take less time. Once he is comfortable with the water spraying away from him, repeat while facing him. But don't spray him quite yet, just spray the area around him. Face him, walk backwards, and spray say... the ground... with all your energy focused at the ground so he doesn't think you are trying to hurt him... in fact if he's still unconfident I wouldn't even make eye contact with him. So keep walking away while spraying the ground and facing him until he puts more slack in the line and approaches it. When he can accept you spraying the ground while he is close enough for you to touch him, then you can try spraying him. What I would do is when he is fully confident and standing next to you on a loose lead, don't look at him, but spray his withers ONCE (withers are generally places where pray animals feel more confident, rather than those sensitive little legs) and then immediately walk away, before even waiting for a response. He might run sideways, snort, jump invisible objects... doesn't matter, just retreat before he can respond negatively. Some people might think that leaving when he acts like this would "teach" him to respond negatively, but in fact it's actually the opposite - continuing to spray him while he's unconfident will actually make it worse. The idea is NOT "do it until he puts up with it" it is "get him so he WANTS it." Walk away, spray withers once, retreat. If and when he can stand calmly on a loose lead while you spray his withers once, then try spraying twice and then retreating. See if you can walk backwards away from him, have him follow you while spraying him on his shoulder, withers, hip, somewhere where he is confident. You get the pattern.... find threshholds, retreat from them until he is confident to move on. Instead of making him "deal with it" get him to naturally accept it.

I am definitely not a trainer, but this has worked really well for me and the scaredy cat horses that I have dealt with.

Good luck!

 

[Charlotte]

First teach ground manners! Rock solid ground manners! With rock solid whoa!

Ok, so you need to spray to work on ground manners? Start in stall or some small area that the horse is used to being in and where he feels secure.

Spray bottle of water. Horse on halter with one side near a wall. Give a little fine mist of spray as far away from the horse as your arm is long. Spray away from the horse. Don't even think of spraying him untill he is calm about the spray. Do several times then give treat and turn loose. 30 minutes later do again. As often as you can practice.....for 1-2 minutes each time. Also spend time brushing all over with soft brush.....horse tied. As horse gets used to spray move closer and finally aim at his shoulder.

Good luck with him. I have a freaky yearling filly that will always be a bit jumpy about things, but she will stand for sprays now.

Charlotte