How Do I Get My Horse to Behave for the Veterinarian?

I bought a 7-year-old Arabian mare that was supposed to be good for the veterinarian, farrier, etc. Not! She is very difficult to give shots to. Do you have any tips on how to get her to accept shots better?
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How Do I Get My Horse to Behave for the Veterinarian?
The most important thing you can teach your horse is to stand still and allow people (such as the farrier or veterinarian) to handle her and work on any part of her body and for any amount of time. | Photo: Anne M. Eberhardt/The Horse
Q. I bought a 7-year-old Arabian mare that was supposed to be good for the veterinarian, farrier, etc. Not! She is very difficult to give shots to. Do you have any tips on how to get her to accept shots better?

Rachel Toombs, via email


A. Your question raises a couple of other questions in my mind, and I wish I had a little more information! Other than for shots, does she have good ground manners? Does she behave when being led? Standing in the cross-ties? At meal time?

For the sake of argument, I am going to assume that your mare needs some remedial work on manners. This might be the time to enlist help from a trainer as “unlearning” bad habits is always more challenging than learning the right ones from the beginning. There are also resources available such as books and articles written by horsemen and women who have had great success working with horses

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