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Sedation for farrier

woody84

I took on two neglected shetland ponies recently. I need to get a farrier asap but they cant be handled at all. They come to me and eat out of my hand but if I try to go near them with a head collar they go. What can i do or whats on the market to sedate them. Any tips or advice?Cheers

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TheFarrier

It will be difficult to sedate them without catching them.
Best bet is to try and get them into a stable or a horse box or some other confined space to try and corner them till you get a head collar on.

A client of mine used to soak his horses feed in really strong camomile tea before shoeing. It chilled the horse out just enough to make shoeing him bearable. Maybe worth a shot for your situation

woody84

Is there something in a tube like the stuff for worming. Stick in the side of their mouth

HarrietD

woody84 wrote: »

Is there something in a tube like the stuff for worming. Stick in the side of their mouth

Sedalin paste. It is only available from a vets and they won't sell it without seeing the ponies. You would also need to catch them to administer. If you don't have a shed to catch them maybe try to corral by blocking off a corner of the field.

woody84

I have a cattle pen that I can corner them off in. I can catch them by the head sometimes for a few seconds. But I reckon they'd kick if they got the chance

HarrietD

woody84 wrote: »

I have a cattle pen that I can corner them off in. I can catch them by the head sometimes for a few seconds. But I reckon they'd kick if they got the chance

They probably would. Maybe consider getting the vet to come at the same time as the farrier and get them properly sedated so everyone is safe, then keep them in a small area and handle as much as possible so hopefully they will be easier to handle next time for the farrier.

woody84

I'm not used to handling horses. I took these two on because the old lady that had them couldn't look after them. And she didn't want them sent away somewhere

TheFarrier

woody84 wrote: »

Is there something in a tube like the stuff for worming. Stick in the side of their mouth

Sedalin paste will only work if it is administered correctly under the tongue or rubbed into the gums. Useless if swallowed. If you can’t catch them then you will struggle big time to give them sedalin.

woody84

I reckon what Harriet said about getting the vet involved probably the best idea. Also I don't know if they've been chipped or gave passports

TheFarrier

Best of luck with them anyway.

woody84

Cheers mate for the advice

Doctors room ghost

If you have time tighten them up as much as you can.give them only a small area to graze and handle them as much as you can.that should tame them.someone might lend you a battery fence. If they have a lot of space it’s impossible to do anything with them

woody84

They have the run of a field at the minute. They'll run to me as soon as I come into the field but dont like to be touched. Very nervous and jumpy

TheFarrier

Did a few like that for a lad lately.

Pure wild. Ran them into a horse box, 4 of them together, when they were confined like that they couldn’t really kick. Got a rope on them one at a time and tied them up as short as we could, they stopped panicking eventually and we got their feet done. Pure misery of a job

woody84

These two here are surely wild. I doubt they were ever wormed or anything. But they in good condition apart from their hooves. Started to spread out and turn up at the front

Doctors room ghost

woody84 wrote: »

They have the run of a field at the minute. They'll run to me as soon as I come into the field but dont like to be touched. Very nervous and jumpy

Tighten them up and fence them into a corner and give them a bucket of water there.get a bag of horse and pony crunch in the coop and start feeding them a small pinch.as the saying goes youl have them eating out of your hand.the crunch is around 9 euro a bag but it will last ages just use small amount.

woody84

I have been giving them a wee bit of crunch alright and they'll eat bread of me palm. But ill do as you guys been saying and cordon them off

isaos

It's quite normal that they would be jumpy and scared of being caught for a while, especially if you are not used to dealing with horses/ponies, and you might feel a bit nervous yourself! which is totally understandable and probably doesn't help. I really like the idea of camomille tea, (I could try that on one of mines..

), and try showing them that you are perfectly calm and in control (not that easy)

Making them ingest a paste is quite another matter, it can prove difficult even for a seasoned horse owner. If anything it will make things worse if they are not already in control, don't try that yourself. And ponies can be very strong and stubborn! A very small area, a lot of talking and little feeds will go a long way, ideally you would get some help from a nearby equestrian facility?

woody84

I'm thinking that laminitis may be setting in too to make matters worse. I have a vet coming today for a cattle test. I'll get him to take a look and see what he thinks

TheFarrier

If the feet are turning up at the toe and widening at the heels I’d say the laminitis ship has sailed I’m afraid.

If the ponies are not lame currently then there is probably no active laminitis and what you are seein is the damage done by a previous bout of the disease.
Keep there diet and weight under control and you should be fine from here on out.
Restrict grazing and cut out all feed.
If you need to tempt the ponies with something I’d recommend mini horslyx. I use them to distract anxious horses from the evil man holding their feet all the time.

woody84

Vet took a quick look. He said get them and see how they go after that

Billiethepup

TheFarrier wrote: »

Sedalin paste will only work if it is administered correctly under the tongue or rubbed into the gums. Useless if swallowed. If you can’t catch them then you will struggle big time to give them sedalin.

Not the case. You can actually administer sedalin gel in feed if you can’t get it into the mouth, that might help in this case. It’s not rubbed into gums, it’s fed as per a wormer - swallowed.

I’d try it in a handful of feed 20-30mins before trying to handle these ponies and it might just take the edge off them for the farrier.

TheFarrier

Billiethepup wrote: »

Not the case. You can actually administer sedalin gel in feed if you can’t get it into the mouth, that might help in this case. It’s not rubbed into gums, it’s fed as per a wormer - swallowed.

You could well be correct, but I have hoofprints on my backside that mean id rather see it under the tongue than swallowed.

Definitely works faster and more effectively if absorbed through the mucus membranes than swallowed in my experience.

woody84

I'm slowly getting them abit more relaxed these days. Eating a bit of crunch out of my hand. Have them in a small field for now. They got abit too heavy which lead to the bad feet too

Billiethepup

TheFarrier wrote: »

You could well be correct, but I have hoofprints on my backside that mean id rather see it under the tongue than swallowed.

Definitely works faster and more effectively if absorbed through the mucus membranes than swallowed in my experience.

Acepromazine has no effect on vision or hearing so its an unreliable hypnotic at best and one bang will snap a horse out of it. I expect you unfortunately get plenty of hoofprints shoeing sharp horses with it, but I’m afraid that’s not at all related to mucus membranes. It’s only absorbed via the gut, not at all by oral mucus membranes.

Personally i find it’s only useful role is like in cases such as the OPs. It’ll take the edge off, can be fed orally and enables a bit of easier handling. Definitely worth a go OP, especially if you have them feeding a bit

Ave Sodalis

woody84 wrote:

I'm slowly getting them abit more relaxed these days. Eating a bit of crunch out of my hand. Have them in a small field for now. They got abit too heavy which lead to the bad feet too

Is it equine feed, or cattle/lamb crunch? Monensin in cattle feed is toxic to horses. It's a growth promoter and I'm not 100% sure if they add it to sheep feed so I wouldn't chance it. The equine feed isn't usually called crunch, which is why I'm asking!

woody84

It's a horse feed. Redmills Simply Natural is the brand I think. If i could get them quietened enough to get the head collars on I reckon I could get better control of them.

Ave Sodalis

Have you got anyone in the area that's experienced with horses to help you OP? It might just speed things up for you. One time myself and a yard owner spent 3 hours in a stable, trying to put headcollars on two donkeys who had never had a hand on them before, but like your ponies, they needed their basic care. If you have time, what you're doing should work but if their feet are paining them or they're in bad need of a wormer, then it might just be easier to get a local horse person to help. Shetlands are far worse than any big horse!

woody84

They're galloping about these days and dont seem to be in pain. I don't want to be doing something to frighten them off again.

isaos

Ave Sodalis wrote: »

Have you got anyone in the area that's experienced with horses to help you OP? ........Shetlands are far worse than any big horse!

OH YES they are.... :pac::pac::D