(9/2020) Anyone who has spent any time working with horses can tell you that they each horse has its own unique personality. While horses can be taught good behavior, their personality quirks are things to be worked with as they rarely can be eliminated.

My sister's horse, Billy, has lived with me for the last 9 or so years. At age 18, he has developed some arthritis and is basically a pasture pet who is only ridden occasionally on easy rides. Conformationally, he is probably one of the best looking horses on my farm, but he has a few personality quirks that drive me crazy. While he is overall a very nice horse, he has an uncooperative streak. He's also smart. On de-worming day I have to catch Billy first. If he sees me deworming the other horses, he will then refuse to let me catch him because he knows he's next.

Luckily, like my horses, he stands perfectly for shots. None of the horses at my barn need halters and I can just walk up to them in the field and give them their vaccines. Fly spray, however, is another story. My horses stand and just let me spray them. Billy on the other hand hates fly spray. He makes me put the halter on him every time, just so I can keep him from walking off when I try to spray him. Once he's caught, he stands cooperatively for the spray. He now associates the halter with fly spray and starts sneezing when I put the halter on him. I've switched brands of fly spray so while I know one type makes all the horses sneeze, Billy just starts sneezing at the thought of fly spray.

Unfortunately, it's not just fly spray that Billy doesn't like. He doesn't like eye meds, he hates dewormer, and he doesn't like to eat medicine that I put in his food. Billy seems to think that any medicine in his food indicates that I am trying to poison him. I have even tried getting him apple flavored medications and adding molasses to it. He still absolutely refuses to eat the medicine

Billy also likes to stand in the farm pond. Perhaps stand is the wrong word. Wallow and roll is probably a more accurate description. It makes him cool and happy and it's not like he needs to be clean for any horse shows. Therefore, I let him embrace his inner swamp creature role. Billy's pond wallowing tendencies result in him getting irritated and infected skin on his legs every summer. Usually it’s pretty mild and a bath with anti-microbial shampoo clears it up. He's actually very cooperative for baths and scrubbing his legs.

Billy is not cooperative about allowing me to put ointment on afterwards. Most cases of dermatitis can be successfully treated with topical products alone. While the process is a bit tedious because it requires daily bathing and application of ointments, systemic medications are rarely required. A couple of days ago Billy developed cellulitis/swelling in one of his hind legs secondarily to the dermatitis.

Once cellulitis is present, topical treatments are not going to be effective and Billy was going to need more aggressive treatment. While I would have liked to have used a left over bottle of about to expire antibiotic on him, I knew that Billy would not eat it. He'd already proven over the years that oral medications were not to his liking. So rather than use up the antibiotics I already had, I elected to go the injectable route.

In the end I'm glad I chose to give Billy the injectable antibiotic. It may have cost me more money but not having to try to disguise medications in his feed or fight with him while trying to squirt them in his mouth was definitely worth it. If your horse is uncooperative for certain treatments, tell your vet. I understand completely when a client says they can't do the treatment that I initially recommend. Veterinarians frequently can offer alternatives to treat certain diseases.

If your horse is bad for shots there are often oral medications that will be effective. If your horses is a picky eater, some of the medications come with an apple flavor option or injectable form. Veterinarians want you to be successful when you are trying to follow a treatment plan. Most of us know at least one horse like Billy, and we will try to devise a treatment plan that will work for your Billy.