Signs of being needle shy

Horses who are needle shy may resent injections, and when injections are given into the neck they may become tense and stressed and move away from the needle. As reactions become more severe, they may rear, or, if the needle is placed in the rump, they might kick out or buck. Each time the horse moves, the needle (the adverse stimulus) is taken away and, as mentioned left, this acts as the reward that then reinforces the behaviour. Needle-shy horses may become increasingly agitated, but it’s important to remember that they aren’t being naughty; they are just responding in a manner they’ve learned. Increasing the amount of restraint, or even punishing them, will only exacerbate the distress and again further amplify the unwanted behaviours.

Positive reinforcement

The best way to break the cycle of learning is to try to break the cycle that reinforces the learned behaviour. But teaching a new behaviour associated with injections can take a considerable amount of time. It’s important that any lessons involve positive reinforcement, rather than punishment or excessive restraint. Any form of behavioural modification relies upon giving perfectly timed rewards. In many cases, breaking the cycle of behaviours will require professional input from a vet with an interest in equine behaviour, or from an equine behaviourist who is a member of the Animal Behaviour and Training Council. This will help to identify adverse triggers and enable a plan to be formulated to help break the cycle. In many cases, this will focus on a cycle of pressure and release, such as placing an object to simulate the needle against the skin and rewarding behaviour that includes standing still or not reacting. Ultimately, new behaviours need to be built up gradually and this may take months. During the retraining process, there may be many steps backwards, but with each step it’s important to only reinforce desired behaviours and never resort to punishment.

The timing of appropriate rewards is crucial for behavioural modification and this is often achieved through clicker training. The concept of clicker training is that the reward (a click) can much more easily be timed with the preferred behaviour. Food rewards, on the other hand, are often given after the behaviour has passed and so may reward an inappropriate response. After the response and the click, the horse is given some sort of reward (usually food or praise) and he quickly learns that a click results in such a reward. This can then be used to continue to build the desired response.