‘Her behaviour was extreme and very scary ’
“Wish’s behaviour with the vet — and in particular, having her routine jab — had become increasingly difficult,” says Allison Lowther, Your Horse acting editor. “Each year her reaction was getting more extreme. She’d rear up and generally be very difficult.
“Thankfully, in 2018, vet Mark Bowen had the honour of vaccinating her. He took his time with her and used clicker training. Quite quickly Wish became more relaxed and after about 45 minutes of working with her he was able to vaccinate her.
“He suggested I should continue with this type of training to help break the cycle of behaviour, so I went along to a clinic with a South African trainer called Jenku Dietrichsen. I explained the reasons for going and we started off with some general groundwork techniques to encourage Wish to lower her head and relax. Rather than using a clicker, I use a sound when I get the right behaviour, then follow this with a reward.
Making progress
“I was amazed at how quickly she responded to the training, and with lots of time spent at home practising I soon had her standing with her head lowered while I pinched the skin on her neck or used a pen to mimic a needle. “Mark came out to vaccinate Wish in May 2019 and, although it still took a little while to vaccinate her, she was much better. Six months later, Mark was back again and there was a further improvement in Wish’s behaviour.
“Her training is still ongoing and I’m using it for other areas of training too. The whole principle is fascinating — and it works.”