The most enduring thing in our personal lives is our earliest memories and experiences, for these become the foundation of our understanding and manner of thinking. It is no different with the species that I have worked with, dogs and horses, and a legacy of positive reinforcement builds a relationship of trust. On those serious occasions where negative reinforcement is required, it must be very specific as to cause, that the animal not be confused by mixed messages, and it must be of the briefest duration.
The foundation that I have laid with my favorite riding horse came into question on Sunday, as I discovered that she had experienced a close encounter with a porcupine
the evening prior. Porcupines are not very common at this elevation, and I had not seen one for many years now. Neither had my horse ever seen one, and she being friendly and inquisitive is undoubtedly the cause of her plight.
In the past, neighbors have come to me for aid in pulling quills from their dogs, yet I do not recall hearing of any horses being in such straits. I pondered on how best to deal with getting the quills out of my mare's face, as the technique of immobilizing a horse was on a considerably larger scale than rolling a dog up in a blanket.
My first action was to get some Phenylbutazone into her, to take the edge off the pain. I took a small portion of mixed grain and combined the paste medication with a considerable amount of molasses and effectively made a soft cookie from this mixture. I offered her this 'treat' in place of her morning feed, and she gingerly reached out and took it into her mouth, chewing very carefully to minimize the discomfort of the quills that were deeply embedded in her upper lip, one also deep in her lower lip.
I left to get myself a meal after working the night, thinking that in a little over an hour the horse would be somewhat more comfortable and we would proceed to address the concern. When I went to see how she was faring. Caramel was snoozing, stretched right out on her side, arising groggily when called.
The halter was carefully lifted around the protruding quills, and a neck rope was secured around the horse and run through the halter ring, after which I snubbed the mare to the hitching rail on a very short rope to restrict her movement and leverage should she attempt to pull back. I took a couple of pictures, pulled up a bucket of treats and started by giving her a couple of them. With my Leatherman Tool in hand, I inched the plier into position, gripped the nearest quill, and at the sensation felt, Caramel pulled back the few inches that the rope allowed. I dropped the quill into a plastic container, gave my horse a cookie and repeated this procedure 18 times until all of the quills were extracted. A small amount of blood was oozing from a couple of the wounds but she seemed unconcerned by this detail.
Once all of the quills in evidence had been pulled, I spent several minutes massaging her lips and gently inspecting all the surface areas of her skin for quills that may be embedded. Fortunate indeed, that she had only taken them on the muzzle and lip, with none lodging inside the nostrils or near to an eye. Our foundation of trust was solid and Caramel was a most co-operative patient, clearly capable of comprehending that I was not the cause of her pain, even though the process of extracting the quills was not a pleasant experience.
