Worming the hard to worm horse

This video was taken while Warwick was doing clinics in Australia. this mare is 14 years old and had not been paste wormed for the past 2 years because she will either flip over backwards or hide her head between her front legs. With a little bit of Making The Wrong Thing hard And The Right Thing Easy, we get her to accept the wormer pretty well. Use this method on your horse today!
We have hundreds of full length videos filmed with real horses with real problems in real time at www.warwickschiller.com
Listen to The Journey On Podcast with Warwick Schiller, a conversation about horse training and personal development and the journeys that life takes us on. Listen on:
Our Website: www.warwicksch...
Spotify: open.spotify.c...
Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple...
IHeart Radio: www.iheart.com...
Google Podcasts:
podcasts.googl...

[@MMwallace02]

Also: Thank you for letting us see you drop the dewormer:) It is helpful to know we haven't screwed the whole lesson up when we do this ourselves!

[@heathercollins4432]

I do the same thing - forget to unscrew the dosage ring....

[@shaneymccoymusic]

Super helpful - thank you! I think often we're afraid of looking silly by being so patient because other folks are like "just make your horse do it" (whatever "it" is at the time). But it's SO worth taking the time to teach them rather than just getting it done! Thanks for the information and validating the philosophy of taking as long as it takes.

[@gingie421]

I enjoyed this😊 it's real, mistakes were made, as happens in reality, and the job still got done. I'm glad you didn't cut any oops moments out... Thank you

[@JDCarterMusic]

This worked incredibly well! You should do an update on this. I followed these steps exactly while staying under threshold and got a very high strung ex-racehorse to accept the dewormer like a champ! Thanks Warwick!

[@hugagrizzly]

This video literally changed my mare for the better all around. She’s a lot more reactive/flighty than the mare in the video but this principle worked. I’ve applied the same principles elsewhere in my training with her, too. I don’t fight her...I don’t go away...just persistent, firm, and patient. #journeyon

[@elsplace896]

I actually burst into tears this morning he was head butting me. I'm going to not use the chain over nose that another border suggested and go back to my way of a loose ring and doing what it says in the video. And waiting and more waiting.

[@claremcinerney3209]

Thank you for this video! Wormed my gelding with a syringe for first time on 3yrs following your guidance - he can be quite a bully and tried to push me around but after realising the syringe went away when he stood quietly it just clicked! Just 10 minutes and I had successfully wormed him in a nice relaxed manner.

[@stephaniewinter5123]

That’s great, and what a good example of “retreating” and patience

[@marycatherinebello]

It worked. The only thing I did different is I lunged for respect prior to starting the worming process. I didn't loose a drop of the wormer, and all three horses were easy to worm with absolutely no issues. Thank you, I will never go back to fighting with my horses.

[@CrisJZ1485]

My boy acts just like that, the first time I tried worming him he reared up and nailed my mom just under her eye. At that point she was done trying to work with him granted we took him in as a rescue and had knew very little about him so we didn't know what he has been through or dealt with. After a year of working with him he isn't anywhere near as head shy as he used to be but is still a chore to worm but watching this I think you may have helped me massively on being able to get him wormed without the production and argument. You are amazing Warwick thank you!!

[@josiahigescu7840]

haa, what a coincidence, same here, (except shes a mare) i took her in as a rescue one year ago, she used to rear every time, but luckily she didnt hurt anyone and now shes fine with it :P

[@CrisJZ1485]

Josiah Igescu I tried this today and I couldn't get the tube in his mouth cause he is still touchy about that but he wasn't throwing his head like he used to when we called it quits for the day after about 10 min of working with it. I figure if I keep it up everyday by the time I actually have to worm it won't be an issue.

[@DelmarvaDrives]

I was taught to fill the wormer syringe with applesauce or pureed carrots and use that the first few timed I actually pushed the plunger. The horse got a sweet treat and began to associate the plunger with something really nice. When I had to give my horse pills which she hated, I crushed the pills very finely and mixed them with molasses and used the syringe to medicate. No problems giving her the meds after that.

[@citizenjane3648]

+Fran Severn-Levy great idea, very Pavlovian!!

[@MattyDemello]

I know your comment is 2 years old but I actually think that's a bad idea. I know many horses that won't eat apples or carrots anymore because they was tricked way to many times and they associate the apple with the warmer taste.

[@terryhappy3337]

I am not sure why you are telling us this when it is contradictory to what he is teaching? It also is not based in principles or training. It's bribing

[@natalieboschable]

I just have to say THANK YOU SO MUCH for this video! I struggled for over an hour trying to get my thoroughbred to take his Gastrogard and nothing seemed to work. I watched this video and it only took me about 20 minutes to successfully get him to take the tube of medication. Today it took us 10 seconds. I gave this video and BIG thumbs up and subscribed to the channel. Thank you again!

[@WarwickSchiller]

Great work Natalie.

[@HighwayHorse]

This was the first time I heard of Warwick Schiller or his videos and had an OTTB who was an absolute mongrel to worm. Little did I know this would be the start of reevaluating everything I ever did around and with horses which is making every day with my girls better. Here's to the next 20mill Schill #JourneyOn20

[@childsfan999]

Thankyou sooooo much for posting this. Made a 1/2 hour job into a 3 minute job for me. My WB and my Shetland are now wormable (my TB loves the wormer lol). Thankyou so much!

[@bensaye7054]

Did your method on my long yearling filly after her throwing a fit when worming with a halter on. Did the desensitizing with the wormer tube and now she take the wormer without a halter on!

[@horsenerd]

Thank you so very much for sharing this knowledge. I haven't been able to worm my horse since I've owned her as she rears, and would normally have her given an injectable wormer at the vet. Due to Covid-19 this wasn't possible. In 20 minutes I had my horse wormed as in the video. Brilliant

[@anne-mariegrovestock-thomp9707]

We've had our 20 year old mare Rivellifor nearly 2 years. Before coming to us she was left feral for 10 years after being raced and was used as a brood mare. She was initially okay to worm, just didn't like the tube in her mouth and was a bit stroppy afterwards, went off bucking and wiping her mouth on the grass. On Monday I tried to worm her but she kept rearing anytime I got near her mouth. Because it was unsafe I stopped. We've done desensitisation and clicker training with our horses before so I watched Warren's video to refresh my knowledge. As our horses don't seem to like the smell of wormer I did wonder whether it would be as easy as Warwick shows. I decided to do desensitisation for 3 days, partly to calm myself because Rivelli was good on the first day after 5 minutes with an old wormer tube which she allowed me to insert in her mouth. Second day I put some molasses in the tube just because it would have a similar texture to wormer paste and that went well. Third day whilst doing this I held the proper wormer tube with the cap off under her jaw so that I could desensitise to the smell as well as the tube and this went well. We usually treat our horses for good behaviour so added this in. Today I managed to worm Rivelli straight away with no unwanted behaviour. She barely moved her head. Once I took her halter off she didn't take off and allowed me to approach her with the empty wormer tube again. What a superstar she was. I'm sure I could have done this on the first day of desensitisation training but I wanted to get it right. Thanks so much Warwick. I shall repeat this making the right thing easy desensitisation technique with Deosect I need to sponge or spray onto her to remove lice. Our other horse accepts just about anything because we trained him this way from the start.

[@simoneruhije]

Thank you, I followed your instructions, it took us about 10 min and now my horse finally has a good deworming experience 😊

[@alexmaturana6987]

I just wanted to say a huge thankyou this video , my mare was a pain to worm and now thanks to your techniques i can slip it in hassle free

[@WarwickSchiller]

youre welcome

[@feliciahacker5335]

I saw this a year ago and it really works. Haven't had a problem worming since.

[@bumblebeesknees]

I can confirm this technique is highly effective!!! My cob would bolt, rear and squish to avoid being wormed. Using an natural horsemanship headcollar and this process i manage to worm on my own within 24hours... 😱 honestly could believe it!! Thank you.

[@jh4222]

This helped me to desensitise my horse to worming paste. No issues at all anymore. Thanks for sharing🙂

[@maryackenhusen6893]

This worked like a charm. I am so relieved as I need to give my horse Gastrogard for a month by syringe and I was dreading it! Thank you!

[@thetopcoder]

It worked, I did it to my stallion! I have one arm less but it worked.

[@minniyou]

Top work im tempted to give this a go with a 24yr old thoughbread who has also been known to do back flips being wormed

[@kiannaparsons2002]

Worming my ponies today and this is going to be very helpful thank you

[@mangophillip50]

This worked amazing on my super tall warmblood gelding Who I hadn’t been able to worm in a long time

[@waynewilson4640]

I watched this video last night and wormed my horse this morning after about 5 minutes of trying this....it worked...I'm amazed!

[@WarwickSchiller]

Im glad it helped

[@71nandez]

Worked exactly as shown! Thanks a million

[@MattyDemello]

haha the horse gave you a look at the end like "dam it you win"

[@deborahscotlass7678]

I wormed my boy today and I was very pleased it was hassle free worming. Yay I love your video tips :)

[@kathyrodoni6488]

Thank you, I have to worm my colt 5 days in a row to treat potential lung worm. I figured i better get this right so I found your video and watched it. I did exactly what you said and it worked beautifully. Took about 4 minutes to get him to stop worrying about the wormer on the side of his mouth. Hopefully the remaining 4 days will go as smooth. Thanks again .

[@ponygirlup]

This video was so helpful and a game changer for me. I was able to calmly worm my 2 ponies (12h and 9h) by myself. After grooming them and giving them a treat (good mood time), I used this process for the syringe. Worming was always fearful for me and I wouldn't do it alone. Now I can. My larger pony had experience with worming but would fuss. This method helped me with him and it took less than 10 minutes for us to calmly finish. My pony girl has head abuse issues from the past and using a syringe is part of that. It took under 30 minutes to calmly worm her. I am ecstatic! -- and so proud of my pony for trusting me. We worked it out together. She needs to have a calming gel for the farrier. I know this method will work for that, too. (no rearing, etc) I am so grateful I found this video. :)

[@bexmorehu]

Thank you for sharing this! It made worming so easy❤

[@MMwallace02]

Such a pretty mare! Thanks so much for this video! I will be worming five horses each day for 5 days with the power pack stuff.... This is going to really come in handy! My plan is for them to do better each day instead of worse which would be the usual as they get the idea of whats happening.

[@nancywilson4629]

This was a fun video, it made me laugh. My App horse acts just like her when I do worming: Warwick dropping the wormer and her flicking her head up in the air is just like what I go through , every time: You would think after a couple years my horse would be better about it- but he just hates the way it taste.

[@zarjemscout]

This was a huge help. Thank you.

[@almika360]

ugh my mare is way more crazy then this! we just quite and squirted the tube into a bucket full of grain and she will eat the grain with the wormer mixed in it seems to work and is much more safer for myself and my mare, I may try this though in the spring :)

[@nala135]

I love this... I used one of your videos on a horse that would shy from things (the pressure when not doing the right thing and relax when they did and it worked so well...) cool vid :)

[@traceylamping6981]

Thank you! I will be doing this this weekend, hopefully with much success, now that I know how! :)

[@giuliahazell4460]

Thankyou this video had helped enormously as my pony has oral meds daily

[@tgmsings73]

We have a 16 year old Welch Pony that was diagnosed with EPM today. We will have to give paste daily also.

[@evewilson7909]

Thanku, I will try this with my 2 newly adopted mini foals.

[@SueCarr-l7d]

You're a classic! Such a cool video!

[@deborahscotlass7678]

I'm about to worm my boy,this has been very helpful for me.thank you.

[@alexandriaweinbrecht5248]

Ha, glad to see I’m not the only one who drops the wormer with a horse that flips its head. I have a horse just like this and I take this approach as well (though missing a few steps). I don’t repeat it enough before giving her the wormer. I get to the point where she accepts the plunger then squirt. It only takes a few minutes, but I’d like to get it better from the get go. So need to take more time with it and get it better before the squirt. She used to try to strike me, so we have made a good deal of progress, LOL. And she figures out a lot faster that it’s easier to just accept the wormer. My other four horses are easy-peasy thank goodness.

[@allamakee1397]

Another outstanding video. Thanks for posting

[@keithtaylor6069]

I really like your videos, soso good, thank you

[@tayiabyrom4989]

I love this now my horses takes wormer like its some sort of treat

[@jackcrespo2900]

Thank you. I've had the same problem with mine.

[@kittkatt1972]

Wish I would of saw this a few months ago when I tried to worm my Appy mare. She's much like this one is in this video. Tries her best to avoid the wormer. Putting her head up high, really low or off to the side. Anything she can to avoid it. I did eventually get about three quarters of it into her mouth. I'm glad that I saw this. I think I will try doing this with the empty wormers...here and there. My girl seems to pick up things rather quickly and I think with this method, it won't take long before she will accept the wormer being near her mouth and even in her mouth. So in the Spring, when I worm her again, I'm hoping for a good result and not much of a fight. Thank you for this!!

[@ElleCasey]

Brilliant!!! So helpful. Thanks, Warwick!

[@katieperry3998]

Brilliant video! Thank you!

[@justmebooboo]

Thanks very much for this video. Love the Aussie accent!. My new mini donks tend to want to fling their wormer all over, so I am going to try this strategy Reminds me of T-Team in a way. I am getting success with my mini llamas using it . Am going to try to get their heads not to swing, using your method here.

[@robinwilliams349]

This is an awesome video. That's exactly how my QH behaves.

[@rebeccageelan7033]

My gelding reacts much worse than that to paste wormers... He rears immediately when he sees/smells the syringe. The first (and admittedly only) time I tried to use paste wormer he nearly destroyed the round yard (which, as he's agisted doesn't even belong to me). He's really quiet and easy to handle otherwise so I just give him the pellets to avoid picking a fight. Any suggestions?

[@heathercollins4432]

What would you do differently (if anything) now? I'm working with a horse now that has previously been twitched while worming - very worried about any touching near his muzzle.......Thanks!

[@WarwickSchiller]

Yes I’d break it down a whole lot more

[@ShilohSwifty]

I always stand where you do to worm, or maybe even farther back. My mare would usually start backing up when I wormed her and I would move with her. It wasn't quick enough to keep me from doing it and I always got it on the first try. I could see how that isn't fixing her behavior though. I could never clip her in cross ties because she would start to back up as well, and as soon as she felt resistance she would break her halter and run off a few steps. I worked at a church camp last summer so I could get paid to play with the horses and we wormed them all on the same day. A lot of them also started backing up. I'm wondering if it is something I am doing to cause the horses to back up or just their preferred method of escape.

[@fantasyreflection]

Some horses have a real aversion to the smell. All the preliminaries work until the cap is removed.

[@Donna-vh5ym]

another great video...Thank you.👏

[@jemmadale4227]

#journeyon20 the first video I saw of Warwicks which changed my relationship with horses

[@1991lightning1991]

I've just been giving my two year old home made applesauce in a syringe, which he loves, so he's pretty easy to give dewormers or anything like that too. The two older ones who have gotten plenty of bad stuff in syringes don't even want me putting an apple sauce syringe into their mouth though. Then again.. I've only done/tried it without halters so far so I'm sure I could get them to like it if I actually put a halter on them.

[@Weissguys6]

I have a 17 hand throughbred who throws his head straight up in the sky, and he has found this trick of his very effective...... can’t float his teeth anymore without sedation, give him string meds, etc. I allowed an inexperienced young man to bit him up and afterwards........this new high headed game 😟. I am 5’4” and 110 pounds. This morning I tried to give him his Bute for an injury, and my sweet boy knocked my into a feed trough and broke my rib. He won because I had to hobble away in tears. Thank you for this. I will return armed without this new education. I do not fight this horse. He is gentle but will explode if even smells anger or frustration on my part. He is off the track and extremely sensitive. He is also very brave and protective of me, his only human. Any words of additional advice welcomed.

[@Weissguys6]

Typos!! *syringe meds and * with this new So sorry to any who bothered to read

[@veronicasmith1147]

Sorry my girl dont think hes protective his the boss you need to watch videos more in the arena

[@fantasyreflection]

I can do all the preliminaries but as soon a soon as he sees the dewormer, he flips his nose up and down in rapid succession and will raise it so high I come off the ground. He's 16.3hh.

[@emmahorse]

I really like how you approach this, but I was wondering i have a horse that will not get her mane pulled, as soon as you push the hair up she knows and starts to rear and pull back, and we can only get it done with a twitch which doesn't teach her anything, do you have any tips?

[@kyliejm2]

Hi Warwick my horse walks off and really tries to make me go away when I start this . Do I tie him up so he can’t walk off ? Or do I let him walk off and I walk with him ? I am on my own.

[@WarwickSchiller]

Never tie a horse up and do something to them that they are not perfectly happy with you doing untied. You have a halter and lead rope on, right?

[@ndini6340]

I never had to worm my horse so far, because I do a fecal and he is fine. However, I wonder if it would make sense to add one thing to this practice: a syringe that looks exactly like the dewormer one, filled with something my horse likes (apple sauce?), and squirt that during practice.

[@morgan6714]

What would you do if she rears? The horse I am working with rears and kicks out with her front legs.

[@WarwickSchiller]

Next time you would pause at the place she goes from being really good, to thinking about being bad. That may be a tiny difference, but you have to recongnise and linger there.

[@morgan6714]

Thank you!

[@lemonysnicket100]

any tips for a horse that does the same with fly spray?

[@sarahhaynes6615]

Mine doesn't care if you touch his mouth or anything else, but the moment you take the cap off & he can smell it he's pulling at the rope with his head in the air like a giraffe

[@salliegallegos918]

I have a mustang that does the same once he smells it or any other unnatural element such as ointments or fly repellent.

[@WarwickSchiller]

It will work with any horse, but make sure the lead up work is perfect, meaning that there are no other head/face problems apart from the wormer. The reason I went straight to the wormer with this one is because that was the only problem.

[@citizenjane3648]

Really great job! i have to worm my new 2yr old filly she has been "drenched" by the breeder last year but i dont know what they used i just bought an all wormer paste like your using, i hope all goes well, next i have to vaccinate for tetanus and strangles but i will need to find out if i can do them at the same time.

[@MissKellieAnne11]

Amazing!

[@theresaash9706]

I love the "work-through" with this horse, but I would not call this horse "hard to worm". It has manners, it ground ties, etc. This is what an "easy to worm" horse looks like for me. I would love to see this same technique used with a 16.3h Warmblood that points it's nose to the sky and becomes a giraffe at the sight/smell of a wormer tube. That would be super helpful to watch.

[@WarwickSchiller]

As I said in the video, the owner said that she hasn't paste wormed this horse for years as he will flip over back wards if you try. I think my initial approach was what made the difference, and will make a difference with yours if you try it that way.

[@Joybellmorgans]

Works only with a horse that puts head down...but my tall horse goes way up in the air where I can't reach. So I just hollow out a carrot, stick the syringe into it, put the plunger up my sleeve and he never knows what happened.

[@WarwickSchiller]

You didnt see this horse out his head up ?

[@MsDogMom]

i blame the owner ..... this is why handling is so important.

[@bettymeow9764]

My horse is too strong to hold his head like that. And he starts reversing.

[@WarwickSchiller]

you can walk forward as fast as he can walk backwards

[@mm669]

Awesome

[@feeltheforce10]

Much easier to use a wormer in horses feed.

[@loonamoon5125]

shes not being bad ur just putting to much prasher on her but pretty girl though love her color fur

[@qassandraable]

I know this is cheating, but I mix a couple quarts of water, a dose of wormer, a 1/2 cup of molasses, and a scoop of Integrity in a pail and stir. Then I present it as a treat, and gobble, slurp, gobble, it's gone. My sister shakes her head at me and says, "You CHICKEN!" 🐓

[@nimbussays3676]

This is an excellent way to properly introduce a horse to the process....but this is NOT - AT ALL - a "hard to worm horse." Good content. Misleading title.

[@jimwoodfordministries]

LOL

[@MattyDemello]

lol so many "my horse is crazy and won't accept it" Just remember. When you call your horse a name "crazy, dumb, idiot, spooky" you are naming yourself because your horse is a reflection of you. Its owner lol just saying.

[@honkymonkey9568]

that didn't go well.

[@codyrussell3607]

Appaloosa, to poor to afford a good horse to ashamed to ride a cow