Help your needle shy horse
The ONLY in-depth online course on needle shyness taught by a vet
Deeply understand and compassionately overcome needle shyness in your horse
Lifetime access to course materials
12-week coached online course with lifetime access
Next LIVE cohort start date TBC, gain access to this by signing up now
• Does your horse struggle with needles?
• Are injections stressful, dangerous, or even impossible?
• Are you unable to proceed with certain diagnostics or treatment options because of needle shyness?
• Or are you looking to give your young horse the best possible preparation?
By the end of this course you will be able to ensure your horse’s experiences with needles involve understanding, agency, and cooperation. With these ingredients, you can transform the pain and fear of needles and build trust and communication, also helping your entire relationship.
Needle shyness can turn a simple injection into a stressful and dangerous struggle for the horse and handlers
Needle shyness can begin with only one bad injection experience. It usually gets worse, and rarely gets better without systematic, ethical intervention
Good news: you CAN help the needle shy horse and, better yet, know how to avoid it from developing in the first place
Everyone with a horse needs this course!
What will you learn?
• What is needle shyness and why and how does it develop?
• How to figure out the ingredients that are contributing to your specific horse’s needle shyness and therefore which approach to take in helping them
• How to decide on needle use and whether there are alternative avenues when needle shyness is extreme
• Ways of reducing the pain and fear of needles during a vet appointment
• Ways of preparing your horse for needles using different training approaches, particularly focusing on cooperative care where you develop two-way communication with the horse, so they can tell you they are ready for you to proceed, or they feel worried and need you to pause
• What to do in urgent and emergency situations or where preparation hasn’t fully worked
• Relationship repair if your horse does have a bad experience with needle use.
This is for you if:
• You want to deeply understand and compassionately help your horse through their needle shyness
• You are interested in how your horse learns and in deepening your connection through improved communication and understanding
• You want expert coaching in a variety of techniques and to be able to ask a vet questions about the specific process that might be needed for your horse
Meet your teachers
Hi, I’m Lily, I have been a vet since 2016 and have come across a great many needle shy horses. As well as my patients, my own horses, particularly Sunny and Beau (pictured here) have taken me on quite a journey over the years and have guided me through developing my unique approach.
My passion is helping people and animals to live their best life together by nurturing their all-round wellbeing and unique partnership. I am fascinated by all aspects of wellbeing from how the body functions in health and disease to how we all learn, think and feel, and how all of this is intertwined. I want to help people on their journeys of discovering how to keep horses’ bodies and minds healthy, comfortable, active and engaged and to explore the integral role of both the horse’s and our emotions in all of this.
My approach towards helping needle shy horses combines my knowledge of pain physiology, affective neuroscience, learning theory, trauma-informed horsemanship, cooperative care training, and the details of veterinary medicines and procedures. I offer alternative views on the investigation and treatment of health conditions that help horses and humans to better communicate and heal.
I look forward to meeting you and your horses!
What previous course participants have to say…
Sue S. with Morgana
“When needle went in she didn’t even flinch… I cried it was so much less stressful… I can’t thank you enough, this experience has meant the world”
What if my horse is extremely needle shy and the vet can’t get near them, or they become dangerous?
We start from the very beginning, and address the deep roots of fear, pain, fear of pain, relationship with restraint, pressure, and touch, and explore clear, compassionate communication. This process helps every horse, and some also require special coping strategies at the time of injections, which we cover in detail.
What if I have no background in behaviour or training?
That’s OK - I explain the concepts and take you step by step through building each technique. Submit videos of your sessions for feedback and guidance or book one-to-one coaching calls with me.
What if I am already experienced in behaviour and training?
I offer an in-depth and unique perspective on applying ethical training principles to the challenge of needle shyness, with my veterinary knowledge added to my training knowledge. I look forward to discussing the intricacies with you!
How the course works
• Runs LIVE for 12 weeks - next live cohort starts 1st January 2025
• During the live running, you have access to booking a 30-minute one-to-one coaching call with me, I will give feedback on submitted videos, and there are three live Zoom calls
• Live Zoom calls run for 1 to 1.5 hours and are mostly held at 7pm UK time on weekdays, but during the introductory week there is a poll to check the best days and times for the group
• Module content is released every two weeks, with some modules always being available to help you in case of the need for urgent or emergency needle use
• Lifetime access to the course materials after signing up, including Facebook discussion group and all previous call recordings
What’s included:
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Introductory module and six main modules containing over 30 lessons and videos
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PDF worksheets to take with you to the barn to help you put the concepts into practice
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Three live Zoom calls and lifetime access to the recordings
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Private Facebook discussion group - join a like-minded community
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Submit videos for individualised help and guidance
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One-to-one 30-minute coaching call with me
What’s inside
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In this module you get to know your way around the online Member Area, we get to know each other, and we cover outcome expectations and prerequisites to successful needle use.
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In this module we look at the deep rooted causes of needle shyness, from pain physiology and how it uniquely applies to needle shyness, to how your horse feels about pressure and about restraint, to trauma from previous experiences, and how to assess your horse’s body, mind, and emotions to help them with their own unique case of needle shyness.
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In this module we look at the various needs for using needles, including for routine care, treatment and management of health problems both short and long term, and whether we can explore alternatives to needle use or, where we can’t, how best to proceed to minimise the pain and fear involved with their use.
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In this module we take a detailed look at the process of using needles in different situations, including relevant anatomy and injection technique to minimise pain and damage, how to help horses who are also worried about clippers, and we get started looking at some ethical training approaches.
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This module explains the concept of using two-way communication, where we can teach the horse can cue you to proceed or pause, giving them choice and a voice and building a great deal of trust. It then sets out how to practically get started building a start button for needle use.
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This module continues with how to teach two-way communication, this time using an anchor behaviour for needle use, and introducing end signals.
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This module is to help you in case you have to use needles without having been able to fully prepare a cooperative care behaviour beforehand. It covers restraint and containment that minimises how bad the horse finds the experience, the use of sedation, and, all-importantly, relationship repair in cases where horses do find the process unpleasant.
Join here:
The ONLY in-depth online course on how to help your needle shy horse taught by a vet. Help your horse by ethically and effectively addressing the underlying causes for their fear of needles.
✺ Frequently asked questions ✺
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You will need a device and internet connection that allows you to watch videos and join Zoom calls. You will set up a login for the course Member Area when you join, where you can access all the course materials. If you would like to join the Facebook discussion group, you will need a personal Facebook account.
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Go to the Join Here section of the Needle Shyness help page (link) and click the button that says “Sign Up”. Then pay securely by card online and set up your login to the course Member Area.
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You don’t need to actually use any needles as part of this course. To develop the cooperative care behaviours, you will need some objects such as cones, a target, a treat pouch, and something to make a chin rest out of. To add novel sensation in preparation for needles you will need a pencil, paintbrush, cloth, sponge, and anything else you can think of. To submit videos you can use a helper, a grippy tripod on a fence, or a Pivo or similar.
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Anyone involved with horses can take this course. This version is aimed mainly at owners, but professionals will also find a wealth of useful information.
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No, this course is about the deep roots of needle shyness and addressing these, then preparing for needing to use needles. You do not have to actually use a needle for this preparation, indeed you should minimise needle use to only when it is needed.
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I would recommend working with one horse for learning the cooperative care behaviours. You can delve into the deep roots for more than one horse, but will get more depth if you take one partner through each running of the course. You are welcome to take it again with another horse next time.