Tips and tricks for administering oral medications: 

You step away from your horse after fighting to administer a dose of oral medication and realize you’re coated in half of what he should have swallowed. It’s frustrating to have to go through this same effort twice a day for a week. Your veterinarian emphasized the importance of getting all the medication down to help your horse fight an infection, but it’s proving easier said than done.

“Surely there has to be a better way to do this,” you think. “I have to be smarter than my horse!”

From antibiotics and anti-inflammatory tablets to anti-ulcer pastes and deworming medications, we ask our horses to consume a variety of products deemed important for their health. Fortunately, there are tricks to getting even the most refractory patient to take his medicine. After more than three decades of performing equine veterinary work, there are a number of successful strategies to help you with this process. 

Oral Paste
Always administer oral medications before feeding your horse, and check that his mouth has no food or debris in it before getting started. Rinse it out if necessary. Otherwise, medicine can get caught in hay, grain, carrots, or horse cookies, where it’s more likely to be spit out.

Have everything ready to go before haltering your horse. Don’t give him time to anticipate the dosing. Keep calm so your body posture doesn’t reveal anxiety or nervousness, as horses are exquisitely sensitive to body language.

When medicating with a syringe of paste, try not to give a difficult horse much, if any, warning. For starters, don’t let him see the syringe. Hide it behind your back or in your jacket and, once alongside his head, bring it up under his chin slowly. He can’t see it there. Then, with your finger in the corner of his mouth, slide the tip of the syringe in.

It helps substantially if you have practiced this maneuver previously using first your finger, then carrots. Once he accepts those approaches, administer a syringe full of something tasty, such as applesauce. In fact, Ray Randall, DVM, of Bridger Veterinary Clinic, in Montana, suggests syringing your horse regularly without ­medication—just something pleasant and tasty. It’s all about desensitizing him to the process, so he won’t be afraid. This takes time, practice, and patience.

Give yourself every advantage by using a syringe that fits your hand well; this will make the process more efficient. Some people cannot work the plunger on a full 60-cc (2-ounce) syringe. In those cases you might need to use a 35-cc syringe and give the dose in two or more parts. To make administering a thick paste easier, cut the catheter tip or nozzle off the syringe.

Once you’ve inserted the syringe of medicine into your horse’s mouth, slide it as far as you can to the back of the tongue. While pressing on the plunger, massage his tongue back and forth with the tip of the syringe—tongue movement forces him to swallow the medication before he can spit it out. Keep his head somewhat elevated while massaging his tongue. Positive reinforcement after each treatment can help mitigate fights over the next administration. Have a reward ready—either a favorite treat or a bucket with tasty food in it.