Equine Behaviour Services
Many horses suffer from stress and/or fear during veterinary appointments, farrier visits, medication administration, or other husbandry procedures. This leaves owners feeling stressed, anxious, upset and even embarrassed.
Introducing Behaviour Services with Dr Marisa Markey of McKee Pownall Equine Services. Dr Markey has a passion for equine behaviour and the emotional health of horses. She has pursued continuing education to learn how to best help stressed and fearful horses. Dr Markey is looking to share her knowledge and implement this new outlook into equine practice.
A message from Dr Markey…
I want to take this opportunity to share my excitement with you, our Mckee-Pownall family, about the new service that I am starting to offer. Behavioral consultation and modification for horses with vet, farrier, and procedural fear. I’m sure you are wondering What is this? Why me? Why now? Allow me to explain.
I have been interested in horse behaviour, both in human-horse interactions and natural horse behaviour, since a young age. I would happily sit on a fence and watch horses in the field all day long, they fascinate me. Going through veterinary school, I noticed the lack of horse behaviour discussions when compared to dogs. Where was the education and research about dealing with fear, anxiety, stress, and stereotypic behaviour in horses? It was minimal and it certainly wasn’t making its way to clinical practice or into the hands of horse owners. But why? Horse people are some of the most dedicated animal-owners on the planet. Is it because it can’t be done with horses? That can’t be it - horses are incredibly intelligent and willing to work with us, they have proven that for centuries.
I got into equine veterinary medicine because I love horses; in clinical practice I hate seeing them afraid, anxious, and fighting with veterinarians. So when I came across a course for dealing with fear based behaviours using positive and gentle handling methods, I immediately jumped in with both feet. That lead me down a road of continuing education and eventually certification as a Fear Free Professional.
From this knowledge and passion, I am ready to start working with these horses to change their mind about veterinary care. Using the following we can help these horses and their people develop a better relationship with vets and farriers.
gentle handling
counter-conditioning
systematic desensitization using positive reinforcement
less drugs, less restraint, and less stress.
My goal is to help these horses learn to trust the process and then generalize that to all vets and farriers, not just me. More importantly, I want to work with their people to teach them how to speak up for their horse in these situations and help all professionals work calmly and safely with their horses.
I think the horse world is ready to try a different way. If you want to explore that with me, please reach out.
What techniques are used in Behaviour Modification Sessions?
gentle handling
counter-conditioning
systematic desensitization using positive reinforcement
less drugs, less restraint, and less stress
Why wait until your horse is scared before trying to help?
If the horse starts to show signs of FAS in the middle of an exam – ask yourself:
What changed?
What did you just touch/manipulate?
Do you absolutely need to do the thing you are trying to do or is the stress response enough of an answer for you?
Can you take a break and let everyone calm down?
Dr. Markey started working with Coco, our needle-shy mare, in the Spring. The progress and results have been absolutely incredible. Coco was terrified of needles. Even when the veterinarians approached her stall she would show fear and anxiety – moving to the back of her stall and avoiding them. Her fear would only escalate and giving her needles for routine vaccinations and sedation became a stressful event for everyone involved.
After the behavior modification sessions with Dr. Markey, Coco is a different horse in these situations. She is calm when Dr. Markey enters her stall and she’s engaged and accepting of the interaction. She stands nicely for her vaccinations and it’s a much calmer experience.
From the beginning, Dr. Markey thoroughly explained the behavior modification plan and provided us with a step-by-step process to follow so we could confidently work with her several times a week (our homework). During our in-person visits with Dr. Markey she was very gentle and patient with Coco – never pushing her further than she was comfortable. Dr. Markey also provided us with coaching as to how we can advocate for Coco and help others to understand how to work with her in a ‘fear free’ way. It is obvious that Dr. Markey genuinely cares about the horses she treats. We are so grateful to her for everything she has done for Coco (and us)!!
- Jill and Coco
I had the pleasure of working with Dr Markey and her behavioural modification/ fear free program recently. Our senior mare, as she aged, was becoming more anxious and fearful. Simple tasks such as deworming or administering Dorm Gel prior to farrier work would send her into a mini panic. Any tension on the halter to administer medication would cause her to throw her head up in the air and back up. To make matters worse, her long time home was closing and she needed to move to another farm out of the area. Wanting to give her the best possible start, I contacted Dr Markey to come out for an assessment and to devise a plan that we could work on to make her more comfortable with simple procedures. I was given a step by step program using clicker training and positive reinforcement. As we moved through the steps, her comfort level increased. Tension on the halter did not produce any reaction at all and I was able to deworm her with no issues! I have taught my daughter how to use the clicker/positive reinforcement and she is continuing to use it to make all of the pony’s experiences going forward, positive.
- Glenda and Sandy
Contact Us
Interested in learning more about Behaviour Modification Services or booking an appointment?