Is it true that horses which have gone through a bout of critical care with lots of injections and other poking and prodding–perhaps at an early age–are doomed to hate veterinary procedures?
No, just as the laws of learning would predict, it all depends on the quality of the experience. Actually, some people whose horses have had a round of intensive care comment that the horse’s experience taught the horse to comply with just about any procedure. We know from working with hundreds of horses in research settings, where there is variable opportunity for organized positive experience with veterinary procedures, that the more experience, the better the willing compliance.
