A spoonful of sugar

How do you like your medicine? It seems many children and adults cannot stand the taste of cough syrup, have a hard time swallowing pills, and stubbornly resist taking what the doctor orders. It seems horses and people have a few things in common.

My old horse, Angel, is not a very good patient when it comes to taking her medicine. She has perfected the art of clamping her mouth shut so that no human (usually me) can pry it open. She can smell a glucosamine cookie a mile away. She runs and snorts like a stallion when I try to give her joint supplements. Hey, I’m only trying to help.

For ten years I have owned this stubborn mare, and she is getting quite cranky in her older years. She will not be fooled by my good intentions or sweet talk. If she sees a healthy treat coming her way, she shuts her mouth so tight that it would take a pry bar to get it open. All I can do is resort to trickery. And that, Dear Readers, is not going so well.

I have given Angel handfuls of delicious cookies that are apple flavored. I have quickly thrown the medicinal treat (flavored with sweet molasses) in with the other cookies and Angel will stuff them all in her mouth, then carefully spit out (usually at me) the healthy offender. Yikes, these little joint supplements cost about fifty cents each. I have bought at least a dozen different flavors and brands, with absolutely no luck. The other horses (who don’t really need them) love these costly little nuggets that Angel refuses. I am getting outsmarted by a horse.

My neighbor said I should try the powder form of medicine and then mix in it with sweet feed. Yes, I have tried this tactic. Angel loves sweet feed but looks at me with total disgust when I try to give her a handful laced with her medicine. My veterinarian said I should core an apple and put the medicine inside the apple. Angel is not interested in apples stuffed with some healthy ingredient that will ease her arthritis and joint pain. She’ll even refuse a carrot if she senses I have something healthy in my pocket.

I used to be a registered nurse, so clearly I should be able to get the upper hand with a horse that doesn’t want to take her meds. But dealing with a thousand‑pound beast who has made up her mind is not all that easy. She is stubborn, and when I tell her that I think she is part mule, she puts her ears back and squints her eyes at me in defiance.

What am I to do?

My little neighbor girl, Heather, likes to groom Angel. One day Heather went running around the pasture feeding my other horses the pricey little glucosamine cookies, to make Angel “jealous.” Then Heather gently placed a cookie in Angel’s mouth and we all thought Heather succeeded in fooling the old mare. About thirty minutes later, when Heather had gone home,I walked Angel back to her stall where she proudly spit the cookie out at me. I swear Angel was smiling.

Remember the old saying, “a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down?” Not true! My horse says “Neigh.” I’m fresh out of ideas, so if you have any suggestions, please me a call. Angel will be waiting.