**Advice please** head/ear shy rescue horse

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true dragon

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Ok, so im getting a new horse soon. she is very head/ear shy. She was rescued from the slaughter houses of spain and brought over covered in blood, lactating and scaring over her nose and back leg where she was hobbled with wire. the horse she was rescued with only had one ear, the other being ripped off.. We know she has been ear twitched and a serrated metal nose band has been used on her to keep her head down. bless her!!!

Other than her not letting you touch her ears, she is a real sweet heart and a great forward ride with a scoopy jump. 100% in traffic and fab to be around on the ground. really trusting in all other ways

so any advice about desensitising her around her ears? anyone over come a horse with head/ear shyness? how many months did it take you? and what techniques did you use?

many thanks for you advice in advance! :)
 
If this poor horse has suffered the trauma you say - then I don't think you'll ever desensitise them. You'll just have to find a way to work around the problem.

How are her current owners dealing with the problem?
 
I would stick with what current owner is doing, if in time you and the horse build up a strong enough relationship you may then decide to work on improving things, but you know its an issue with real reason behind it, I would bear with her and just make life easy/less stressful for both of you
 
Agree with amymay. I think if there is a chance in situations like that, its trust not de sensitizing that will do it. I'd be inclined not to try, until the mare trusted me otherwise, even if that was a year or two down the line. Then I'd slowly start edging itching sessions towards the ears, before slowly starting to touch them. Again, never ever pushing it, & being prepared for it to take another few years from what she has suffered.
 
true dragon said:
she builds the bridle around her head basically. and she doesnt wear a brow band.
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I worked with two ponies which has been ear twitched (but not subjected to the cruelty this mare has afaik!!). This is what I did with them and in a few weeks of softly softly I was able to put the bridle on normally. Your horse is bound to take longer but it is do able. You need to push gentley to make progress but not so much as it reminds them of the trauma. Some bridles like endurance ones might make life easier as they have spring clips which would alleviate the risk of frightening her when you are try to do up the old fashioned type of cheek pieces. Or even one of those head collar bridles you just take the cheek pieces off to make into a head collar would be good.

Now long is it since she was rescued?
 
Thanks Jools and amymay. I put her bridle on yesterday in that fashion, and it only took me about 3 mins, so in the grand scale of things, its not that much time. id rather spend the extra time and make her comfortable than stress her.

the only thing is, i would like to ride her in a dr cooks bitless bridle in time (as i do a lot of long distance and all my horses have taken to this bridle very well in the past) but you have to put it on in a conventional way over the ears, as it needs a brow band to hold the cross under strap in place. I suppose its something i can try in time when she trusts me more. time will tell. im not going to force her though.

a lady in wiltshire rescued her about 3 years ago with 8 others. shes just a farmers wife with a big heart. :)
 
littlelegs said:
Agree with amymay. I think if there is a chance in situations like that, its trust not de sensitizing that will do it. I'd be inclined not to try, until the mare trusted me otherwise, even if that was a year or two down the line. Then I'd slowly start edging itching sessions towards the ears, before slowly starting to touch them. Again, never ever pushing it, & being prepared for it to take another few years from what she has suffered.
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Thanks :) yes, im fully prepared that this might take years.... if at all.

FfionWinnie said:
I worked with two ponies which has been ear twitched (but not subjected to the cruelty this mare has afaik!!). This is what I did with them and in a few weeks of softly softly I was able to put the bridle on normally. Your horse is bound to take longer but it is do able. You need to push gentley to make progress but not so much as it reminds them of the trauma. Some bridles like endurance ones might make life easier as they have spring clips which would alleviate the risk of frightening her when you are try to do up the old fashioned type of cheek pieces. Or even one of those head collar bridles you just take the cheek pieces off to make into a head collar would be good.

Now long is it since she was rescued?
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good idea about the endurance bridles! i used to have one of those too! i did think about getting leather straps for bit attachments for a head collar (as she is fine with you putting a head collar on), but ive no idea how good they are for riding in? as they are advertised as an aid for leading a strong horse.
 
amymay said:
Sounds like a kind lady. I'm assuming your having the horse on loan, rather than purchase??
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im having her on trial for a month with a view to buy (at a greatly reduced price for a lusitano mare)

the lady who rescued her sold her on, and im buying from the other person. her seller is lovely too, and turned so many people away because all they saw was a way to make money, or just wanted to own a lusitano just for the sake of owning a lusitano. her current owner knows she will have a home for life with me, and vetted me thoroughly before she would consider selling her to me. she even dropped the price an awful lot for me because she wanted her mare to go to someone who would understand her and treat her with care and love.

she also put me in touch with her rescuer, and we have had a good long conversation on the phone.

both her rescuer and her current owner will stay in touch with me :)
 
We had a rescue pony that had chunks missing out of her ears & was extremely head shy & nervous in general. We also used to build the bridle on her. She wasnt as abused as yours but we found she really thrived on being mainly cared for by 1 person for her to gain trust with. Over the 4yrs we owned her she eventually let us tack her up normally & wasn't as nervous but we could never trim her ears or clip above her cheeks xx
 
If you've got a quiet second horse, it can be very effect to ride the second horse and lead the ear shy horse. You can then start to stroke him around the top of the head and the ears, as he is far less likely to associate any possible fear or pain if you're on another horse rather than on the ground.

Sounds odd I know, but it can be incredibly effective for head shy/ear shy horses. As he starts to accept touch more readily, you can then build up with a 2nd person on the ground, rubbing the horse's head/ears alongside your hands (ie both touching him at the same time).

Best of luck
 
Hi there,

I have a headshy/ear shy horse which I can now bridle *almost* normally after a year of owning her (I remove the noseband now and thread through after so less tack flapping round her face when putting on!)

It is definately trust which has helped rather than de-sensitizing. I don't think my mare has been ear twiched but rather than the bridle or something has once got stuck over her ears and shes panicked.

Things I found helped are:

-A head collar where the throat lash unclips so you can practice putting it on over the ears without the worry of a bit.
-A velcro-attached browband. I got one from Brown Fox Leather which I no longer need to use but keep for emergencies.
-Don't be too slow or hesitant round the ears and head. I found the longer I took dithering to put her bridle on, the worse she got.
-Brush her face and ears as much as you can and matter of factly- again, no dithering. He /she will hopefully learn in time you being round the head/ears is nothing to worry about.
-I found my mare was better taking the bridle off over the ears before putting on so maybe practice this more first.

I'm now working on getting mine used to a face mask!

Hope this helps- good luck!
 
Tinap555 said:
We had a rescue pony that had chunks missing out of her ears & was extremely head shy & nervous in general. We also used to build the bridle on her. She wasnt as abused as yours but we found she really thrived on being mainly cared for by 1 person for her to gain trust with. Over the 4yrs we owned her she eventually let us tack her up normally & wasn't as nervous but we could never trim her ears or clip above her cheeks xx
Click to expand...

i assume it will be a long long time before she lets me bridle her in a normal way too, so thanks for letting me know your experience as in time, it might just be possible. and i will be the only person who will handle/ride her.

irishcob said:
If you've got a quiet second horse, it can be very effect to ride the second horse and lead the ear shy horse. You can then start to stroke him around the top of the head and the ears, as he is far less likely to associate any possible fear or pain if you're on another horse rather than on the ground.

Sounds odd I know, but it can be incredibly effective for head shy/ear shy horses. As he starts to accept touch more readily, you can then build up with a 2nd person on the ground, rubbing the horse's head/ears alongside your hands (ie both touching him at the same time).

Best of luck
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never thought of that, good idea. i do have a sturdy little hairy cob who would be perfect for such training. i might do this next summer, after she gets to know me and trusts me.
 
Mardy Mare said:
Hi there,

I have a headshy/ear shy horse which I can now bridle *almost* normally after a year of owning her (I remove the noseband now and thread through after so less tack flapping round her face when putting on!)

It is definately trust which has helped rather than de-sensitizing. I don't think my mare has been ear twiched but rather than the bridle or something has once got stuck over her ears and shes panicked.

Things I found helped are:

-A head collar where the throat lash unclips so you can practice putting it on over the ears without the worry of a bit.
-A velcro-attached browband. I got one from Brown Fox Leather which I no longer need to use but keep for emergencies.
-Don't be too slow or hesitant round the ears and head. I found the longer I took dithering to put her bridle on, the worse she got.
-Brush her face and ears as much as you can and matter of factly- again, no dithering. He /she will hopefully learn in time you being round the head/ears is nothing to worry about.
-I found my mare was better taking the bridle off over the ears before putting on so maybe practice this more first.

I'm now working on getting mine used to a face mask!

Hope this helps- good luck!
Click to expand...

great advice! thank you. i thought about a velcro brow band but didnt know if anyone made them, so thanks for the name of the company that does!
 
I look after a a head shy horse. She'd had a bad start too (although nothing as horific as your horse). I would say that she is reasonable in that I can get the bridle on her (without dismantling it now) with patience, but as others have said, it's down to whether the horse trusts you. It's taken this mare well over a year to start to trust me enough to get the bridle on her, and she's still not happy to let other people touch her head. But, as yours is, she's a great horse to ride, so worth that extra time.
 
RLS said:
I look after a a head shy horse. She'd had a bad start too (although nothing as horific as your horse). I would say that she is reasonable in that I can get the bridle on her (without dismantling it now) with patience, but as others have said, it's down to whether the horse trusts you. It's taken this mare well over a year to start to trust me enough to get the bridle on her, and she's still not happy to let other people touch her head. But, as yours is, she's a great horse to ride, so worth that extra time.
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exactly, well worth the extra time and effort it takes to build their trust and the extra few minutes it takes to put the bridle on.
 
I had the same issue with my Bransby rescue who had a seatbelt cutting into her head when she was rescued.

We were taking bridle apart for the first year then we could do browband , she is almost normal now with headcollars etc we are getting there with bridle. She had a few other issues she was bolshy and bargy but slowly all are resolving - as far as her greed and breeding will allow:) We have had her 3 years this year it is 5 or 6 since she was rescued.
 
Shivvy said:
I had the same issue with my Bransby rescue who had a seatbelt cutting into her head when she was rescued.

We were taking bridle apart for the first year then we could do browband , she is almost normal now with headcollars etc we are getting there with bridle. She had a few other issues she was bolshy and bargy but slowly all are resolving - as far as her greed and breeding will allow:) We have had her 3 years this year it is 5 or 6 since she was rescued.
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im so pleased you are getting there with her. what i have gleaned from the advice given to me today is expect it to take years not months. and build up a trusting relationship before you try anything new.
 
Hi
My daughters horse is headshy and always has been since before we bought him. He was in a riding school and nobody could get near him as they wouldnt spend the time undoing his bridle and threading it through the brow band. My daughter did and we eventually bought him. We have had him 14 years and he is still headshy and has his bridle undone and then put on that way which becomes so easy the more you do it that it literally takes less than a minute.
He will have his bridle taken off the normal way as long as you do it quickly.
When we started we got a brow band that was too big so it was easier to thread through.
Although he trusts us and will let us touch hs ears and head a little he is still headshy and always will be but it is no problem at all and he more than makes up for it by being a very loving horse with a fabulous character. You just have to remember to tell people he is headshy as they tend to go straight to stroke the head and ears area
Good Luck
 
I would just concentrate on gaining her trust, I wouldn't try to touch her ears, wouldn't even look at them. It will take kindness, time and patience. Just be kind to her and treat her fairly, she may always have issues with her ears, but, if she can trust you, it will become less of a problem
 
Danny is very sensitive around his ears. I am the only person allowed to touch them. and he has a full sized browband, not a cob one. I earned his permission to touch his ears and got this by rubbing his head down with a tea towl after every ride and rubbing behind his ears. it took a few months to stop him backing away, but he lets me rub his head now after work, and I can even brush his forehead before we work.

Personally I would leave the ears well alone for the first 6 months- you have the rest of the horse to concentrate on to start with. They are only a small part of her!

ETA: get a headcollar with buckles both sides so you can make the headpiece sit back on the neck a bit more.
 
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Good luck with the long road ahead. My old mare was very headshy and the vet thought she had been twitched on her ear. I bought a synthetic bridle which was easy to put together on her and we never got past that in the 20 years I had her .
I seem to remember one of the Grand National winners being the same and after seeing that I stopped worrying about it. She used to get so stressed that by the time we got out she was miserable so we just accepted putting it on bit by bit.
we used to be able to take it off normally but could never put the reins over her head. Still miss that difficult little mare, PTS at age 32
 
true dragon said:
im so pleased you are getting there with her. what i have gleaned from the advice given to me today is expect it to take years not months. and build up a trusting relationship before you try anything new.
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You will get there ours was alot better after a year or so. We use an oversize browband too. Now we can touch her all over her head pull her ears to stroke them and kiss her face which on day one would have been impossible.:) She is my atavar at the mo hairy thing in the piccie, though she looks like the horse on the front of the happy hoof sacks in the summer - guessing new forest type.
 
My WB was very ear shy and we built the bridle round her head. We played with her ears slowly with our hands and after three years of having her I can put the bridle on like a hat do it up then put the bit in. It works for her.

If she is happy with how it goes on don't change it.
 
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