Diary of an ear defender!

[ycbm]

I just wondered if anyone would be interested in my project of teaching my new horse not to be afraid of anyone touching his ears? I bought him knowing that his bridle has to be undone to get it on, even the reins, and it's not the end of the world if I never succeed, but I think we will get there. He is absolutely petrified that anyone or anything will touch his ears as they put something over the top of them. He has viral ear plaques (white things you see in many horses ears) and they are, according to vets who've seen them in my horses in the past, very painful if touched. They are sloughing off now and most horses clear them sooner or later.

So, here's episode one, and if enough people want to read it, I'll carry it on.

Unluckily, he's 16.1 with a long neck, so simply sticking the reins over his head isn't an option. Tying him up and standing next to him on a block would be dangerous as he will swing around in total fear. He's sweet and gentle about everything else, this is genuine, serious fear. Luckily, he's treat orientated, so we start every morning with pony cubes in my left hand, which he is allowed all the time I am scratching round the base of his ear with my right hand. He takes his ear away, I take the cubes away. After three days, I can now get my hand on the bottom third of his ear and leave it there.

The eventual aim of this is to be able to push his whole ear forward through the headpiece of a bridle. I will never be trying to touch the plaques, there is no need.

To address the reins over the top issue, I have a piece of hose, turned into a hula hoop. The first day I held it up at a height to get it over his ears and kept it there until he stopped waving his head about, then treated him. The second day, I have just about been able to put it over his head around his neck, with a clearance of at least a foot over his ears. He's not happy about that at all, so it needs repeating until he is happy about it.

I think I need a proper hula hoop to start with, which will be stiff enough to hold up with only one hand while I treat him with the other.

The next stage will be to begin to touch his ears with it as I take it off, but we are some way away from that.

 

[Mule]

I just wondered if anyone would be interested in my project of teaching my new horse not to be afraid of anyone touching his ears? I bought him knowing that his bridle has to be undone to get it on, even the reins, and it's not the end of the world if I never succeed, but I think we will get there. He is absolutely petrified that anyone or anything will touch his ears as they put something over the top of them. He has viral ear plaques (white things you see in many horses ears) and they are, according to vets who've seen them in my horses in the past, very painful if touched. They are sloughing off now and most horses clear them sooner or later.

So, here's episode one, and if enough people want to read it, I'll carry it on.

Unluckily, he's 16.1 with a long neck, so simply sticking the reins over his head isn't an option. Tying him up and standing next to him on a block would be dangerous as he will swing around in total fear. He's sweet and gentle about everything else, this is genuine, serious fear. Luckily, he's treat orientated, so we start every morning with pony cubes in my left hand, which he is allowed all the time I am scratching round the base of his ear with my right hand. He takes his ear away, I take the cubes away. After three days, I can now get my hand on the bottom third of his ear and leave it there.

The eventual aim of this is to be able to push his whole ear forward through the headpiece of a bridle. I will never be trying to touch the plaques, there is no need.

To address the reins over the top issue, I have a piece of hose, turned into a hula hoop. The first day I held it up at a height to get it over his ears and kept it there until he stopped waving his head about, then treated him. The second day, I have just about been able to put it over his head around his neck, with a clearance of at least a foot over his ears. He's not happy about that at all, so it needs repeating until he is happy about it.

I think I need a proper hula hoop to start with, which will be stiff enough to hold up with only one hand while I treat him with the other.

The next stage will be to begin to touch his ears with it as I take it off, but we are some way away from that.

I'd be interested in following. It sounds interesting, plus this kind of thread will always be useful to someone.

 

[YorksG]

The young Appy was vile about her ears when she first came here, no physical ear problem, but hate things round the base of her ears. Clicker training, which I have used for many things with her, was the key. We can now play "enginears" with her with m arm over her neck to hold the opposite ear. She hate being bridled, but eventually after much building of it on her head, she accepts it in the normal way. We were told she was hard to catch and think it was because she disliked the buckle and the head stall, she has always been ok with a soft rope halter. A friend had a pony with aural plaques and she was never ok with the bridle being put on in the normal way, but was a perfect pony in all other ways.

 

[Meredith]

ycbm, yes it is interesting.
This is probably not relevant to your horse but I had one that would let me brush her ears quite roughly with a short bristled dandy brush. She even lent into the brush to push harder both inside and out of her ears. Touching with hands was however completely impossible. I put the bridle on after brushing wearing gloves.

 

[scats]

Polly was a nightmare to bridle when she came. She also has aural plaques.
She now lets me do anything to her ears. I think it just came down to trust with her, as she still has a panic when Ivan puts the head strap of the gag on to do her teeth.

 

[Xanthoria]

I sound like a broken record but... clicker training could help with this! It lets to give a reward at the precise moment a horse does what you want, which makes slight tries so easy to build on

 

[Tarragon]

Yes please with the updates - I love to follow how other people approach these things and I always end up learning something.

 

[HashRouge]

Yes this will be interesting to follow ycbm. My experience has been that it is one of those things that can be overcome but requires time and patience. My own mare had to have the bridle undone to put it on when I first got her and was quite ear shy. I can't remember if you could actually touch them (I was only 11 when I got her) but I do remember the first time I tacked her up two adults on the yard ended up wrestling her into her bridle (and she's not big!) as she ran backwards into a wall. I must have decided that wouldn't do, because I started undoing the bit and assembling the bridle on her. From what I remember, what she didn't like was having the head piece pulled over her ears. I don't think I did any specific training with her, but over the course of the next year she became more confident allowing me to brush round her ears and gradually let me start to touch them. One day, around 1 year on, I just decided to try putting her bridle on normally and, what do you know, she was fine .

 

[ycbm]

I have bought hula hoops in two sizes to train him that he isn't going to die if someone puts something over his head. I have been using a hose but it kinks too easily and needs two hands. With a hula hoop I can use the hoop with one hand and treat with the other.

Today, with the aid of a treat in my left hand I can put my right hand on his right ear, bottom half, and leave it there.

I spent ten minutes in Sainsbury this morning choosing all the long thin carrots because they are easier to 'drip feed' than pony cubes. I'm sure the other shoppers wondered what I was being so fussy about 😂

I understand what people are saying about clicker training, but I don't have any more hands available 😁 and I have always found 'good boy' works exactly the same as a click anyway as long as you only say it when it's deserved.

 

[Tiddlypom]

The late maxicob was ear shy when I got him as a 5yo. As he was a recent Irish import, I just presumed that it was a legacy of the usual rushed breaking process. I got him checked out by an osteopath, and didn't even mention the ear shyness as I was sure it was a handling issue that I could cure in time.
'He's out in his poll', osteo said, did his adjustments and hey presto, ear shyness gone.

 

[ycbm]

He really does love carrots! It's proving very useful. I can now drip feed him a carrot while leaving my right hand resting lightly on most of the back of his right ear. I can see him making a choice between removing the ear from my hand and eating the carrot, and deciding on the carrot.

The hula hoop is brilliant, if I say so myself. He is very frightened by anything which is held up higher than the top of his ears. But with the carrot incentive, I can hold the stiff hula hoop up beside his head, vertically, with the top of the hoop higher than the top of his ears and offer carrot with the left hand. He is lowering his head and allowing the hoop to be there, warily, but this is big progress

 

[Bojingles]

Why do you think most horses clear aural plaques eventually? My understanding is that they're a chronic condition caused by papilloma virus. You're right not to touch them - just leave them alone. However you may want to protect them in fly season. Keep messing about with them to an absolute minimum.

 

[ycbm]

Why do you think most horses clear aural plaques eventually? My understanding is that they're a chronic condition caused by papilloma virus. You're right not to touch them - just leave them alone. However you may want to protect them in fly season. Keep messing about with them to an absolute minimum.

Because over the last forty years I've bought many horses with them and they have always disappeared after a few months. My current three year old had them at two and is now clear. Muffin's look as if they are dropping off. If so, he will be at least the seventh or eighth horse I've had with them who cleared them, and I've never owned one who had them and didn't clear them.


PS I had a look online to find out why you asked the question, and it's a compete surprise to me that every site I looked at said that they don't spontaneously regress, because that is so totally not in keeping with my personal experience.

 

[J&S]

I bought a pony years ago with these white ear plaques. I was told to wipe the inside of the ear carefully with baby oil and they would just slide off in time. This is what happened.

 

[Blazingsaddles]

Polly was a nightmare to bridle when she came. She also has aural plaques.
She now lets me do anything to her ears. I think it just came down to trust with her, as she still has a panic when Ivan puts the head strap of the gag on to do her teeth.

I too think it will resolve once she trusts you. Probably just a case of rough bridling & ears being flattened each time she was bridled.

 

[ycbm]

It's going well. I can put my hand on the right ear without too much trouble. I haven't tried the left yet. And he will reach into the hoop for a piece of carrot. I should be able to pop it over his head soon.

They also told me that he couldn't be clipped without sedation and this morning I have clipped a tiny piece of his neck with some small clippers and he wasn't even wearing a headcollar

The plaques look very much to me as if they are all going to fall off and resolve themselves, just like the websites say can't happen, but I've seen several times before with other horses. We'll see, it would be great if they do.

 

[Sam_J]

Sounds like really good progress. I'm interested in what happens, please keep us updated.

 

[ycbm]

Quick update. I can now pass things over his head. He is no happier about having his ears touched, so I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt that they really hurt, and learning them alone for now and undoing his cheek piece and brow band to get the bridle on. But today he let me take it off in one piece, so I think a will get there in the end.