ear shy

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Cassy

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My new horse likes standing on his head in the muddy field. The problem is he hates having his ears touched let alone brushed. I have tried soft brushes and a pimply rubber mitt, with little success, he jerks his head away and gets quite stroppy. Any ideas please?
 
My first thought is could have have been ear twitched in the past?

Will be let you just use your fingers to get the mud off? Not the best, but could start the path of desensatising him to ears being touched.
 
My mare was like this. It only happens in winter although she doesn't like her left ear being clipped (history unknown so could have been twitched). I think its because it can be quite sore to pull off the thick clumps of mud so I ended up just giving up and riding her muddy. We were both much happier this way!
 
My mare wouldn't let me anywhere near her ears when I first got her, not sure why. I have just persevered gently with her and now its no issue. I found giving her a little scratch behind her ears with my fingers worked better than trying to get a brush anywhere near, so I would just rub the mud off with my hand. It didn't take her too long to accept it though so hopefully yours will be the same.
 
Thanks I may just have to put up with the mud for now. She will let me run my hand over her head but thats as far as it goes at the moment. I suspect she has been a victim of the irish ear twitching. Such a shame.
 
My Draft mare hated having her head and face touched when I first got her. I worked up gently, with my hand only from from her neck, then I got one of those cactus mitts and got her used to that. Eventually she rather enjoyed having her face brushed. It just needed patience and perseverance.
 
My little welshie is ear shy. I've been doing the old approach and retreat with a lot of repetition with the ultimate goal being to bridle her without too much fuss.
 
Mine used to be so ear shy you had to take her bridle apart and put it on piece by piece - try to pull it over her ears and she would go ballistic. I spent a year or so doing this and not really touching her ears at all, just gently brushing round them and stroking her face. Then one day I decided to put her bridle on normally and what do you know, she didn't mind at all. I don't know if she had ever been ear twitched, but she was incredibly ear shy when we first got her. But she did get over it - you just have to take things slowly with them :)
 
My little welshie is ear shy. I've been doing the old approach and retreat with a lot of repetition with the ultimate goal being to bridle her without too much fuss.
 
Desensitising them to being handled responds well to reinforcement training and shaping - gradually get closer and closer with a gentle hand and reward for each time she stays still while you do
 
My ISH was like this when he first arrived but it improved massively over time just from consistent handling. For the last few years I’ve not even had to think about it and can play with his fuzzy ears as much as I want :D
 
If your horse enjoys a lick I sometimes bribe them with it to get them to drop their head low and enjoy that while I brush (I'm short and he's 16.3hh when he raises his head I don't have a chance)
 
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