Have you twitched a foal..

charliesarmy

charliesarmy

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And if so what age were they?? Twitching has never been a route I have gone down with any horses I have owned BUT the foal has to have a wound treated every day and is getting pretty p'd off with my messing..when vet initially cameout she said she had brought her twitch which she didnt have to use...but tonight after two very quick kickouts I'm wondering wether this might be the route to take.any advice
 
I've never nose twitched a foal, but have neck twitched many. There are other forms of twitching foals and yes I have done them, but they shouldn't be done by people who don't know how to do them safely. They should also only be done when absolutely necessary. If your foal (yearling?) is undergoing veterinary treatment, then perhaps discuss the use of sedalin with your vet. Also, if it is partly the noise of vetwrap unwrapping, then sing loudly!! Doesn't matter what you sing and yes you will feel like a pratt
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but whatever it is sing it loudly - Humpty Dumpty will do
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Just like in riding, singing makes you breathe, it relaxes you and this transfers to the foal/youngster and also gives them something else to think about - it works!! Most of the time
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........but tonight after two very quick kickouts I'm wondering wether this might be the route to take.any advice

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Only 2 kick outs ?? I sold a weanling just after xmas, and she got kicked by her new companion. The owners couldnt get to clean it, as she was throwing herself about, (other liveries were telling them not to persevere as it would stress the foal)so I went down. She was previously fine to me handled all over.

I battled for probably 2 hrs, just picking her leg up, and refusing to let her pull away, or try to kick while I cleaned it. When she relaxed and stopped pulling she got it back, and I started again. She didnt like the fact I wasnt backing off, so had a paddy, but she didnt get stressed
I came away with a few bruises, and a knackered back, but she learnt she couldnt threaten / kick off a person.
The next day, she tried it on, and hopped round the stable for 5 mins, then she got it, and has stood still since for the wound to be cleaned.
She didnt once get told off or twitched as her behaviour was understandable (the leg was sore / swollen) it just wasnt an appropriate responce, to someone trying to help

In my opinion, If you cant persuade a foal to stand still, while they are reasonably small, when there a fully muscled adult, it'll need sedating etc for every little thing it dosnt like and wants to have a paddy at.
 
never twitched any of our foals- generally if you have 2 or 3 people you can (nicely) manhandle them into standing still.

we bought Vinnie at 5 months and he had been ear twitched- 4 years later he is still quite headshy and i am the only person he will let touch his ears.
 
I've neck twitched, but nothing more. I agree with everyone else - it shouldn't be necessary if you have enough people on hand and don't get stressed out yourself.
 
I won't use a rope twitch on anything - and the humane twitch is too small for foals - but I have nose twitched foals - and older horses - just with my hand. (You do get cramp after a while!) Had to hold a 2 year old that way the other day for the vet - she was surprised it worked - wanted to sedate or use a 'proper' twitch.
 
My vet showed us a method for our foal which objected to a leg wound being attended to. It involved a twist of the ear from the base, somewhat like a motorbike throttle I suppose. The ear was held until finished and then rubbed afterwards.

It was't easy being in that position for a length of time but it was if she was sedated, amazing, she turned from flicking her leg out to a floppy puppy
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She has never had any issues around her ears following this method she isn't headshy and as far as I am concerned (should anyone feel the need to come at me with pitchforks & flaming torches), not cruel in any way.
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Apparently it only works on foals though!
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She was 3 1/2 months old when she cut her leg and the leg was dressed for two months.
 
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It involved a twist of the ear from the base,

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Obviously not something that should be advocated or encouraged in any way
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It involved a twist of the ear from the base,

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Obviously not something that should be advocated or encouraged in any way
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Which is why I didn't describe it in my previous post or add the other kind, as a lot of damage can be done and you have to know what you are doing. Reading about something and trying it for yourself, is not always advisable, without supervision from someone more experienced and lets face it, we don't always know who we are talking to on these forums or who may read the posts....
 
No never and never would. We have an older horse (aged 9) that had previously been ear twitched and he is still extremly headshy. Time and patience means he now trust us but is still really bad with new people.

Foals can be ruined if not handled firmly but fairly and given chance to learn from new experiences. My (then 7 month old) had her leg badly cut and ended up in the vets for a week - the vets sedated her to change dressings etc but she soon learnt to stand without sedation and is OK to do virtually anything with as a rising 2 year old.
 
It must be difficult for you as i think if i remember rightly your boy is now 14.3 so not a foal as some may think.
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My filly cut her leg and was much smaller and that was hard enough. We had 3 people got her in a corner and just used out bodies to keep her there whilst dressing the leg. Someone else kept mum very close to her head whilst doing so. After a few days we had it down to a fine art and filly struggled less. Good luck.
 
All I can say, it worked for us, was shown to us by our vet who is a well respected horse vet and we have not had any problems.
On that basis, I would do it again to any other foals we have.

Sashpip - she has now learnt through experience, she didn't require chemicals to do the job and had no ill effects. Towards the end of the term, she didn't require twitching and stood sweetly.

I have already stated that she is happy to be handled around her head most definately isn't headshy.

The OP should ask her own vet what he/she thinks. IMO it wasn't cruel.
 
I'm not saying what you did was cruel and you did so under the guidance of your vet. I'm saying that these methods are potentially problematic if practised for the first few times having only read about them, without knowledgeable supervision. Hence why I had not mentioned ear twitching or the other method that can be used in conjunction, as incorrectly applied, they can lead to a lot of problems.

Twitching is an emotive subject and you will always have people with differing opinions on the subject. It's not something I like doing, but if it makes the horse more manageable and makes the working environment safer for the humans, esp. when the horse requires medical attention, without a vet present, then it can be a useful tool.
 
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It involved a twist of the ear from the base,

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Obviously not something that should be advocated or encouraged in any way
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This is what was used on Vinnie and he is headshy and as i said before, only i can get near his ears.

he came from a very reputable, well known stud but i still wouldn't advocate anyone using this method.
your foal may be fine or may end up like Vinnie and you have to spend hours and hours gaining trust again with simple things like getting on the headcollar.
 
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but if it makes the horse more manageable and makes the working environment safer for the humans, esp. when the horse requires medical attention, without a vet present, then it can be a useful tool.

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At 8 months pregnant, that was definately the case
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Hmmm interesting replies, I would never nose twitch a foal but we regularly hold onto an ear and the tail for routine vet treatment and farriery. And this has been the same on every stud I have had experience of over the last 10 years. I can honestly say the none of these foals ever ended up head shy, absolutely not. It should only be done by someone experienced needless to say and for as short a time as possible. Our vet is happy to microchip like this and on small foals one person can loop their arm under and up to the ear and hold the tail with the other hand leaving a the whole of the other side free for the vet to do their work. We had a walk in mare and foal last year where the foal had a shaved patch of skin where it had been chipped, the foal had been sedated intravenously and clipped just for microchip which I am sure was far more stressful than just a quick restraint method that we use.

ETA - the pinch of skin on the neck is the method that I would go for first, you can't do too much harm that way and it works on all ages.
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No I have never nose twitched a foal. I have wrapped a lead rope around their noses though and held firmly and this has worked well. Ive also neck twitched but I find with foals that can be a bit hit or miss depending on how excitable they are.
 
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It involved a twist of the ear from the base,

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Obviously not something that should be advocated or encouraged in any way
crazy.gif


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This is what was used on Vinnie and he is headshy and as i said before, only i can get near his ears.

he came from a very reputable, well known stud but i still wouldn't advocate anyone using this method.
your foal may be fine or may end up like Vinnie and you have to spend hours and hours gaining trust again with simple things like getting on the headcollar.

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Waht i find works on horses of all ages is not exactly ear twitchind, but giving the ears a firm stroke with you hand wrapped round the ears, a bit like you are GENTLY trying to pull the ear off - as in that sort of action, but no force applied to pull the ear off clearly! All our horses love that, and after doing it a few times, maybe 5, they start to go into a trance. It was very useful to calm our 2yo so that she could be sedated for her wolf teeth to be removed a couple of weeks ago!
 
I have nose twitched my foal to get her trimmed as she thought it a good idea to fling herself around the place. Twitched and she stood like an angel. Surely better that than hurting herself. She now stands to be done without a twitch.
I use a bit of rope with clip at the end so when I am doing them on my own I can clipit to the headcollar rather than holding a pole. Works brilliantly
 
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