Help! New horse head tilting in trot?

ellie11987

ellie11987

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Hi wasn't sure where to put this but I've recently got a 6 year old thoroughbred mare who 'tilts' her head in trot. She sticks her head out and twists it every few strides, her previous owner had told me she sometimes does this but it seems more frequent and severe than she said. Does anyone know why she does this or how i can get her to stop? Thanks :)
 
I'd say she has some discomfort somewhere, either in her mouth or in her axis (behind the ears). The latter could be as a result of pulling back on something whilst tied up. I'd get her teeth checked and if the EDT can't find anything get a physio to look at her. Please don't leave it though as I would imagine she is quite a lot of pain to display behaviour like that.
 
Thank you! I thought this was unusual behavior when I viewed her but the owner just told me she wants to get out of doing work - something I didn't quite get. Will get the dentist out asap, thought it would be this.
 
In my experience, I thought it was teeth .....but what I learned through trial and error with my head tilter was .....check your positioning with a good instuctor, Tb's can be overly sensitive even if you're unknowingly a cm out! Turned out I was leaning to the right which caused a head tilt - can you feel your bum bones equally? Have you forgotten what equal feels like (as I had). Also check the flocking in your saddle isn't making this so.

This may be learned aversion to ther bit, so never underestimate the importance of a reward system for them while being on the bit.

eta: ooh, look straight and don't move your head to look between those ears when the head is tilted, as your head line will be doing the same lol
 
Last edited:
ellie11987 said:
Thank you! I thought this was unusual behavior when I viewed her but the owner just told me she wants to get out of doing work - something I didn't quite get. Will get the dentist out asap, thought it would be this.
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I bet her owner is the sort that doesn't give her any tea if she misbehaves to teach her a lesson also. :rolleyes: shocking to think there are people out there that actually believe horse will get out of work by 'acting'. For goodness sake they are animals not circus clowns! :mad:

Thank God she has found a good home at last :)
 
I would echo the person who said check your position - not trying to say it's bad, just that she may be quite sensitive to your weight distribution.

Only going off my experience here as my Welsh also does this - only in trot. It's his way of letting my know that I need to sit straight. When he does it if I focus on both seat bones I usually find that I have more weight on my right seat bone and right hip is also slightly further forward :(. If I rectify this he usually goes straight again.
 
Id have my bet on teeth - your friendly neighbourhood BAEDT will be able to look properly and tell you exactly if theres anything going on that needs sorting - and will refer you to someone if its out of their comfort zone (fillings or something)

good luck :)
 
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