Is there anything your horse won’t let you do?

[Esmae]

Clip his ears. I can do anything else, not a problem, but not ears.

 

[still standing]

My mare absolutely hates a cold hose on her tail dock when I need to wash the muck/mud off it. First time I did it, she dropped right down into a crouch almost to the ground. She has learned to let me slowly work up from the bottom hairs almost to the top but I just can't do the last little top part... yet.

 

[Nudibranch]

Mine is the same with ear trimming. Touching them is no problem but as soon as the scissors come out it's a flat no. I don't mind fluff but hers have had greasy fluff clumps since she arrived over a year ago. She's due teeth and jabs in March so I'm going to get the scissors out while she's sedated!

 

[Pearlsasinger]

My mare absolutely hates a cold hose on her tail dock when I need to wash the muck/mud off it. First time I did it, she dropped right down into a crouch almost to the ground. She has learned to let me slowly work up from the bottom hairs almost to the top but I just can't do the last little top part... yet.

That's just a reflex action that some horses have. I used to have a TBxWelshD who did it unless you worked up the dock very gradually.

 

[JFTDWS]

I can't think of anything I can't do, but I've never tried to pull manes (hate it, won't do it on principle) and two of mine have never been shod though they're fine for trimming and handling so I can't imagine it would be an issue. I do trim ear fluff!

 

[Ceifer]

Current mare is very biddable and I can do pretty much everything with her.
Old gelding used to hate having round his manhood clipped. So it looked a bit weird as he had everything off Including legs except for his ‘pubes’. You could get most of his tummy off but anywhere within 10-20cms of his sheath was a no go.
One lady asked me about it one day when we were competing as it really was noticeable. I’m ashamed to say I told her it was all the rage in Europe and it improved the horses way of going and that all the top riders were doing it.

 

[Leo Walker]

Current mare is very biddable and I can do pretty much everything with her.
Old gelding used to hate having round his manhood clipped. So it looked a bit weird as he had everything off Including legs except for his ‘pubes’. You could get most of his tummy off but anywhere within 10-20cms of his sheath was a no go.
One lady asked me about it one day when we were competing as it really was noticeable. I’m ashamed to say I told her it was all the rage in Europe and it improved the horses way of going and that all the top riders were doing it.

This is my favourite thing on the internet today!

 

[Trinket12]

I wasn't there, but apparently Sugar wasn't a fan of the nose swab from the vet but she's pretty good overall. Doesn't like her mane being pulled so it gets a trim, I am slightly obsessed with her lovely long tail and she is fairly tolerant of the primping I give it (though when it's time to go, she gives a little swish and a stomp of her foot and I know her patience has run out!)

 

[Hannahgb]

My gelding - clipping. Even heavy sedation lasts a matter or minutes! Utter melt down and dangerous. Also scissors near his ears, even the bridle path takes a while.
Other than that he is the easiest horse on the planet!

 

[Sasana Skye]

Mission impossible to get a fly mask on one of mine, I managed to do it once but she almost killed me to do so and then I couldn't catch her for weeks, genuinely couldn't get within 50 feet of her in the field so haven't dared try again since.
Both horses are 100% in every other way. Walk straight on the trailer and travel like pros, fine with wormers, injections, clipping anywhere including the ears, farrier not a problem neither is the dentist, fly spray fine, both LOVE their ears being massaged and fall asleep, I can walk them past anything out hacking with some encouragement, I have mane pulled in the past fine - but visibly not keen so prefer to scissor chop now, they will stand with a foot in a bucket all day long, can bath them and fine with the hose on the face (came in very handy at one point), eye drops fine too - also came in very handy. It's lovely having easy horses.

 

[ycbm]

Oddly the one thing I can do is trim the grotty ear fluff, but only by holding the fluff, not the ear!

.

 

[Auslander]

My mare absolutely hates a cold hose on her tail dock when I need to wash the muck/mud off it. First time I did it, she dropped right down into a crouch almost to the ground. She has learned to let me slowly work up from the bottom hairs almost to the top but I just can't do the last little top part... yet.

I think I'd probably drop to a crouch if someone squirted my fanny with a cold hose!

 

[TheSpottyCobby]

Mine is the same with ears. 3 years of ownership and I can just about trim the fluff now but I have to be very quick about it!
Also, we have a huge issue with concours d'elegance costumes when out showing - he is absolutely terrified and goes into a meltdown if he sees one. I can't reason with him and just have to cling on for grim death until we can get far enough away. Was interesting the one time I was in the championship with one...

 

[scruffyponies]

I once had one that wouldn't take a wormer syringe. The solution was a blindfold, some carrots and effectively gaslighting your horse.

Apply blindfold, then play carrot around mouth, working up to slipping it into the side as you would the wormer.
Feed bit of carrot.
Repeat four or five times, then subtly swap the carrot for the wormer at the last moment, and just as he's thinking he's been had, follow up with another bit of carrot as before. He will think he just imagined the problem, because it was just a carrot after all.

 

[HufflyPuffly]

Another one who has to have her fluffy knickers left on, Skylla says it is a private area for a reason!

 

[albeg]

There's nothing I cant do to Alf, but I have to abide by "Law of Alf" for certain activities. Anything to do with his head used to be a no, until I realised that he doesn't like being restrained in any way - and if I don't touch his nose, or put any pressure on his headcollar - he'll let me do whatever it was he was objecting to.
It's really hard to clip a horse's head without touching it! I have to put my other hand in my pocket so that I don't put it on his nose, just because it's habit!

We have "Law of Bob" around here. Can only clip behind his ears if I'm facing the "right" way. Also can only touch his ear fluff when he wants scratches.
Not really allowed take jackets off while on his back, but he'll tolerate it if someone on the ground holds his hand.

 

[albeg]

Another one who has to have her fluffy knickers left on, Skylla says it is a private area for a reason!

Bob is the opposite, dozes off while you're trimming, which is fortunate as he gets very hairy and sweaty if he doesn't shave ?

 

[HufflyPuffly]

Bob is the opposite, dozes off while you're trimming, which is fortunate as he gets very hairy and sweaty if he doesn't shave ?

Lol, Topaz is the opposite too, she loves a good scratch up there, which is way more embarrassing I think!

 

[Annagain]

Archie puts up a fight about most things just for the sake of it but comes round fairly quickly if you ignore him and just carry on while talking to him in a stupid tone of voice. He then realises he actually quite likes some things and demands more. I had to get the hair dryer on him the other day to clip him. He was incensed to begin with but within 2 minutes was moving his head to stick his face in the air flow when I was trying to dry his neck. The one thing that's an absolute no though is cutting a bridle path - even just with scissors. You can rest the clippers between his ears while they're on and he's fine but the second the blade hits he goes ballistic, same with scissors, he's fine until he hears the sniping noise. In 15 years we've only ever managed it when he's sedated. We clipped him without sedation for the first time in 15 years this year but he still has fluffy nether regions and ears - we got a lot closer to both than we thought we would. No chance of the bridle path though.

Monty is pretty good about most things but weirdly the two things he doesn't like - mane pulling and worming - are the two things you could do to Archie with no fight at all! I've always said you'd have the perfect horse if you took each of their good bits!

 

[Sail_away]

Clipping is the only one I can think of, he’s a fluffy polar bear in winter so he needs it all off. He tends to need a dose of sedative plus some anti-anxiety stuff every 20 minutes, so it’s a rush to get it done as fast as possible. Without that there’s not a hole in hell of getting clippers within ten feet of him. It’s also the only time he’ll kick out.
Am surprised to hear so many horses don’t allow pulling manes- paddy rather likes his being done! He gets the lower lip wobbles and will sometimes try to groom me as I’m doing it.

 

[Hormonal Filly]

Worming and main pulling - wow he turns into a wild horse when he sees a wormer! Usually require 2 or 3 of us to worm him. Apart from that hes pretty chilled with anything, enjoys being clipped!

 

[Merrymoles]

Just about everything!

Mane brushing - barely tolerated at the bottom end of his neck. Pulling sends him into a meltdown so I just chop it with scissors now but even then, his forelock is a no-go area so I tend to pull it back between his ears and attempt to do it from there.
Clipping - forget it without a massive dose of sedative which wears off far too quickly to be much use
Leg brushing - nope, does the river dance or mini rears, usually managing to land on my legs or feet at least once
Worming - not a chance. He now gets it mixed in his feed and eats the lot
Staying tied up without being constantly watched - he has been on box rest recently and every time I tied him up outside for a quick skip out, he'd have the rope undone or the string broken and go for a wander around our, fortunately, secure yard
Weight taping - it is obviously a scary snake that must be run away from
Carrying any sort of stick - finds that far too traumatic to contemplate and just wants to run

There is a reason why he looks like a scruffy bog pony permanently.

On the other hand, he was a headshy horse who was scared of flyspray and we have completely got over that. He's good for the farrier and vet 90 per cent of the time, I can wash his legs without any issue and anyone could do whatever they wanted with his sheath! He was a bit of a nightmare to mount but, again, we have solved that one. Stuff that was very scary like dustbins is now not worth a look. His biting habit has retreated to just licking the back of my coat all the way to the field usually.

I have adapted to finding ways to do what I want or need to do and learning to ignore things we can't deal with...

 

[milliepops]

Apart from that hes pretty chilled with anything, enjoys being clipped!

Kira absolutely LOVES being clipped, she always wants a cuddle when you're trying to do her neck or chest. I do her standing loose and she parks quite happily to enjoy a little massage from the clippers

 

[AandK]

23yo is pretty much 100% with everything. Not a massive fan of mane pulling, but will put up with it. Although I don't pull manes these days, just use scissors.
7yo I have only had for 10 months and he has been out of work this winter, so not had chance to clip him yet. Wasn't great with the dentist so had to be sedated, but his teeth were sharp so hopefully won't need it at some point in the future. Wasn't a fan of fly spray to start with, worse when in the field but got used to it. Everything else is fine with him so far (feet, ears, loading, vets etc).

 

[tatty_v]

Another one with fluffy nether regions here, absolutely no chance of getting the clippers anywhere near his manhood, inside his back legs or his armpits. I am resigned to it as we’ve made great strides forward and no longer require sedating to the eyeballs for clipping so I just live with the odd hairy patches!

Ear fluff is also a no go, but tbh it makes me laugh as he looks like a grumpy old man with his mad ear tufts so I just leave them.

Weirdly he loves having his mane pulled!

 

[Pippity]

Most new things are an automatic "NOT A CHANCE," until you push her, at which point it's, "Oh, okay then," and you're fine the next time.

Exceptions:

Clipping: She'll tolerate it for so long, but then it all gets too much and she just can't deal. Which is why she's currently mostly clipped except for a slightly fluffy belly and some odd patches on her chest and one side of her neck! Hopefully I'll be able to finish her off with the trimmers this evening.

Feet: I can now pick them up, but being allowed to pick them out is a work in progress. And for the farrier, she gets sedated by the vet. We're off to be a demo horse for a behaviourist tomorrow, so hopefully we'll make a bit more progress on that.

 

[Tarragon]

I once had one that wouldn't take a wormer syringe. The solution was a blindfold, some carrots and effectively gaslighting your horse.

Apply blindfold, then play carrot around mouth, working up to slipping it into the side as you would the wormer.
Feed bit of carrot.
Repeat four or five times, then subtly swap the carrot for the wormer at the last moment, and just as he's thinking he's been had, follow up with another bit of carrot as before. He will think he just imagined the problem, because it was just a carrot after all.

I like this

 

[PurBee]

Water...puddles....hoses...
Anyone seeing me dancing in puddles to show them im not being swallowed up whole would think me mad!

Ironically being in ireland it rains and rains which mare doesnt mind even the worst downpours. But if its a hose wetting her...shes a snorting banshee!

I have managed to desensitise lower legs to hosing down. Its a dance with the mare, gelding is brave even if nervous.

Gelding is a pain with wormer...mare fine. The tricks i have to use for him to not spit it out all over me!

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

I can't catch 4 of mine in the field. They will follow food into a smaller area and are happy to be caught that way no issues at all, it takes 2 mins so not really a bother. 3 have been like it all their lives the other is my big Hocamaffe and he is enjoying being feral after so many years racing! I can't remember the last time I actually put a head collar on him! I open his stable door and out he goes. I open the field gate and in he goes. No fuss, no need for headcollars etc.

The rest just put up with whatever I subject them to. I expect them to accept it and for the most part they do with no fuss. Bathing, clipping, trimming, pulling etc not a bother on them. I drag them about with me a lot as youngsters so they are used to going places and climbing things and just expected to put up and shut up.

Gray won't let animals near his food though. Horses and ponies are fine but anything else - especially the pheasants- are chased away with malice! Jeff on the other hand will happily have the pheasants climbing in his bowl with him.

 

[AFB]

Another for mane pulling, we now just rake and trim to avoid the battle.

Also not keen on having his boy bits cleaned, another job we avoid where possible!