Is twitching cruel?

Is twitching (of the upper lip) cruel?

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Wagtail

Wagtail

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I used to think so, but have since changed my mind. It looks barbaric and nasty, and does not work on every horse, but actually, I think it is a very useful and not unpleasant experience for the majority of horses that undergo it. Times when I have had to use it are:

Clipping
Shoeing (very rarely)
Injections

I have one horse on the yard who dos not allow you to clip him. He is not scared (believe me, I know him that well). Just doesn't want you to do it. He will not let you do anything he can't see the point of. Even if I am just pointing out where he is too fat, he will get nasty! (Maybe I need to be more tactful!) Anyway, he will actually hold his nose out for the twitch and then goes into a sort of contented trance when it is applied and let me clip him. I keep it on no longer than ten minutes with a couple of minutes break before reapplying. One day, he had been so good for clipping after the first ten minutes of twitching I thought I'd try the clippers without. He tried to double barrel me! I reapplied the twitch and he stood like a lamb.

Second horse needs twitching for clipping as she is genuinely scared of the clippers. The twitch works to a certain extent but does not work anywhere near as well as wth the first horse.

My gelding had to be twitched the first couple of times when he was shod behind. It worked, but left him angry afterwards. Now though, I just have to keep him occupied with treats and he's fine.

So I guess twitching is not a good option for all horses, and they all react differently to it. But it is now not on my list of 'cruel' things we subject horses to. What do others think?

BTW re the clipping, if it were my horse I would try clicker training first, but when clients aren't prepared to put in the time to do it themselves and you have to clip their horse, then twiching is my only option when a horse is violently opposed to it. (With the owner's consent of course).
 
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I don't know.

At the moment I think it's a tool that we can use. It can be done appropriately in which case it is useful, and it can be done inappropriately in which case it probably causes suffering and so it is then cruel.

My vet showed me how to do it properly and I have used it on my gelding for the following reasons:

Nerve block injections - to save the vet getting his head kicked in.
The last of a course of IM injections that my I was administering to him. He was getting more and more upset by needles (and I am an experienced nurse so I do not doubt my technique) so for the last injection I twitched him for approx 12 secs in order to do a fast and safe "stab."
To clip his leg around a nasty patch of mudfever.
To clip his ears and face - this one I feel bad about as it was vanity on my part that caused it. However it was on less than 10 mins and he appeared in no way distressed.

Done properly it can make a situation much safer, and I can live with that - I'd like to think that if I needed to twitch for shoeing or for a whole clip I would be able to work over time on these issues so I could do it twitchfree in the future.
 
I dont think its cruel if its applied to the lip and for short periods only.
In an ideal world we would all have the time needed to work through issues, in reality, sometimes ( vet for example ) a horse needs to be handled in a way it might object to. If putting a twitch on keeps the handler safe
 
No i dont think its cruel, especially if you can do the shoulder twitch as then there is less likely to be any damage to the nose...it took me a while to find the spot after someone else showing me!!
I use twitching about every 8weeks when i have to clip my old boys feathers off, he is scared of clippers and dangerous unless twitched and sedated (sedalin). He has to have his feathers off due to skin problems. So it is a lesser of two evils, he is twitched for half an hour and pain free. We have tried to desensitise him but there is nothing more we can do after 12 years of trying it is too much of a strong memory for him.
I would use a twitch if a horse needed it. I would obviously try to work on the problem but if an emergency happened and the horse needed the thing that scared it (injection etc) then i would twitch without a doubt. Aslong as its for short periods (max i leave on is 10mins then a few mins break etc) the nose will not be damaged.
 
Sorry, having trouble with mobile version...
Was just saying that i think twitching falls into the same category as chifney. Not the ideal, but safety comes first imo.
Kx
 
I use a twitch to worm my boy if the wormer is a paste - we tried various ways and he just wouldn't take the easy road :rolleyes:

I had to resort to asking the vet to show me so I can get it done quickly and safely - nothing worse than a 520kg horse trying to squash you to avoid being wormed
 
We used to use a twitch for injecting a horse who, prior to a bad experience with very cold, thick antibiotic injection, had been an angel to inject and then became very difficult. With the twitch she was absolutely fine. In fact sometimes we could just hold her nose with fingers.
We did try to use it for shoeing on a Clydesdale mare, somewhat less successfully though. She just ran through the twitch, taking the farrier and handler with her. We decided to sedate instead.
IMO it's safe to use if you don't keep it on too long. There is research which shows that it releases endorphins which the horse responds favourably to. In fact often if you stroke the nose in a circular motion, you will see the horse 'going off'.
I would only use a twitch for essential jobs which are over quickly.
 
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We always have a twitch in the tackroom, first aid kit & trailer. It is a very good method of humane control when its needed.
 
Circe said:
I dont think its cruel if its applied to the lip and for short periods only.
In an ideal world we would all have the time needed to work through issues, in reality, sometimes ( vet for example ) a horse needs to be handled in a way it might object to. If putting a twitch on keeps the handler safe
Click to expand...

^^^ this :-) for short periods only, not for hour and a half while clipping which my horse used to be subjected to by his old owner. He stands there no problem with nothing since I had him
 
apparently i have a horse who can't be twitched, it was tried on him once by his previous owner and he collapsed:confused: thankfully i've not needed to test him to see if he does it again since i've had him.
i don't think it's cruel but i think it can be over used by some instead of working through a horses problems.
 
I have one solitary horse, out of my many horses, who will not tolerate being wormed with paste. I've had this mare for going on 6 years now and over the first couple of years with her I tried everything to help smooth the experience for her. Nothing worked and she would get herself into a complete tizzy the moment she smelled the wormer. I still managed to worm her but each time I felt disappointment afterwards. Then one day I (and she) had just had enough so I twitched her, and I wormed her in 2 seconds versus the ages it usually took. So now when worming time is upon me, she is always the first in her field to be done so she can't smell it. I twitch her before I even take the wormer out of the packet and it's done and dusted without any upset to her or me. It's taken the stress out of it for her, and for me, with lots of horses to worm all at one sitting, it's become a breeze.

She is the only horse I use a twitch on for anything so I'm not one for digging it out willy-nilly, but I think a twitch is a very useful tool providing it is not overused.
 
Generally I don't have a problem with twitching for short periods for a difficult horse or pony. Unfortunately, the idiot vet who dealt with our pony when she fractured a leg whilst on loan, twitched her and then proceeded to take several x rays, and then apply a robert jones. End result a pony with a very swollen muzzle which obviously was still uncomfortable for her several days later. When our own vet saw the scar on her nose he went mad!
 
No hesitation in using it on the lip, horses are big animals and can panic.

I use it on my colt for trimming his front feet, no problems with rears! also for trimming his ears and face - he seems to doze off while it is on.
 
I hate it but I've let the vet do it to my horse for joint blocks before. If possible I would prefer to have her sedated which I believe is more humane but as she needed to be ridden after the joint blocks sedation would have been dangerous. My horse was kicking out at the vet putting the needles into her hocks (it hurt!) and it was a choice between my horse getting a sore lip as a distraction or the vet getting a broken arm or worse so the twitch went on. I chose to use a metal one rather than a rope one though as it seemed like the rope one could easily go too tight or pinch by accident. I didn't like it but I didn't feel like I had much choice unfortunately.
 
IF it is done correctly, then it is not cruel :)

Often use it to clip horses especially when clipping round the head/under elbow etc. Means 5 minutes of easy hassle free clipping! And increased safety for myself and the horse :)
 
I wouldn't consider twitching cruel at all.
Its mild discomfort and then a release of endorphins that causes the horse to relax.

Id much rather twitch a horse than sedate one and risk all the dangers of a sedative,just to get a similar effect.
When I was on equine practice it was the first point of call before sedation if things were getting...difficult.
Even a hand twitch,where you use your hand to catch the upper lip,can be enough to calm an edgy horse to inject or scan.

I find it one of the most helpful old tricks of the trade out there.Even if it isnt as reliable as the stronger sedating drugs it can help in a lot of potentially dangerous situations.

Obviously the twitch should never be left on for more than a few minutes..Common sense that. 30 minutes is ridiculous!
 
I dont think it is cruel if used correctly.

Yesterday I used one for pulling a horses mane. We could have battled for over an hour without or popped on and mane done in less than 10 mins.

He is the type that as soon as its on his head drops and eyes close and he stands like an angel.

Twitching him completely eliminated the stress for us and the horse.
 
if i felt that my horse could only be clipped if twitched - i would prob try & deal with the underlying issue or god forbid:eek: - have a hairy horse BUT as she only needs twitching for her ears - so aprox 2 mins - i am happy to use a twitch or sometimes just do it by holding her nose
drug free & quick solution - stress free horse & stress free owner - sounds like a win win to me
 
Only had to use it once (when vet was attending) and all my horse did was go dopey. We used a humane twitch and the horse didn't appear stressed before or after the application. Not sure I'd want to use baling twine like some people do - as it may chaffe, though.
 
I'm unsure about cruel, but I personally have only had to use it once. I would not use it routinely, only in an emergency. For routine and planned things lime clipping I would rather deal with the rout of the problem and build confidence in the horse. One thing I would never ever do is ear twitch. I am 100% confident that the only reason ear trotting works is through extreme pain, and it leads to understandable head shy-ness. Can't believe people still do it, makes me so angry.
 
We used to have to twitch Cappy for the vet to have his injections, as he would attack him. He is a very big horse, 17-3hh and can throw his weight about. He was twitched a few times but gradually learned that it was not the end of the world and no longer needs it. If done properly it does not hurt but just releases endorphins, he has never had any bruising or anything.

IMHO It was right to twitch him because he needs his injections for his health.I would not twitch for clipping or farrier, as I think they need to learn to accept those over time it can be done. But injections/ medical etc. is different because it needs to be done there and then.

FDC
 
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over the many years i have seen and used it but now will never - as stated many times if used correctly it is not cruel but seen to many people use it incorrectly - to long, keeping the pressure to strong - and now i would walk away from it totally. I understand the science behind it but mmmmmm I just seen to many bad experiences with it to ever be comftable with it BUT this is only my view ok :) lol x
 
My vet came out to band a sarcoid on my gelding a couple of weeks ago. After two lots of sedative, although he appeared totally out of it, whenever the vet touched him, he went demented. Twitched him for a couple of minutes and job done in a matter of seconds. I'd rather that than the vet get his head kicked in, and the sarcoid is now gone as well. It's a win win situation.
 
I don't think it's cruel- providing it's done correctly. I've used it in the past (upper lip) to deal with emergencies as it's made things quicker and safer for all concerned.

However, I don't agree with using the ear- this happened to my old mare and she was headshy as a result.
 
I think it is a usefull tool to have when dealing with horses. I have twitched my boy twice in the year I have had him, once was in the winter when he had mud fever and didnt want it touched, he would lift the leg up when ever you went near it and this is totally out of charachter for him it is the only time he has ever lifted a leg. So rather than make it an issue he was twitched and it was delt with and cleared up quickly. More recently he has been twitched so I could clean a cut near his eye, he hates water on his face so wasnt going to let me try with out so he was twitched for a few mins while it was sorted and it has now healed nicely.

ETA - Always used a lip twitch or skin on the shoulder never an ear twitch.
 
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