This may be a stupid question but . . . .

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Kelly1982

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I need to know if anyone can help me with a little problem i have tacking up my horse.

She has warts in her ears and is very funny about you touching one ear in particular although she has got a lot better. She used to shy away when you touched it but now she lets me touch it to a degree and groom around it etc.

HOWEVER . . . . . i do have a job tacking her up which doesn't seem to have improved. I can get the bridle over one ear fine but when it comes to the bad ear she shakes her head violently and has hit me in the face a few times and i have also dropped the bridle on a number of occasions as well. Once its on she is fine.

I am going to try doing her bad ear first tonight to see if this help (even though it will be sligtly awkward) but has anyone got any other suggestions or do you think its just a time thing??

I have thought about an elevator bridle as they have cut backs where the ears go but they are quite expensive and i'm not sure it will work anyway as its the getting it over her ears that she stresses about.

Its probably just gonna take time for her to trust me etc but just wondered if anyone had any suggestions to make it a bit less stressful for her.
 
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I am going to try doing her bad ear first tonight to see if this help

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That's what I would do - you almost don't have to touch it if you put the bridle over that first.
 
One of my old horses had this problem when we first got her... you had one shot at getting the bridle on and that was it!

Unless the warts are actually hurting her (?), I would just use patience and persevere
smile.gif
 
Yep that is exactly like my horse and half the time even with that one shot her ear gets stuck under the head piece and we have a fight trying to get it back out.

Its not a massive problem but it is a bit embarrasing when other people are there watching and i dont like upsetting her either as that just makes us start off on a bad note before a ride.
 
My horse had this when I first bought him( the white warty stuff) and I couldn't get his bridle on. I twitched him in the end and treated it by scrubbing it out and putting aloe vera gel on it. Once it went he was fine and has been ever since.
 
My horse is the same but he has aural plaques in both ears which look like scabby warty things, they don't cause him any problems except he doesn't like having his ears touched. I have to unbuckle the cheek piece and noseband on one side, and slip the headpiece over his head then slot the browband back on the other side, open his mouth to pop the bit in and then do it all up again. It takes a little longer but with practice you can get it quite quick. The other option I considered for everyday use is a zilco endurance bridle as these go on like a headcollar and then the cheek pieces & bit can be fastened on.
 
Yeah thats what she has got but the vet told me to leave well alone. He said they dont cause her any pain and i will end up making her head shy if i tried to treat them or kept playing with them.
 
I was told by the vet that they don't hurt but they must cause some kind of discomfort as every horse i know with it is a pain in the bum to bridle and I've known loads running ariding school. I can honestly say that the minute it went his whole attitude to having his bridle put on.
 
I was thinking of undoing the bridle but like you say it takes longer and i would rather her get used to it being done properly in case for whatever reason someone else has to ride her for me.

I would feel guilty if they ended up with a black eye LOL she already has a bit of a rep on the yard he he
 


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I am going to try doing her bad ear first tonight

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I have the same problem with my horse, but if i try to put her bad ear in first she throws her head up in the air and the bit then comes out of her mouth, so i always put her good ear in first as then at least i have the bridle over one ear so if she throws her head up the bit wont fall out and cause another problem in the longrun!
 
Exactly the same as I did with my mare who had aural plaques.

Personally I wouldn't put the bad ear on first otherwise you are really going to miff her big time! Get the good ear in first and then quickly slip the other one over - it helps if you loosen the cheekpieces so it slides on with ease.
 
It might help if you have a slightly longer browband and if you dropped the cheek pieces by one hole each side before you put on. If it's loose enough then it should slip very easily over both ears at once.
 
Thats what I'd do, drop the cheakpieces down a few holes but keep them out of the keepers so once its over her ears you can fit it correctly!

It should just slide over then.

Good luck!
 
Also had this problem, what I did for several weeks was undo the bridle so she would forget about all the fuss.

I then one day had a go and she was fine.
 
we had a horse with them. with all the dealer horses they have bridles with clips on to attach the bits so that we can change them around easily. with her we would just unclip the bit and she had a big brow band so we could just put the headpiece down without having to move her ears about. it didnt take any longer to do and she got used to it quite quickly and before long we didnt need to unclip the bit.
 
My friend has a horse with warts in both ears. She won't let you put the bridle on at all in the normal way. The only ways she can do it is to unfasten the cheeck piece and noseband side straps. And put it on like a headcollar and throw (well not throw but you know what I mean) the head piece over the top of her head, put the bit in from the side and then fasten the buckles. It may seem very long winded but now both owner and horse are used to it there are not problems at all. You can actually take the bridle off in the normal way.
 
If the vet says they don't hurt her they don't hurt her so thats not why she is shaking her head. I would leave her headcollar on her until you get the briddle on at least she can't disappear if she makes you drop the briddle.
 
Haven't read replies so apologies if I'm repeating anyone - if you are happy that she's not in pain I would slowly work on making her happier with you touching her ears, should get better with time. Re tacking up for npw - can you get the cheek pieces with the spring clips on? You'd find them very useful as you can clip off the bit, drop the head piece on with no fuss, then pop the bit in - it takes no time at all to cunclip & re-clip the bit to the cheek pieces...
 
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