A couple of questions.....

[Connie P]

Question #1 - I have a horse that has turned into a complete monster when you attempt to put a halter on and then again when you need to remove it. Very touchy behind the ears and freaks out...... now I have tried patience and examined his ears inside and out and all around the top of his head to see if something was bothering him, but have found nothing. When the halter is on if I need to adjust it higher near the top of his head he goes beserk again. I need some good advice as my patience is wearing thin at this point. UGH! Once the halter is on - he is fine - will do anything and everything I ask of him.

Question #2 - I have another horse that toes out in the rear. I have been working closely with a farrier trying to correct this to no avail at this point. Can someone tell me the correct way to trim a mini that is toeing out in the rear? I just want to be sure we are doing all the right things. Thanks!

 

[ThreeCFarm]

Years ago, one of mine became very ear shy, but I couldn't see anything in there either. However, when I took him to the vet, she found some ticks WAY down in there, in both ears.

 

[Marty]

If you shaved his head, you may have burned him with the clipper blades not knowing it

OR

If you shaved his head, the hairs growing back can be getting anoying to him

OR

If you shaved his head, he could have been allergic to the clipper oil or blade wash

OR

Sunburn!

OR

If you didn't shave his head at all, could this be the terrible twos and he's just going through brat fazes?

Maybe you can start rubbing some aloe vera all over his face and see what happens.

About the toeing out behind, I got one of those also and was told early on if we did corrective trimming every 3 weeks or so using just the rasp on the outside it would help.... but there was only a small window of opportunity to do it.........it needed to be done by 18 months old. Don't know if there was any truth in that because it didn't work here at all. I got a cow hock horsey oh for joy and it cannot be fixed.

 

[Joanne]

Connie I am only going to address question number 2.

You have not mentioned the age of the horse. If it is a young horse (under 3 years old) and your farrier has seen it regularly and kept a balanced foot, then that is all you can do.

If the horse is very refined horse, as the hips spread out the legs will straighten up. This happens more on the Arabian and Thoroughbred body type horses. Rarely on a Quarter horse type.

 

[MiLo Minis]

He may have gotten his halter caught on something and is now not happy with a halter. Has he ever been left alone with a halter on? Once you have checked to be sure there are no physical problems that will resolve the issue and I would guess that there aren't, as you say he is fine once the halter is on, then you need to work on why he is doing this. Do you only halter him for nasty stuff like trimming, worming, needles, work? If so then you need to start putting the halter on and giving him a nice grooming or just putting it on and then taking it right back off, or putting it on and giving him some turnout time alone but watching or in a safe paddock so he doesn't get hurt. It is entirely possible that he is just being obnoxious because he is colty. A sharp "eh" when he misbehaves should stop that. Are you very careful not to be rough with his head or ears or pull hairs when you are putting the halter on? At this time of year when they have shaggy heads it is quite easy to pull hairs and irritate them making them less likely to enjoy being haltered.

 

[Connie P]

Thanks for the thoughts and suggestions everyone.

We NEVER EVER leave halters on our horses unless we are working with them. I halter this horse everyday to take him out to the pasture and also to bring him back in along with all the other things (farrier, breeding etc..) and sometimes an occasional nip of grass out in the backyard. He has had his head and neck clipped, but has had this done hundreds of times so that shouldn't be his problem. One idea I had was that I was away for the weekend and my husband doesn't ever halter the horses - he just opens their doors and lets them run out to their particular pastures so I don't know if this has caused his obnoxious behavior or not. Also the mares are now coming into the heat and he could be having "brain issues

When I go to put the halter strap around his head he tilts his head all the way to the opposite of me - once I get it on and get him out to the pasture then he once again resists me even reaching for the strap to unhook the halter - at times rears (which is totally unacceptable). Ugh! Could one weekend of just letting him do what he wants make him the monster he is being???

 

[Jessica_06]

What I do when I have a horse that doesn't like its ears touched is "in the stall" practice putting your hand over his ears and keep it there until he gives up, start at the point where he fusses and work your way up, Do this like twice a day and the problem "should" be solved rather fast. Good Luck!

~Jessica

 

[CyndiD]

Connie, I had something like this years ago....he was sooo touchy about his ears that it took FOUR adults to hold him still to examine his ears. The vet found nothing.

I just chalked it up to something weird spooking him or maybe another horse bit his ears..all kinds of thoughts...THEN, a week or so later we discovered he had a huge abscess right under his jawline and when we went to put the halter on, the chin portion was putting pressure on the still forming abscess. When it finally burst and drained he was fine, a little more touchy than usual given the manhandling we did to look for the problem.

Might want to check under his jaw..along his throat and anywhere the halter might be putting pressure.

 

[shorthorsemom]

I am fond of Tellington touch method. Gentle massage. I also teach my guys to associate the halter with something nice, such as haltering for feeding and removing it again. They see me with the halter in hand and come to me. I had some problems with one of my boys that needed an eye treated. Since I don't leave halters on in the field he started associating putting on the halter with medicine and treatment. To fix this I did extra haltering then so he was never sure which time he was getting medicine and which time was for feeding and some nice massage. Sometimes I would halter and squirt some plain applesause (no meds) into his mouth and then massage gently and remove the halter after. Takes time but worth the effort. Also as mentioned in prior post..always a good idea to make sure that a vet checks to see if there is anything physically wrong before you try to train it out.

 

[Tenltraining]

Connie,

I had a horse in for training with a similar problem. He had been with another trainer prior to coming here so I dont really know why the horse was so sensitive and apprehensive with putting a halter on. He was also fine once it was on and would work or show and did great. We never really found any physical problem with him to make him act like that . The one thing that I found that helped greatly to reduce the anxiety and apprehensiveness of having his halter put on, was to put his nose through the halter but hold the crown piece further back, a few inches behind his ears, then slowly sliding it forward to buckle it making sure I didnt have any downward pressure on the crown piece at the time I was buckling it. It worked really well, and eventually the horse did better but I had to always put his halter on in this manner but worked well and he is a productive nice stallion now. I figured something must have happened to him at some time to make him like that somewhere in his lifetime.

I had one other horse with one sensitive ear, couldnt get the later near it when putting the halter on. This same method worked well and he eventually became fine with putting the halter on. Good luck and try this and see if it helps you with your horse! Laura