# Ear shy horse please help



## JustaSkippenJess (Jan 25, 2012)

*It might take him a while to learn to trust you if he has had past poor experience with people. When trying to desensitize a horse it's all about consistency. Start slow and work your way up to the full ear, and don't rush it, that's the worst thing you could do. I always start at the very base of the ear and massage it a little bit and lightly make my way up. If your horse starts shying away the higher you go don't push it, and start rubbing, scratching or brushing elsewhere. *


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## 4everiding (Jul 3, 2012)

I agree with Justaskippenjess, don't rush things.

Your going to be a new person for your horse as well, so take things slow and make everything FUN and stress-free to build up his confidence in you. Find somewhere on his face that he likes to be scratched/rubbed and always find time to pet him there to help him relax. Once your horse starts to trust you, you can slowly start to work with his ears. Just do "baby steps". Good luck!


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## WickedNag (Sep 7, 2010)

Make sure you don't see aural plaques also, they can be very painful and cause lots of problems


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## DancingArabian (Jul 15, 2011)

Use approach/retreat method. Inch up to his ear on one side along his neck and when he starts to get a little fussy, stay rubbing on that spot until he settles down, then go back down along his neck. Pat, scratches, rubs and a "Good Boy". Repeat on the other side. I would limit each "session" to a couple of attempts per side, but you'll have to go by feel for how many attempts and how many sessions per day will work.


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## natisha (Jan 11, 2011)

The good stuff starts at about the 3 minute mark. This method works.


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

Unless you saw the horse get ear twiitched, then you are only surmising on his history. Many horses are sensitive to having their ears touched. Since a horse's eyesight isn't like ours he relies heavily on his good hearing and ability to pick up scents on the breezes. To him you are messing with his ability to escape predators. Something I have used with kickers and those that move when being mounted and various other things they think up, it to get the horse moving, if not in a round pen then on the lunge. It doesn't have to be fast, even the walk with numerous turnbacks to keep his feet moving. Draw the horse in and rub the top of his neck. Dont' touch the ears just yet. If he's at all evasive, send him back out to work. If may take an hour but it's his choice to allow you to touch his ears or work. Horses are mindful of how much energy they like to keep in reserve. When he's ok with the neck rub your thumb on the base of his ears. Most are touchy at the tips. Once a horse is ok with this cup your hand and apply a bit of pressure and run your hand from base to tip. This can relax a horse.


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## BobOrth (Sep 4, 2012)

Good advice so far. 

The only thing I can reiterate is to take it SLOW. So what if it takes months, or years to get over this problem. Just take it slow. The problem has probably been there for a long time so it will take a long time to recede.


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## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

*ear sensitive*

We used the Lyons method - before I ever heard of John Lyons - on our ID mare that was 10 when we got her and had previously been bridled by having the whole thing taken apart.
We just slowly increased the amount of time our hands lingered on her ears until she accepted it. With the bridle we let it down enough to be able to slip it over her ears with minimal contact and then tightened it up - this involved me standing on a mounting block to give me enough height to do that
5 years on she has a bridle on normally and has done for a long time now, she wears a fly mask with ear covers and enjoys having the insides of her ears scratched with a dandy brush - actually leans into it.
You cant rush these things and you have to stay patient. You maybe dont know for a fact that she was twitched (something we suspected with our girl) but you dont know that she wasn't so its probably better to assume that she associates having her ears touched with pain and fear than to risk chastising her for something she has a right to be concerned about and losing any hope of building trust with her


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## AQHSam (Nov 23, 2011)

I have an ear shy horse. He generally raises his head during bridling and I have to step on tip toes.

We are working on many of the other techniques mentioned here, but I would stress to continue touching until the head dips at all. The more the better, but obviously a dipped head will demonstrate calm/relaxed on the horse, but also is a tool for training the horse to dip his head for bridling. the release of the ear is the horse's praise and learning so give him little wins, any dipping even an inch and reward by letting go of the ear.

Also, do only little steps of touching. Touch the forelock / base of the ears only until the head dips. When it dips nicely and quickly, move to more ear touching. Expect the head to go back up and work this level of stimulation until the head goes back down. The head should lower quicker and quicker as you increase the touch and pressure.

Check for ticks. They can compound the problem. If you find any sores or issues with the ears that could be painful, treat the problem and do not work on ear issues for a good 3 days following the treatment so you know that all pain is gone.

Good luck


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## PaintedFury (Aug 18, 2010)

I don't know any other method, other than the one that I use for a head shy horse. I start with them either in a stall or some relatively small enclosure with no halter or anything, so the horse can leave. I start scratching the horse somewhere at it enjoys, even if that is on their rump. I gradually make my way toward their head (ears), stopping to let them get comfortable with where I'm scratching. When they decide that it's enough scratching, they can leave, but I try to stop before then. If time permits I do this several times a day. I always make it to their head without a major fight or them getting worked up.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

PaintedFury said:


> I don't know any other method, other than the one that I use for a head shy horse. I start with them either in a stall or some relatively small enclosure with no halter or anything, so the horse can leave. I start scratching the horse somewhere at it enjoys, even if that is on their rump. I gradually make my way toward their head (ears), stopping to let them get comfortable with where I'm scratching. When they decide that it's enough scratching, they can leave, but I try to stop before then. If time permits I do this several times a day. I always make it to their head without a major fight or them getting worked up.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


 Scratching a horse is good, its something they really enjoy and seem to find less worrying than 'patting' if they are a little nervy - maybe because scratching each other is a social thing in a herd
I totally agree that the stable is the best thing to do this and not making the horse feel restricted is good too - we actually found with our mare when we first had her - she was very defensive - that if she felt threatened and too restricted by the ear handling she would actually try to attack us - and she has a lot of bulk to do that. She is now a real sweetheart, its all about building up trust but I think if she was handled badly again she would revert back to her old ways


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## justashowmom (Aug 14, 2011)

When I first bought my horse, he had a hard fast rule - Thou Shalt Not Touch My Ears. Period. My mistake was thinking I could clip his ears right off. No way. So, we went back to basics - I will touch your ears. At first he would pull away in a huff. But, I kept at it and now I can fondle, fold, stick my fingers in (no, he does not appreciate that at all). Still can't clip em, but he's a TB and doesn't have hairy ears anyway. Also, I went to a cordless clipper - something about that cord whapping him in the neck did not go well. Now, I can do his bridle path without him in a halter if I need to.


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## Palomine (Oct 30, 2010)

Ticks, and the aural plaque mentioned are main things to consider. And make sure you do not allow him to make this a battle that he wins all the time. It may just be that no one has ever told him, yes I am touching your ears.

And as for ear twitching. It is not a bad thing per se.

I worked Saddlebreds and we used to ear twitch them and not a one of them was head shy either, not one.

We did not, however, use the "grab 'em, bend 'em and twist 'em off at the roots" method that you oftentimes see on TV.

We simply ran hand up neck, took hold of ear, and gently twisted, no bending, no pulling, just partial twist too. Slightly more twist if horse acting up. It worked perfectly. 

And as I said, this was in training barn, and these horses were not head shy and did not mind having their ears handled at all. These were Saddlebred Show Horses, and very expensive, and were handled daily, as well as clipped, braided and put into tailsets. 

For that matter, it was also routine to float teeth ourselves, and clean sheaths, without tranqing.

The problems come from someone not knowing how to ear twitch correctly, and using the wrong method.


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## Keeley57 (Apr 5, 2012)

He also will not load onto a large horse lorry as that's what he was twitched for apparently so I'm assuming he was twitched and dragged on an it's stayed with him, I will use the techniques people have suggested thanks
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

Palomine said:


> Ticks, and the aural plaque mentioned are main things to consider. And make sure you do not allow him to make this a battle that he wins all the time. It may just be that no one has ever told him, yes I am touching your ears.
> 
> And as for ear twitching. It is not a bad thing per se.
> 
> ...


 This type of action used to distract a horse is a completely different thing to using a 'mechanical' twitch on a horses ear. Most horses enjoy having their ears rubbed but the pressure of a twitch on such a sensitive area only inflicts pain


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## thenrie (Sep 10, 2012)

Best way I've found to handle an ear-shy horse, if he can be haltered or roped, is to hold the lead with one hand and put some weight on it, then slide your free hand up his forehead in a quick sweeping motion, right up past his ear. Touch the ear, but don't stop or try to rub it. Just sweep the hand right up over and past his ear. He'll jerk his head up, but normally not very far, because the stimulus is gone before he gets his head moving. Don't try to keep him from jerking. Just keep a steady weight on the lead and the weight on his head from your hand pressure on the lead will quickly make him tired of jerking. Horses don't like to waste energy. Do this repeatedly for a few minutes, first one side, then the other. 

You might have to do this in several sessions. Don't get impatient and try to do it all at once. He will eventually get tired of jerking his head, since the stimulus (you touching his ears) is gone before he even jerks. Once he quits jerking, you can start slowing down on the sweep until you are rubbing up his forehead and over his ears, and eventually you will be able to handle his ears.

It normally doesn't take me more than two or three sessions of this to get a horse to let me handle his ears.


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

Another technique I have used is to stand by the horse's neck facing in such a way you can hold the lead with your left and place your hand mid way up on his neck. Hold it on the crest and just rest it there. If he doesn't begin to fuss move your hand about 3" closer to his ears. When your hand arrives at where he starts to fuss, hold your hand there. He may even try to go forward so just bend his head a little toward you. Try not to remove your right hand until he is either still or lowers his head even and inch or two. Remove it quickly. Then place it there again. He will learn that when he stops moving/lowers his head, you take your hand away. Don't think you have to accomplish your goal in one session. Just move your hand in smaller increments toward his ears. By now he should have figured out how this works, if not, just do as you have been. When you get to his ears rub your thumb around the base. If he's got bug bites there, he'll soon appreciate this.


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## Keeley57 (Apr 5, 2012)

He's come on leaps and bounds to the point I could of hung from his ears the other day! He was very well behaved think its just trust and he's began to trust me more now so very pleased with him next step will be a bridle when I have him ready don't wanna go at him like a bull at a gate x
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## thenrie (Sep 10, 2012)

Haha. I should have watched the John Lyons video before I posted. Yep. That's the way I do it.


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## EthanQ (Sep 5, 2011)

I am not sure what twitched means, but I know my gelding got ear mites real bad last winter and was the same way.


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## thenrie (Sep 10, 2012)

I made a short video, showing how I like to cure head-shyness and ear-shyness. Maybe it will help.

The gelding in the video is a 20 year-old Quarter Horse that was left alone in a pasture for over a year. He is a chronic cribber and a cribbing collar is required to keep him from wearing off his top teeth and keeping weight on him. Having been so long with the cribbing collar in place, without having been removed except on the rare occasion that his owner rode him, it made his head sore at the poll. When I encountered him, you could hardly catch him and it was very difficult to halter or bridle him, because he would not allow anyone to get a hand anywhere near his ears, most particularly his right ear.

I worked with him for 15-20 minutes during about 3 sessions on different days, before he would allow me to lay a hand on his ears. Within a couple weeks of working with him 2-3 times per week, he was his old self again. You can see in the video that he has absolutely no head-shyness at all now.

Just FYI, the horse in the background is mine. They are pasture buddies now. The gelding still wears the cribbing collar, but I remove it several times a week, while I groom and ride him.


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## CanyonCowboy (Apr 30, 2010)

Our OTTB had been ear twitched and was really uncomfortable with any touch on his ears. I got him to where I could put a fly mask on by the approach/retreat method. Then, by luck, I started using a fly mask with ears attached. Offered to scratch what itched each day when the mask came off. Within a week, he LOVES having his ears scratched. Easiest retraining I've found.


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