Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Title: Re: [RC]   Sensitive Ears

One problem I see with touching the ears gently is that that technique ends up being ticklish and so can backfire on you. It makes the horse LESS likely to tolerate having his ears touched. When you want to touch his ears, touch them firmly and only on the backside of the ear, not on the long hairs that come out of the front of the ear. I have a horse that I raised and he has always been really ear shy. He lets me put the bridle on because he knows I’m not going after his ears. I used to try to grab his ears and touch them just to try and get him over it but when I stopped doing that he became less apprehensive and lately I’ve noticed that he will let me rub the backs of his ears as long as I don’t make a big deal about it.

Linda