Does anyone else have a pony/horse that doesn't let you touch it's ears?

[julied]

Just wondered if many other people have this problem. My daughters pony Ruby has got ear plaques, which often go unnoticed and not bother them. She however does not let you put the bridle on in the normal way, I have got used to it now but I have to loosen the cheek piece on one side, put the bit in and then flip the headpiece over her ears. Apparently at one stage the bridle had to be built around her head.

She is getting better all the time as she learns to trust me, you can take it off no problem without loosening anything, she throw her head up when you lift the reins and martingale off, but offers her head when first putting reins and martingale over her head though. I tacked up someone elses pony the other day and struggled to know what to do with his ears I am so used now to the way I have to do it! :lol:

[black crow]

Spud was like this, but that was because he'd had his ears pulled and most likely twitched.

I had to get him used to headcollars [he had a rope halter on that was cut out of his poll, which had to heal and then was very sensetive as it was just scar tissue and no hair!] which when i finally bridled and bitted him, he'd already had quite a lot of work to help him lose his fear of his ears being touched.

He wont let my OH touch his head much and especially not his ears, but i can waggle them about and he's fine with it :)

[Teej]

Well my 16.1 'pony' is the same ! He's an ex racer and even though I ride bitless, I have to undo the cross over straps, place the browband/earpiece over his ears and then do it all up again. He also has aural plaque but the vet said its harmless. Apparently Chip had been twitched on his left ear whilst in racing and although he allows me to touch his ears now and brush them, his head goes 5 miles in the air if I try to bridle him without undoing it.

I don't mind undoing it, if it makes him happy :)

[flambards]

The mare I worked with this summer would rear up and throw herself to the floor if you touched her mane/ears/forelock. Really really upset her. She was raised on a racetack but never raced because of her size and we think she might have been "eared" (someone pulled her head to the ground using her ears) a few times because of her overreaction to it. We worked on it with a lot of cookies and patience and she was a little better by the end... still pretty headshy though.

[Lorraine]

Dazzle used to be very sensitive about her ears from when she was a foal with no reason for it other than touching her ears seemed to tickle her. Each time I would see her I would hold her headcollar (which has been kept on her since she was weaned) and rub her ears to de-sensitise her - at first I could only wrap my hand around them quickly or do the quickest rub at the base of them before she'd try and pull away but after holding, rubbing and progressing to pushing her ears down, she will now she will let me put my arm across her forehead and rub my whole arm over her head, squashing down her ears, and then rubbing my whole arm over both ears again as I bring in back over from the top of her neck to her face.

I also would tie her up and get a large headcollar (too large for her) and, without taking her smaller headcollar off, I'd undo the throat on the large headcollar and push it over her head (but without the headpiece touching her ears). At first she'd try and pull back, but when she learnt it didn't actually touch her she became fine with it.

Now with desentising her ears and getting her used to having a large headcollar put on over her ears without touch, I can push a headcollar over her ears with it squashing her ears down and she is quite relaxed about it.

Something else to bear in mind is that horses that develop a problem in their atlas, often have sensitive ears as a result. I know you say Ruby has ear plaques and you think this is the cause, but it might be worth getting her checked to see if she has any problems with her atlas just to be sure there isn't another contributory factor.

[K8E]

Copper is sensitive with his ears, last winter i couldnt touch them with him trying his very hardest to avoid you touch them but once you had touched them he was ok but you could see that he wasnt liking it. I was told he may have ear mite. I have found out that as soon as it is cold and windy he hates having his ears touch.

Each time i touch his ears i praise him and that also seems to be working. I think he is just sensitive to cold air and wind, i have found rugging him up with a neck cover helped him loads.

[My Crazy Clan]

My section a doesn't like it, he had a bad past though so would explain it.

The others are fine with it f your not too rough.

[sazzy925]

A few horses at my school are like this. It does seem to be genetic with sensitive ears as there are two horses who are half brothers that have exactly the same quirk about their ears, though one's a bit older and has got a lot better. And I've seen that a lot.
It's perseverence mainly, regular touching of the ears will encourage everything to be easier and patience, they usually get used to it eventually.

[julied]

Thanks for all your responses everyone, I think something must have happened to Ruby as a youngster. Although response from Lorraine - I am intrigued about the pont she made about having her 'Atlas' checked as I don't know what it is - I am going to PM in case you don't read this thread again. Many thanks.

[Twizzel]

Ebony hated people touching her ears, she used to fling her head up whenever anybody went near, it was impossible to get a headcollar on in the field to catch her so she used to be turned out in one. I and a few other people all thought she had a problem with her poll, so it may be worth getting your horse's poll checked out to see if she hasn't put it out or anything and the reaction she gives when her ears are touched is because she's expecting pain.

[julied]

Ebony hated people touching her ears, she used to fling her head up whenever anybody went near, it was impossible to get a headcollar on in the field to catch her so she used to be turned out in one. I and a few other people all thought she had a problem with her poll, so it may be worth getting your horse's poll checked out to see if she hasn't put it out or anything and the reaction she gives when her ears are touched is because she's expecting pain.

Hi Twizzel, I already did as that was something a lot of people said. Her neck and poll were fine but back was out so had that put right. I am in touch with the previous two owners and she has been like it except worse for 4 years that I know of. Someone came up to me at a show that I knew and said she had her on trial and they could not get a bridle on her, she reared up hitting her head on beams and they thought she was so dangerous they did not keep her. She is obviously much better than that now, the previous owner worked very patiently on gaining her trust and I am carrying this forward. She does also sometimes tilt her head a bit when being ridden, also lifts her head and twists it and tries to put her head round to my daughters foot. I am not sure whether this is connected or not. She did show signs of allergies and head shaking in the summer off and on, tossing her head in the air, or shoving it down. This has stopped but still turns her head to daughers foot when she can.

[Lorraine]

Thanks for all your responses everyone, I think something must have happened to Ruby as a youngster. Although response from Lorraine - I am intrigued about the pont she made about having her 'Atlas' checked as I don't know what it is - I am going to PM in case you don't read this thread again. Many thanks.
The atlas bone is the first bone of the neck (ie at the top of the neck) and the atlas joint is the area between this bone and the skull. The atlas bone can become misaligned, and the muscles around the joint can become painful or subject to spasms and this can affect poll movement and can cause a horse to be sensitive around the poll area and/or its ears. When ridden it can cause a horse to be relunctant to work in an outline as it finds it painful, or reluctance to be ridden at all, and it may react badly to any bit that applies poll pressure - in severe cases the horse may rear in reaction to the pain.

If your horse shows any reluctance to have it's poll area touched or firmly pressed, and/or the area below the poll on each side underneath the back of the ears then it would indicate a misalignment.

An equine chiropractor or osteopath will be able to check this out for you and re-adjust any misalignment.

I know you said your horse has ear plaques and it may be that this is simply the cause of the sensitivity but if the ear plaques are improving but the ear sensitivity is not then it may be that there is another factor causing the ears to be sensitive.

[K8E]

Lorraine that is interesting know about the 'Atlas' bone and joint. I can look out for things in my boy as he hates his ears being touched. I think he is just sensitive to cold weather as i said before but interesting to see what others are saying.

[xstinkerx]

Not read all the replies, but my pony never let me touch his ears. I had the chiropractor out (for his back) but she checked him all over and said he had some tension right at the top of his neck behind his ears. She did some manoovering about and after that i have been able to touch his ears as if he never had a problem! She said he probably had a headache and it hurt more to touch that area!

[Spockky boy]

Spock HATES having his ears touched, we think he was twitched some time before I got him, hes still pretty bad, but with ALOT of work we can bridle him, and I can just about clip his face.

[Lorraine]

Not read all the replies, but my pony never let me touch his ears. I had the chiropractor out (for his back) but she checked him all over and said he had some tension right at the top of his neck behind his ears. She did some manoovering about and after that i have been able to touch his ears as if he never had a problem! She said he probably had a headache and it hurt more to touch that area!
That sounds like misalignment of the atlas that I referred to earlier. The "manoovering about" would have corrected the misalignment and eased the tension.