Separation anxiety

Separation anxiety in horses is one of the most difficult behavioural problems to overcome. I strongly recommend that if you have 2 horses that are bonding closely, you look now into how to separate them for at least some period each day, if either is to have a ridden career.

D and T are sisters, with D a year older than T, beautiful black cob mares of 3 and 4 years. They have lived together for the past 18 months, and it's time now for some more serious effort to go into the backing process. 

Thankfully, they have the ideal set up to begin the separation process, should it prove difficult. A stable block in a small enclosed yard, with another small enclosed area outside that, a field just the other side of that but still in view, another field part in view of the stable yard and part not, and another field completely out of view of the stable block. 

Of course not every horse will suffer separation anxiety, and these might be lucky. But if they do, using the facilities they have to gradually move the mares further apart from each other, over a period of days, weeks or months as necessary, should result in minimal difficulties in the future.

Ears back and tail swishing at saddle or rug

Recently I asked readers of my free 'Brain or Pain' e-newsletter:

"If you approach your horse with the rug or saddle and they put their ears back at you and swish their tail, I believe they are trying to tell you that there is something they don’t like about the process. This may only be a fleeting something - for example they may not like having the girth done up but are quite comfortable once it’s done up - but personally I don’t believe they behave this way just because they think it might hurt. I say this because it’s a question I’m asked almost daily, in some form or another, and I am interested to hear your thoughts."

Here are some readers responses, posted in case they resonate with you and help in any way.

"I am sorry to say my mare is an ears back tail swisher at the saddle and rugs. I have never managed to find any physical reason but she also hates being touched, though she is always fine to be touched after she has been ridden, always like a smoker who needs a cigarette ie edgey beforehand. Some days better than others but over 10 years I have not managed to eliminate the problem though of course if it was severe I would have tried harder. 

Sometimes I have noticed that if I walk into her field with the rug, she walks off pointedly. In that case I leave the rug off as other days if I walk in she doesn't necessarily walk off but (perhaps even with ears back) stands and lets me put it on. I have not nailed the reason for this but I suspect its something to do with her understanding the weather and her needs more than I do, and so if she sees the rug and walks off I would usually respect that and leave it off."

"Thanks for your latest helpful hints.  I always enjoy reading them and picking up more useful hints to help or get me thinking.  With regards to your observation regarding a horse putting back their ears / swishing a tail when you approach with a saddle.  My boy, Levi, turns his head towards me when his saddle is getting tight (which it is at the moment thanks to all the grass!).  He just turns his head and looks at me and sometimes nudges me but doesn't more the rest of his body and is lovely to mount / ride etc.  He doesn't move at all once the saddle is correctly fitted again.  

I once had someone comment that he was being naughty as it looked like he was going to bit me which I thought was interesting as years ago I might have 'told the horse off' for bringing his head into my space whilst tacking up.  However with Levi I've learned to not presume he is being naughty trust him not to bite me (he never has) and as a result I have an early warning system of when my saddle needs adjusting - no second guessing now, the horse tells me."

"Yes I think you are right – however I think much care is needed when discussing this with the owner. I have a ‘difficult to fit’ horse and spent 10 years trying to find a saddle/girth/saddle pad combination that did not result in a tail swish or ears back when I put it on. Of course I had a lot of advice from saddle fitters/other ‘experts’/other owners etc. Eventually I decided that the problem might be ‘remembered pain’ and that it surely couldn’t be a problem anymore because I had spent so long and so much money trying to make it not a problem - including having a saddle ‘made to measure’.

Last year though I had ‘another’ new saddle and I have finally got to the point where I can put the saddle on and do it up without a reaction. So I must therefore conclude that she has had 10 years of discomfort EVEN THOUGH I tried my best throughout that period and consulted professional saddle fitters and other experts. It is a total minefield for the average horse owner and I don’t know what the solution is. I would say to professional bodyworkers, vets, instructors etc. if you do see a horse react to a saddle please be gentle when discussing this with the owner – unless you are in possession of a large number of saddles, girths, pads etc. that you can loan to them for free, because your opinions and advice will doubtless conflict with other advice that they have been given by others. 

I can only hope that one day enough research will have been done into saddles that no-one ever has a problem, until that day I think we will all have to muddle through as best as our bank balances and will allow. 

My horse also dislikes rugs. I have never found one that fits her really well which I suspect is part of the problem, I find that whatever she wears slips back and is tight across the chest and shoulders. Mostly she goes un-rugged unless needs must."

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Could your headshy horse have a chronic headache?

“All truth passes through three stages. First it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as self evident." Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher (1788 – 1860)

The current focus in medicine (include physio in that) is on evidence based assessment and treatment. Whilst I am very much in favour of this, I think that like most things this should be adhered to in moderation. After all, if we only ever used treatments that were proven (from a scientific point of view) to work, then nothing new would ever be discovered. Plus the statistics are that something like 50% of the science that is 'proven' today will be 'disproven' within 5 years. 

So often I work with a horse by following my instinct. Often I feel frustrated that I am not following a more scientific approach, but what I do seems to help the horses, and my training and core principles are most certainly based on science, so perhaps the 'instinctive approach' is simply something extra on top of the underlying science. It's difficult when I can't explain to an owner exactly what I am doing or how or why it works, but the results speak for themselves. I am continually searching for more answers, and ongoing learning is a passion rather than a chore.

A while ago I commented to a client that I believe a horse who is headshy is more likely to be spooky. In my opinion, this is because headshy horses probably have some level of permanent equine headache, and I believe that a horse whose head is continually hurting is more likely to be spooked, because the pain would keep his body on high alert. There is no evidence to support this, and I doubt whether anyone funding research will ever get interested enough in the subject to investigate it. But on a very small level, I ask each of my clients many questions about their horse, including asking whether he is headshy (or earshy) and whether he is spooky, and in my mind there is a link. In the same vein, I believe that mare-ish behaviour and headshaking are also linked to being headshy (or earshy). And yes, in many cases I believe that good physio (osteo / chiro / massage) can help, to a greater or lesser degree depending on the horse.

No matter how much you know, there's always so much more to know....

Let me tell you a story... about confidence

Confidence is a fragile thing - do all you can to protect it. That applies to both horse and rider, of course.

H has owned J for more than 5 years, and they enjoy gentle hacks through the countryside. J is a big lad, with little known about his past. Poor confirmation led to a ligament injury with mild long term lameness which continues to affect him, but doesn't stop him from enjoying gentle hacks in walk. 

A few months ago, J started to play up out hacking. H's confidence gradually decreased, and she lost any enjoyment in riding. Finally, 6 months ago, she gave up, not knowing how to overcome their problems.

Thankfully, she's decided to give me a call. The first thing I've addressed is J's understanding of what we expect from him in hand, in particular insisting that he stand still when asked. This, combined with changing his medication after discussing the case with his vet, led to an entirely different horse, one that H suddenly felt she might enjoy sitting on again.

So far they've 3 times in the past week, just in walk around the arena for now, but the smile on H's fave and the pride in the way J is carrying himself leads me to hope there's lots more to come!

How to listen so your horse will talk...

How to listen so your horse will talk, and talk so your horse will listen: A practical approach to the links between equine behaviour and pain.

Would you like to understand whether a horse you work with is playing up because he's being naughty or because he's trying to tell you he's hurting?  Would you like to know whether his poor performance is because he can’t or won’t? In this talk Sue Palmer MCSP offers practical advice on how to tell the difference.

Sue is a BHSAI, Chartered Veterinary Physiotherapist and Equine Behaviourist (Intelligent Horsemanship Recommended Associate). The only person to hold this combination of qualifications, Sue is passionate about spreading the word that horses can only tell us they are hurting through their performance or behaviour. This talk / course offers practical ways to help you decide whether your horse, or a horse you work with, is under performing or misbehaving because he's in pain. And if you decide it's not pain related then Sue draws upon her extensive experience in the world of equestrianism to offer some suggestions of how to work to overcome the problem.

Author of 'Horse Massage for Horse Owners' and 'Sue's Helpful Horse Hints', Sue has ridden since she was three years old, competed nationally for Pony Club and Riding Club, and competed in British Show Jumping and British Eventing. Living and working with a gipsy horse dealer for several years in her early twenties has given her a unique view of the horse world and a wealth of unusual experience to draw upon in addition to her more traditional qualifications. 

Non-violence or pacifism?

Listening to Nelson Mandela's autobiography 'Long Walk to Freedom' (audio books are my most recent pleasure, especially since purchasing a 'Parrot' in-car speaker system to I can actually hear them properly!), my ears pricked up when he mentioned his opinion on the difference between non-violence and pacifism.  It's not something I'd ever thought about before, but since I claim to work with horses in a 'non-violent' way, I looked it up.  As I heard it, Mandela seemed to be saying that non-violence meant being opposed to violence in any situation, whereas pacifism meant being opposed to violence but violence may be used in self defence.

Wikipedia says, amongst other things "Nonviolence is the personal practice of being harmless to self and others under every condition"  and "Pacifism is opposition to war and violence... and opposition to violence under any circumstance, even defence of self and others.... Some pacifists follow principles of nonviolence, believing that nonviolent action is morally superior and/or most effective. Some however, support physical violence for emergency defence of self or others."

It seems to me there's a lot of confusion - as usual, words are used simply as labels, and the intended meaning may well vary from person to person.  As far as working with horses goes, I would certainly say that I aim to avoid using violence of any form (but there again, what is your definition of violence?!), and that in this matter I am acting as a pacifist.  However, I believe that the safety of the human (and often the horse at the same time) is paramount, and if I or others were in danger, I believe I would do whatever I felt necessary to alleviate the danger.  My priority is always to avoid dangerous situations, which is where I feel that knowledge and experience play an essential role, but ultimately my feeling is that if the human is injured or worse, then who will look after the horse?!

Never look a gift horse in the eye?

Yesterday I received the following story from a Brain or Pain reader:

"Hi Sue,

I've got a holistic horse help helpful hint here for you.  Regarding the old adage "never look a gift horse in the mouth" my own personal addition to it would be "but look him in the eye".

Last year I was given a show pony that the owners couldn't cope with because of a set of behavioural issues and in the end the girl who had him gave up riding. I always got on well with the pony and accepted the offer when i was asked if i would take him on. Very early on I suspected that eyesight problems had something to do with his behaviour and treated him with the conisderation that I would give a horse that I know can't see terribly well. This helped him tremendously and his confidence increased proportionately to the decrease in his spookiness. He is now doing very well but as I thought that his sight in his left eye might be impaired i got his eyes assessed Friday last week. It appears the he has a cataract. I contacted an eye specialist who is going to have a good look at his eyes next week but he already warned me that something more might be amiss as the pony at the age of 9 is too young to have cataracts. I may be in for major vet bills now over a prolonged period of time.

The question is: had I looked him in the eye before I accepted him, would I have taken him on?

The answer is: probably yes as he is very cute and a really nice buddy who does not have any behavioural issues.

I suppose what I'm trying to say is: if anyone is intending to get a new horse, don't forget to get the eyes checked.

Maybe this will come in handy in your Brain or Pain publication.

Freddy"

Freddy makes a really good point, in my opinion.  In the past I have had a problem with selling a horse who had problems with her vision.  She was a bay mare, Welsh Section D 4 year old called Holly.  Beautiful, kind and gentle, and quick to learn as are all Section D's, she was a pleasure to work with.  It was when I was living with a horse dealer, and so I had bought her to back and sell on, and I was excited that she should go to a lovely home, since I had no problems with her whatsoever.  The only thing I noticed was that if I was working her when it was getting dusk, she had more of a tendency to trip.

The buyers had her vetted and she passed with flying colours.  But once they got her home they discovered that she had problems with her night vision.  I had never had the need to deal with her in the dark since I lived on site and worked with the horses all day, so I hadn't recognised this as an issue.  The end result was that they kept the horse and I gave them their money back - I was young and naive at the time and they are very lucky people, she was a fantastic horse in every way except this!

I have also had the experience of working with a couple of one-eyed horses, who seem to cope incredibly well with life.  One was an elderly broodmare (who produce some stunning foals), she was wary when you approached her on her blind side but otherwise you wouldn't have known anything was amiss.  The other was a chestnut thoroughbred gelding who came to us for backing.  We were using a round pen at the time, and I found it fascinating that I could work him in both directions - I would have expected a much lesser communication on his blind side.  He adapted by changing his posture and turning his neck a little, but could still respond to signals to speed up, slow down, change direction, etc.

It seems to me that eye disease is becoming better recognised by vets, presumably as diagnostic procedures, treatment techniques and medication progress.

So I guess my advice agrees with Freddy - if you're intending on buying a horse, get the eyes checked!