I am working with a mare who is extremely ear shy (you can touch the rest of her head just fine, not her ears though). How can I go about helping her get over this?
I have a few theories as to why she is ear shy but none that I can confirm. They bought her already shy (she is an amazing mover and a beautiful horse, that is why they bought her).
If she is ear shy it probably is for a very good reason. First, rule out anything physically wrong: mites, warts, etc. Once you have done that, you're left with psychological.
The key is to be patient. Before you begin trying to touch her ears, I would suggest teaching her "head down." With a halter and cotton leadrope (no chain) gently but firmly pull straight down and say "head down . "When she drops her head, even half an inch, release and praise. Continue doing this (not all at once, 10-15 minutes per session) until you are able to gently pull on the leadrope, give the head down command , and she automatically drops her head to waist level.
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com Once she is doing head down consistently, give her the command then gently try to touch her ears. If she resists, stop, ask her for head down, and try it again. This will take a while but by the end of it she should have total trust in you and be well rid of her ear phobia.
A good way to do it, is to place your hands as close to her ears as possible, and ask her to position her head in a way that her ears brush against your hand. Is she doesn't freak out at the slight touch, then keep doing it, if she doesn't like it, then place your hands on the other side of her, same place, opposite side, and then ask someone to make a noise behind/beside so she has to move just her ears while they brush against your hand ...
ALSO-You could stroke everywhere for a really long time before you get anywhere near her ears, and let her get relaxed, and almost to sleeping point relaxed. Then get closer to her ears, and when she gets uneasy, back away and stroke a more confident part until she relaxes again. This method is longer, but more long term effective if you keep it up. Try to get closer to her ear everytime before you take it away in any way. Ok?!
When we got Legacy back in june he would freak out even if you looked like you were going to touch his ears, Now he will let me rub his ears, he still doesn't like it but he knows i'm not going to hurt him so he allows it. What i did was everyday i would go back to feed him i would take the time to rub his neck and face (work in his comfort zone) and everyday i would get a little closer to his ears just close enough to his ears to make him say "wait what are you doing" and then as soon as i saw him react i would retreat back to his comfort zone, everyday i was able to get closer and closer to his ears. i also would take treats and hold them low and away so he would have to reach for the treat, then i would touch his ears while he was eating the treat, that usually worked really well because he is VERY food motivated, it's all about finding what will work for you and your horse, this is just what worked for mine, good luck :-)
