Dealing with the head-shy horse

Lots of horses are head-shy, whether from lack of handling or abusive handling. I'm not one of those people who believe that you should NEVER hit a horse around the head. If a horse tries to bite me, you darn well better believe that I'm going to smack his mouth or cheek if I can reach him. I don't worry that I'll make him head-shy by doing it. He isn't allowed to try to hurt me, and if an occasional pop on the face makes him head-shy, then I'll deal with that issue later.

It's actually really simple to get a horse over the fear or dislike of having his face or ears touched. Start off first on a lunge line and use the end of your lunge whip to rub his face and ears. Careful around his eyes. You don't want to poke him and give him a real reason to not want you touching him there. As with all his lessons, if he flinches away or moves away, just keep doing it. Don't stop rubbing his face until he can stand still and be comfortable with it.

Next, use your hand. Rub his face, his cheeks, under his jaw, his forehead and over his eyes. If you find a spot that he doesn't like you touching, touch it more. Work on all his bad spots until he's okay with them then move on to his ears. Be aware that he might sling his head sideways or up, so keep your own face out of the way. If you absolutely can't touch his ears, go back to using the lunge whip.

Get him tolerant of that then use the end of your lunge line. Drape it between his ears and pull it until it slides off his head, wrap it around an ear and slide it back and forth. Do whatever you can think of until he accepts it. Then go back to touching his ears with your hands. Don't, however, grab one and try to hold onto it. Also, don't try to physically stop him from moving away from you. If he's just fidgety, a firm "Whoa" might stop him or a little tug on the lead. But if he really HAS to move, let him, just go with him and start handling his ears again as soon as you can reach them.

Don't quit with this part of the lesson until you've made significant progress. There's one final step that you need to complete. You need to get your horse used to your hand waving near his head.

Stand near his head but at an angle in case he should bolt forward or strike at you with his front feet, and start waving your arm somewhere off to the side of his head. Not too close if he's really afraid. Wave your arm up and down as if there was a swarm of flies that you were trying to shoo away. Not too fast, but not too slow, either.

If it frightens your horse, just keep doing it. If he runs, follow him, but keep waving your arm. What if your arm gets tired before he gets used to it? Tough! Cowboy up and keep waving. Eventually, he'll tolerate it and you can stop.

Don't get any closer to your horse's head until he's ready. Then, wave your arm a little closer to him. When he's okay with that, move closer still. Eventually, you want to be able to shoo a persistent fly off his eye without him spooking.

When he's good on one side, move him over and work on the other side. Every time he shows any sign of relaxing – taking a deep breath, licking his lips, lowering his head slightly, cocking a hind foot, half closing his eyes – give him a few moments of break before you start again. In other words, take away the pressure for awhile when he proves that he can handle it. A soft word of praise or a gentle touch to his face or neck will reinforce that he's doing it right.

Look at the photos. Yes, that's still the Shetland weanling colt. Notice in the first photo how he's flinching away. In the second photo, taken just a few minutes later, notice that his head's still high, but he's no longer flinching, even though Leesa's hand is now a lot closer to him. This is what you're going to accomplish with this lesson.

Repeat this every time you work your horse until he's no longer head-shy.

NEXT: Teaching your horse to come when you call.