Obvious signs such as biting, bucking suddenly, not wanting to be saddled, reluctance to go forward under saddle, or short strides we can often interpret, but there are times when we have to dig a little deeper and keep our spidey senses alert for other signs of pain.

Case Studies

My three horses have all communicated pain to me in different ways, some obvious and others harder to detect. Bailey Girl, my American Paint Horse mare, is extremely thin-skinned—a field of long grass tickles her belly and makes her uneasy.

She is typically girthy, but at one point she tried to bite me when doing up her girth. In addition, when I lifted her front legs to pull the skin out from under the girth, she reared.

I touched her girth area, she was fine; ran my fingers down her back, no response. Was she just being cranky? Did she not want to be ridden, and if so, why?

An appointment with my equine massage therapist revealed she had sore shoulders, a place I didn’t even think to look. Her saddle was custom made for her, but as she aged, her shape changed. But arthritis in her knees was the No. 1 culprit.

The diagnosis from my equine masseuse, in consultation with the veterinarian:

Due to Bailey Girl’s arthritis in her knees, and lack of flexion in them, she has to lift more from the shoulders (trapezius and rhomboids) to clear the ground with her feet. This resulted in very tight shoulders and lower neck, which in turn caused rearing when the front feet were picked up too high and the knees flexed too much.

My Appaloosa gelding, Bailey Boy (yes, I ended up with two horses named Bailey), had a completely different way of communicating pain. On a typical day on the trails, Bailey wouldn’t mind if the herd was quite a distance ahead of him. Yet all of a sudden, he began to get anxious when they were more than three horse lengths away.

It turns out he was very sore in the spine and neck, an injury caused by a previous trailer accident. Now when he starts to worry about being with the herd out on a trail, I know it is time for his massage and/or chiropractic appointment, depending on the severity of the soreness.

Then there’s my big-boned guy Major, a Paint/Belgian-cross. Nothing seemed to bother him. He is thick-skinned and never cranky as long as his belly is full.

One day while being groomed, he began to nip or head-butt me whenever I walked in front of his chest area. I knew he was trying to tell me something, but I couldn’t figure it out.
After a visit from the massage therapist, it was revealed that he was sore in the sternum area. We had recently started him on small cavalletti training and cross-rails, which was causing muscle strain in that area.

The diagnosis from my equine masseuse, in consultation with the veterinarian:
Major’s snappiness around his sternum originated from the pectoralis and belly muscles being torn slightly from jumping. Due to his size and conformation, these muscles were over-taxed when he stretched out to clear the jumps.

A follow up with my equine chiropractor revealed the following:

Musculoskeletal variations, spinal misalignments. Tight bilateral pectorals. Decreased lateral flexion of the cervical spine right. Sternocostal ribs restricted left 4 and right 3.

Communicating Pain Under Saddle

This made me think about how many other ways horses communicate pain. Signs under saddle, like tail swishing, head tossing, skin twitching, hesitating or refusing fences, trouble bending in one direction, or trouble picking up or holding a lead can be construed as stubbornness, but perhaps we need to slow down and take a deeper look.

Linda Hauck, a lifelong horse woman and designer of the patented Spursuader Spur and Tapestry Comfort Girth, took pain in horses seriously.

“I invented the products to make horses more comfortable when being ridden,” she says. “They are ‘talking’ all the time about what we do with them and what we put on them. I thought about how to make the spur kinder but still effective, and how to make the girth more comfortable than a tight, leather belt so it could breathe with the horse but hold the saddle on securely.

“When a horse dances at the cross-ties or mounting block, he is anticipating pain,” Hauck continues. “Holding his head and neck higher than usual helps with the discomfort. Choppy, uneven movement throughout the ride, holding their breath at a canter, and having difficulty picking up a lead are all ways of communicating pain or discomfort. Rushing is often a key that they are running away from the discomfort of a saddle or girth.”

Keeping an Eye Out for Horses Communicating Pain

When not under saddle, horses can communicate pain by pacing, pawing, rolling or kicking at their sides, but less obvious signals, such as an unusual posture, depressed facial expression, pinched nostrils, sunken eyes or blinking or staring at a particular area can all be signs of pain.

In order to realize your horse’s early attempts to communicate pain, it’s a good idea to study his daily activity and normal routine. If your horse stops rolling in his favorite dirt pile, stands in the paddock with a lowered head, and decreases his normal activity, these can all be early signs of discomfort.

Go online for exercises to help sore or girthy horses with a certified neuromovement trainer at www.horseillustrated.com/working-with-pain.

This article about how horses communicate pain appeared in the July 2021 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

The post How Horses Communicate Pain appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

If your normally cooperative horse has become resistant to something he’s done willingly for ages, it’s important you investigate what’s causing his change in attitude. Often what we call “bad behavior” in horses is simply a lack of training, but sometimes it’s a response to pain. When a horse begins to do something out of character—like making a face as you tighten the girth, not picking up a specific lead, or stopping at jumps—something is off. It’s important to consider the question: Is my horse in pain?

These types of changes are worth a call to your veterinarian, who will most likely conduct a physical and lameness exam to determine if and where the horse is experiencing pain. Unfortunately, once the source of the pain is located and treated, your horse may still act differently. Why is this?

The horse may have formed a habit, which can persist long after the pain is removed. Because of this, some horses will need retraining after the physical problem is resolved.

The goal is to override the negative reaction with training or desensitization, thus turning him back into a steady mount. It should go without saying that if the horse is dangerous, a trusted and qualified trainer should be enlisted to help.

How can you get your horse to forget his painful past?

◆ BE PATIENT: Patience is key when teaching your horse that what hurt before, whether it was a tack issue, a physical issue or something else entirely—like loading in the trailer or being seen by a vet—won’t harm him anymore. The equine memory is long; horses can remember who treated them well and who caused them pain (intentional or otherwise), so it’s not a surprise that they can hold on to painful memories for a long time. Rushing to overcome a bad memory will only worsen the problem.

◆ PROVIDE POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT: Also called “counterconditioning,” positive reinforcement rewards the horse for handling the previously feared stimulus, such as picking up the hoof or asking for a lead change.

It’s helpful to think of this retraining as training for the first time, where the focus is to not push your horse past his comfort zone and to ensure each session ends on a good note. Always reward your horse for good behavior and gently correct him for the incorrect response.

◆ DON’T PUNISH “BAD” BEHAVIOR, even if you feel that “he knows better.” A major shortcoming of punishment is that it doesn’t address the fear at the root of many behavior problems, and fear cannot be reduced through force or pain. Instead, punishment validates the horse’s fear.

◆ WORK IN SMALL BLOCKS OF TIME AND REPEAT THEM OFTEN: Counterconditioning works best with gradual exposure to the thing that’s causing the horse anxiety, also called desensitization. This is especially helpful for horses that are fearful of being handled by the vet because of a prior negative experience.

◆ DISTRACT THE HORSE WHILE WORKING ON THE FEARFUL SUBJECT: This could involve asking the horse to do something he’s very familiar with to shift his attention away from the feared thing. It could also involve things like wither scratching or brushing to divert his attention. For example, scratching a horse’s neck while the farrier trims his hooves may stop him from pulling his feet out of the farrier’s hands.

Remember, if your horse becomes uncooperative, whether overnight or over time, there’s always a reason. It may be physical, mental or emotional, but no matter the cause, once the reason is identified and addressed, it’s your responsibility to kindly and methodically help your horse forget his painful past.

This article on horse behavior issues related to pain appeared in the March 2020 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

The post Horse Behavior: Forgetting a Painful Past appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.