I am sure my OTTB has been ear twitched. To his day, 12 years later he still won’t let me touch his left ear.
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Interesting! I don’t own a twitch though I suppose I probably should I can see them as being handy but no I definetly haven’t used one in years. Even teaching my mare to clip I never even really thought about a twitch.
Its funny because the cattle industry has gotten away from using “bull leaders” which are basically a twitch. Its way easier to chain a panel to a fence and make an instant chute than to try and sedate. Though I suppose there is a difference in a halter broke horse than a rangey steer! Temple Grandin says that bull leaders should be avoided when possible.
Better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.
I have one, but I also have the heavy duty metal clamps (like this: https://www.amazon.com/Irwin-222803-Quick-Grip-Metal-Spring/dp/B002QYE0TK) because I find they work better if I’m solo and just need one briefly.
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My vet just used one on my mare to get her optical lavage port inserted. It didn’t work. She got worse with it so they just sedated her more. I agree with everyone that has said sedation is largely replacing the use/need.
I have one and have used it previously. my current pony is better with a lip chain or shoulder twitch depending on what we are accomplishing. I have to use a lip chain to clean his sheath.
Hum… Baling twine could seriously cut through the skin… I wouldn’t use that as a twitch at all. Be careful.
I tried to put one on Dodge the other day. […]
I tried. I twisted it as much as I could. As tight as I could. He just wiggled his muzzle and it fell off, so in the end I grabbed and held his muzzle as hard as I could just with my hand and put a towel over his eyes with the other. Hubby squirted in the olive oil and it was all over in a couple of seconds.
Just to clarify something (not necessarily to you) but twitching has to take more than a couple of seconds.
The major point of twitching is to get the reaction of the brain to release endorphin, which takes more than a few seconds to do. It’s actually 3 to 5 minutes.
People who rushes to twitch their horses are just using it as a tool to constraint the beast and/or to inflict a mild pain/discomfort that will cause a distraction for another procedure. That’s usually the best way to get the horse to hate being twitched as he won’t get the endorphine rush. 
Also, the best way to effectively twitch a horse is to do it when it is quiet and relax. If the horse is panicking, better to let it settled first and come back a little later.
This is obviously my (very strong) opinion, but the only place for twitches in any kind of situation is one where the situation is urgent, you need to get something done, and there is no time/way to train the horse to stand or tolerate something.
And even then, only ever a lip twitch, and only one that is either smooth wood or metal, no chains. Please do not EVER twitch or even hand-twist a horse’s ear. You can pretty much guarantee you’ll either make the horse head shy, cause permanent damage to the ear, or both. It’s really horrendous and not humane at all.
Honestly, I think they are dying out because people started to realize they were a really horrible Band-Aid. I hope they continue to die.
I do still at times use a twitch. Some horses even protest to getting stuck with a needle so a twitch is a good way to keep a handle on them without the handler getting hurt. I have had horses who protest strongly for injections (IM and IV) when a twitch is used regularly they learn injections are no big deal and get so much quieter with them. Not needing a twitch anymore. I would much rather get in, get done and then give cookie using a twitch than to fight with the horse.
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I’m totally with you on the ear twitch, but I’m not so sure that a lip twitch is a ‘really horrible band aid’ see them used so many times without seeming hurt or distress to the horse, and certainly safer for onlookers.
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If you’ve ever worked at a big breeding farm, you know twitching is still common and useful. Typically long wood handle, rope loop, applied quickly and easily with two people-- one holds loop on the lip, the other holds wooden handle and twists. Nearly all mares at TB farms are twitched regularly for palpating, ultrasound, and breeding live cover. Occasionally you get a mare that reacts violently to the twitch (I have one) and goes better in a lip chain. Twitching is done for safety of the vet, mare, stallion, and is usually easily forgiven as soon as the twitch comes off.
Personally, I handle my horses alone 99% of the time and sometimes have to get stuff done to less-than-cooperative horses. I use a loop of baling twine and a double end snap as my twitch…it’s always easy to procure and works like a charm. Apply loop over upper lip, twist the snap until firm pressure is applied, then snap to the side ring of the halter. Keeps the horse distracted and standing still to finish mane pulling, body clipping, or wound care. I never leave it on more than 15min.
I suspect the reason it’s not really brought up as a suggestion online is that most people asking for help online are looking to modify the behavior, so the recommendations they are getting are not geared so much to how to restrain a horse in the moment but how to help a horse work through the issue so restraint isn’t needed.
And in that situation, sedatives can be more helpful than twitching because you can modify how much you give over time, decreasing the dose as the horse’s tolerance for whatever is causing the behavioral issues increases. With twitching, that can be much harder to do without risk to the handler if it’s on too loose, comes off, and the twitch ends up flying all over the place.
The thing with twitching, as with so many things with horses, is horrible things can happen in the hands of the inexperienced or just plain morons. Putting a twitch on so tight it disfigures the horse and cuts off blood flow? Good lord that person must not be very intelligent or the horse had some other physiological issue. If you don’t have the experience- don’t do it- get your vet to sedate your horse.
If it were that detrimental- it wouldn’t be a tool in 95% of vets toolbox…
And I have been a person who “ear twitched” my show mare. By ear twitch- I take her ear and dig my nail into it- not twist.
Amazingly according to posters on this thread- she is NOT head shy, I can clip her ears, braid her, bridle her. No issue… huh. What about that. Done by an experienced person who isn’t yahooing around and twisting the crap out of it…That can be said for ANY form of twitching OR just about anything you do.
I have a “humane” 1 person twitch, somewhere is a twitch with a long handle, I use the chain over the gum if needed, and I have ear twitched via my nail. Over 40 years no one’s lips have turned blue, fallen off, no one is head shy. Amazing what some basic common sense and a little skill can accomplish…
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The baling twine does not cut. It is actually very soft. I use the flat type not the round type. I have used it since the ark and it has never cut or left a mark. A small stick and the baling twine. You can position it with the clip on the halter and let go.
I would say it gets used about every 5 to 10 years. An out of the norm thing that is happening at the time like above.
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I have used a “humane twitch” on many occasions to clean/dress a wound. One mare had a terrible cut to her forehead. Even with tranquiliser, I couldn’t get near to clean it and it had to be done twice daily. There is no way it was going to be possible to train or desensitise her to a painful dressing. With the twitch, everyone stayed calm and it was over in a few minutes. I agree that you do have to apply it and then wait a few minutes to make it most effective, and I agree that you should apply it BEFORE you start struggling and horse gets anxious.
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We twitch when necessary. Clamp types with vetwrap for small Mini noses, hand twitch/ear twitch for quickie jobs- like the mare that will NOT let you deworm her. Trust me, in the 14 years we owned her, we’ve tried to desensitize her. No dice. She rears and strikes. Halter, grab an ear, done. And she’s not ear shy.
My gelding will fall asleep while being clipped. Until you hit that right ear. Left one, cool. Right one, head flinging everywhere. So a quick twitch and we are done. It’s only done for his ear and removed.
It’s only a tool. It can be used correctly, and it can be abused.
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Pepper was like that FODMH. More dangerous each time. You should have seen his impression when I filled it with molasses water. 
I let go of the rope holding his head down but didn’t unwrap it. Gave it to him again. Undid rope gave it to him again. Took halter and rope off. Gave it to him again.
Every horse since gets a molasses water ex wormer since. Twice. Then on the real day they get a molasses water and then a wormer. We have never had a problem since.
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We have a needle shy mare. The twitch is the only way to get her injected with anything, including sedatives for procedures where a twitch would not do.
They work; they’re just not PC anymore.
G.
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While I have seen sedation replace twitching for some procedures - mostly those more painful or of longer duration, I still see the twitch used. Our vet will use it either alone or in addition to sedation for some things, especially when the horse must remain still.
Most of the twitches I have seen are homemade and consist of clothesline-like rope and quite a large wooden handle. One vet did recommend to me to use the chain twitch if the holder was less experienced. He felt it looked nasty, but the chain could not be twisted as much as a thin rope might and was less likely to do damage with anything near proper use.
IME, some horses respond well to twitching and some don’t. I had one that didn’t. It didn’t seem to give him an endorphin rush even when used by experienced vets. My next horse zoned out shortly after applying a twitch. Very different.
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