Itching/scratching as evasion technique? (video post #13)

[sascha]

[QUOTE=sirbeastmom;8200786]

As always, though, she scratched her girth area the second the saddle came off. Here’s a video of her doing it. Weird, right? [/QUOTE]

Not weird if you’ve seen it before

My horse has allergies. That is EXACTLY how she scratches her itchy skin, only she’ll work on one area for a bit and then move to the next itchy area. She can actually bend herself in half to scratch her tail head. I’ve changed as much of her environment to eliminate close contact with stuff that she’s allergic to, and I’ve started her on allergy shots. The itchiness has decreased and the scratching is MUCH less enthusiastic/manic. I’m hoping by next spring when the worst of the pollens are doing their thing, her immune system will laugh at the allergens in the atmosphere

Just like yours, my horse also has a gleaming coat and no weird skin things at all. The only sign of allergies before testing was her insatiable need to scratch. FWIW, as I look back at very mild signs that I didn’t recognize, her allergies/itchiness increased over about a 2 year period until late this winter when it became clear she wasn’t just suddenly enjoying being groomed due to her increased muscle mass, but that there was something wrong.

If you have the resources (sadly it’s not cheap) it might be worth looking into a trip to the dermatologist to rule out/in allergies as a cause.

BTW, my horse never pulled the itchy scratchy nonsense under saddle, but she knows it’s all business when she’s tacked up. The moment she was untacked she was free to scratch and did so enthusiastically.

[sascha]

Never mind. Didn’t know this thread was antique.

[Ganesha]

My horse does this, in the same place (but not as persistently- maybe 3 scratches and he’s done). Not under saddle, but randomly, mostly in summer and spring. I can see the patches of hair on his sides where he has scratched himself, and I have seen him doing it standing around in his stall. I chalked it up to allergies.

And yeah - she is just a DOLL . What a cute mare.

[IPEsq]

My horse is itchy, bug sensitive, and has allergies (runny nose). He also has itchy sides but for whatever reason tends to chew at his sides more when I’m not riding than when I am.

He does sometimes use the face rubbing as an evasion. Like, I put my leg on to trot, oh, wait mom, I have an itch! This is obnoxious. Needing to rub his face on a walk break that I have decided to take is less obnoxious.

Sometimes, it’s a little hard for me to decide when I should allow him to rub on his itches and when I need to insist that he go to work.

[Ticker]

Interesting topic. I thought I would mention, as a breeder, that my mares will rub their faces on their legs in response to abdominal discomfort late term. It escalates significantly prior to birth.

I think your mare may find the cinch uncomfortable and is using her teeth to rub the area much like anyone would rub a sore spot.

Ok, this is a 2015 thread…

[sirbeastmom]

Cool to see this thread revived!

She doesn’t scratch at ALL under saddle anymore (knock on wood!), and has become a very good horse citizen in all regards. Since my original post, I’ve put her in a consistent training program, but that’s the only variable that’s really changed.

About 50 percent of the time, she’ll still go for a good scratch when I take the saddle off, but it’s not nearly as involved as the video I posted–she’ll turn around and do a few quick nips, but that’s it. I hope it’s just a behavior quirk, since there are no other obvious issues.

I wish I had a more concrete reason. I’m just happy she’s happy and comfortable!

¯_(?)_/¯

[Sandy_M]

My horse does this, but ONLY when on a loose rein at the walk. I’ve never had him stop when he’s working on the bit or at any gait other than the walk. For him, part of it appears to be disliking the feel of the saliva on his jaw, so he rubs it off on his knees. When he reaches around to scratch/bite it’s usually at the front of his shoulder, or waaaay behind the girth just below the saddle pad (he is EXTREMELY flexible). Since he loves to be groomed and scratched at any time, I think he just gets hot and itchy with sweat and work. He certainly does things like this a lot less in cool weather.

[OverandOnward]

Probably there really is an itchy and/or hurty spot, but her training has changed her focus. Horses that are truly focused on something have tunnel-vision, tunnel-hearing, tunnel-itching, etc. A horse who is paying attention to the rider will ignore a significant amount of other input, including discomfort. So, that’s kind of a good sign, as well as a not-completely-good sign.

If she’s not paying much attention to it after the ride, I would guess it no longer bothers her much. Or she’s adapting to it as a constant condition.

Good to hear things are coming along well for her, overall!

[Today the mare who is in love with my gelding (over the fence) was running the fence calling for him, AFTER he was already back in the barn after work. I was doing everything I could think of to get her to look our way and see that she could just come into her own stall and say hi, personally. Nothing, nothing, overcame her relentless focus on whatever spot she had registered seeing him last, out over the other way. She would not look around at anything - noise, movement, anything. :no: Several minutes after I gave up on her she finally discovered him, in the place where he usually is. :winkgrin: ]