We are feed leasing a mare and she is very head shy and neurotic :no: We have taken her off of all her alfalfa and put her on bermuda. Any other suggestions? She is also very head shy 
Any one know how to get rid of that?
search the form for head shy
or how to desensitize.
This is a training issue, not a feeding issue.
Plenty of horses eat alfalfa and have no neuroses, nor are they headshy.
Whack 'em in the head or start hanging off their ears, pinching them or mis-using bits harshly and voila - headshy horse.
What specifically do you mean by neurotic?
Headshy horses typically have suffered something to cause them to not want people touching their heads. Be kind, be persistent, and consistent and you should overcome it in no time.Just slowly work towards whatever they donāt like you touching.
Depending on what you mean by neurotic, the alfalfa may not have been to blame.
[QUOTE=apha_at_heart;8896445]
We are feed leasing a mare and she is very head shy and neurotic :no: We have taken her off of all her alfalfa and put her on bermuda. Any other suggestions? She is also very head shy Any one know how to get rid of that?[/QUOTE]
Did you have your vet check her over?
She may have ticks in her ears, or some other problem, maybe her eyesight is not the best, or has a sore poll, or a bad tooth.
Once you have ruled out a physical cause, then you can start re-training her.
If sheās acting nervous or spooky or even misbehaving during her heat cycle, you can try
Vitamin B1 and Magnesium supplement. They do work as both are natural calming agents.
give them a week or so to see an improvement.
[QUOTE=apha_at_heart;8896445]
We are feed leasing a mare and she is very head shy and neurotic :no: We have taken her off of all her alfalfa and put her on bermuda. Any other suggestions? [/QUOTE]
What do you mean by āneuroticā? Can you explain better?
[QUOTE=apha_at_heart;8896445]
She is also very head shy Any one know how to get rid of that?[/QUOTE]
Most of the time, this is simply a training issue.
Yes, youāll want to make sure she doesnāt have a physical problem with her ears such as mites or ticks, but it usually simply take re-training for the horse to accept contact on their head. And some take longer than others.
My trainer calls it neurotic but she is really hyper and doesnāt calm down. She has gotten better. She has been checked out by the vet just went on Thursday. Everything is good with that.
What is she getting besides hay? Is she in a stall or pastured? How many times per week does she get worked?
Only gets hay for right now, the vet said to hold off on the supplements. She is in a turn out pen. She gets worked twice a week.
Sounds like she needs more work. How old is she, whatās her training background, is she on any sort of balancer to make sure she gets all the vitamins she needs?
Sounds like she is bored out of her mind and has too much energy.
She is bred for cutting and had some cutting training done, but is very green. She actually pulled a groin muscle so she wasnāt worked for that amount of time. The vet said to hold off on any vitamins. She was hot when we took her so he said feed her the grass for a while and then find something to give her with the vitamins.
When I first got my mare, she was extremely spooky, head shy and anxious. The first thing I did was turn her out for a couple weeks and just leave her be. Iād go out there to visit her in the field, but I never brought a halter with me and she didnāt leave the field. By about the 5th week when I brought a halter with me, she practically haltered herself.
From there, I took her into the round pen and all we did was work on transitions. Walk to trot, back to walk, to lope, to trot to whoa, etc etc. It got her focusing on me and funneling her energy into working instead of being looky at everything.
To help with her being head shy, I preferred not to force anything on her. A big part of her problem was that she hated feeling āstuckā. Tying her with a quick release was a big no-no because as soon as that rope lost its slack, she panicked. If I ground tie her or simply loop the lead over the hitching post, there are no issues. I used the same thought process with her being head shy - I would turn her loose in the round pen and just run my hands all over her. I would gradually work up to her head and reach around her cheeks, brushing the tips of my fingers on her ears. I would watch her body language. If she got tense, I took the pressure away and resumed rubbing her neck or other body parts she was comfortable with. Once she relaxed, I ran my fingers back toward her ears. Itās probably a very backwards way to do this, but it worked for her. She never felt stuck and she knew she could leave at any time, yet she chose to stay because she figured out she was never going to be forced into an uncomfortable position. I used this same method to get her past her fear of blankets (she got hung up on one as a young horse and didnāt wear one for about 15 years), sport boots, saddle pads and anything that makes a SSSSSS noise (like fly spray or zippers).
The same idea works well to get her past any scary situation we encounter on the trail. Sheās afraid of water, so Iāll simply sit quietly on her while she looks at the water and debates it. When I feel her relax, I put my leg on her gently to show her Iām still there and ask for a few steps. Then we stand until she relaxes. Once sheās relaxed, my legs go back on her and we get a few more steps until sheās right in the water and moving through with no issues.
Itās important to listen to your horse and figure out what works best for them. They all have very different personalities and what works for one may not work for another. To put it into perspective, I have another mare who is track broke. Sheās not afraid of anything, but sheās stubborn. When she gets into a mood, her hooves grow roots and in order to get her out of whatever spot sheās rooted to, I have to turn her around and back her past. After that, no more issues. If I tried that with my spooky mare, she would continue being worried of that spot. I have to stop and be patient with her, working her past the scary spot until she realizes (for herself) that itās not scary at all. After that, sheāll never have an issue again. She went from a mare that would launch herself into space every time she saw a tarp crinkle across the yard to one that will calmly walk over any tarp even on the windiest of days.
update: since she has been on the grass hay for about two weeks she is more mellow andI turned her out yesterday and she was perfect for putting the halter on. Thank you everybody for your help.
