The Art of Natural Dressage

I am well on my way to feeling ready, but I have "issue" I can't seem to get right.

Freckles absolutely hates to be touched on the soft part of the nose, or near his nostrils.

I have spent a lot of time on this, and he will eventually and grudgingly "tolerate" it, but he's still not happy about it.

Any ideas about perhaps why? And what else I can try?

I have tried approach/retreat. Rewards. Explaining to him why I want him to be OK with it. Waiting for him to choose to target it (hahaha - many, many hours of nothing!)

If I halter him and hold the noseband of the halter with even one fingertip he will allow himself to be touched there, but I can feel he doesn't like it. Any time he is at liberty - forget it!

Could this be related to the drops that are put in the nose as part of the vaccinations?

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Glen Grobler

Words that soak into your ears are whispered...not yelled. Anon

Say, how is Freckles doing with this, Glen? Is it getting any better?

I guess I'd say that if you're ready for a cordeo in all other aspects, go for it! You definitely don't want him getting bored, and perhaps with his focus on different exercises his concern for his nose will wear off. One of those things that if you ignore may go away... haha, that's my kind of horse training!

I think it definitely could have to do with the drops in the nose. Are those a constant thing, or just every once and a while?

Being that he is light colored, is it possible that he has sunburn on his nose and so it is painful to touch?

One thing perhaps you could try, is just brushing his nose very lightly and quickly (like an "oops, I just happened to touch your nose") when he perhaps isn't expecting it (like he's eating a treat, is getting scritchies, etc.) and then C&Ting for it. I know John Lyons uses this method to desensitize horses to some things -- instead of the slower approach-retreat, it comes and leaves so fast that the horse generally doesn't react, giving you something to praise for and shape.

Just a few thoughts!

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"Do you give the horse his strength?"
~Job 39:19a

www.cambriahorsemanship.com

No, it's not really getting better.

The drops in the nose are twice a year. They help prevent strangles, as well as a few other nasty respiratory diseases.

Hahaha, I "found" that he has this issue because I wanted to put sunblock on his pretty pink nose! But he hasn't burned yet ...

If I do accidentally touch his nose, he jerks his head up high, and gives me such a dirty look! In many ways it's very funny, because he looks soooo offended!

I haven't tried a fast and light "brush" while doing other things. Hmmmm. I think that has potential. And while he's getting his treats would be a good time to try.

I'm not treating this like a problem, or "waiting" for this to be fixed before I introduce the cordeo. I still have to achieve the "run with me" which I think is very important indeed - and he actually did it for the first time yesterday.

So with a little more time we might be ready. I have put a cordeo on him a few times, to see if he will turn and halt for it, and he does. It's just very strange to me that his nose is "off-limits" - funny horsey!

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Glen Grobler



Words that soak into your ears are whispered...not yelled. Anon

It sounds like you're doing great... I'm glad you're doing other exercises as well.

The other thing that occurred to me was teaching him a trick having to do with his nose. Recently I've been teaching Caspian to "smile" by tickling his upper lip, and he seems to like that a lot. Perhaps if you taught him something like that where he associates touching his nose with something good or at least something that gets his mind engaged.

Will he allow other things to touch his nose (like the halter when you're putting it on, or the butt end of a whip) or nothing at all? Because if he let other things touch it, maybe you could work off of that too.

Just throwing out some ideas...

_________________
"Do you give the horse his strength?"
~Job 39:19a

www.cambriahorsemanship.com

He pokes his nose into halters and other things quite happily. I can put rope loops around or over there and "saw" gently on them. I can manipulate his lips. He has no problem except when a hand tries to hold the soft part of his nose - just below the bone - or when something or someone wants to go inside his nostril.

I have been wondering if it was maybe used as a "handle" at some point. I can lay my hand on that part of his nose if my hand is vertical, but as soon as my hand goes "across" his nose he pulls away and sticks his head in the sky and peers at me out of the bottom corner of his eyes. Then he snorts all over my head - yuck!

It's actually very funny, but I do need to get him past this at some point. I really want to try that "smile" - it sounds very cute!

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Glen Grobler



Words that soak into your ears are whispered...not yelled. Anon

I have a similar thing with Beau, he had a big wound on his head in september, it had to be stitched up with 15 stitches and then I had to clean it 3 times a day. Now he lets me touch his head no problem, but when I hold a brush he jerks his head up and really tries to keep me away.

I hope that he will get it that I will not hurt him, I've had it with his leg, which he had a big wound on to 2 years ago and it's now passing, after a lot of CT and massaging him, but he's still not sure.

So it will take time... Maybe there's another way to get rid of the strangles or maybe you can combine the drops with a great dinner mash or something or a lot of treats...

Since horses breath ONLY through their nostrils it makes sense they'd be extra sensitive about them. They cannot mouth breath.



I'll bet you are correct. Try pressing hard on the upper bony part of your nose, then blow that point on the softer cartilage. Notice how much more sensitive the cartilage is? Ow-ee.



It's a left over from stallion reaction to mares in heat. Their discharge makes the stallion react that way. ... well, among other reactions.

All you have to do is just tickle the tip end of his nose a bit. Or hook your finger under his lip and tickle. Most horses, mares too, will respond automatically. Some odors will do the trick as well.

Donald Redux

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Love is Trust, trust is All
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So say Don, Altea, and Bonnie the Wonder Filly.

Yes, I heard onion was good, and tried it once, but it didn't seem to phase him. Oh well, he thinks it's funny when I tickle his lip, so I just stick with that (even if he doesn't give me the full Flehmen response).

Hmm... that is interesting Glen, about him not being skittish about his whole nose, but about his nostrils. I hope it gets better for you guys!

_________________
"Do you give the horse his strength?"
~Job 39:19a

www.cambriahorsemanship.com