I really enjoyed watching this lesson too! I have a 3 year old Dales pony and he has recently become a bit shy of his ears being touched, but this is due to the flies, and I have been trying to put fly repellent round them with a sponge, which I get done eventually, with a lot of patience. I am looking forward to the next lesson about Georgia, she looks a lovely horse, I am sure Monty will work wonders as always. Rachael.

I really enjoyed this lesson. I just got a 5 year old mare about 7 month ago she was head shy and did not like her eyes messed with and thay told me i would never got a bit in her.. I spent alot of time with her loving her and letting her trust me. now I can pet and head and do what ever i want with her eyes. I can not wait to see Georgia other lesson.

Posted this to Ask Monty but thought I'd post it here aswell ;-) This video is one of the main reasons I joined the university.
I work at an animal sanctuary and we have a horse who came in 3 months ago. Beauty has a halter shaped scar (the white hair has grown in) so basically she looks as though she is wearing a complete halter all the time. The short story is that she was at auction, sold for dog food and as she was loaded into the meat lorry her foal was taken away at the same time. She went crazy and because she was wearing a thin rope halter, it cut into her badly. A lady who witnessed this rescued her and had her for about a year before she came to us. She is around twenty years old. She is extremely phobic about being touched around her ears, she will start with backing off and shaking her head, if you push it she will either rear up or arch her neck and plunge into you. She will not accept much pressure on her halter (this has the same reaction) so work with the dually is out of the question. The sides of her face and forehead are also no go areas but not as severe as her ears.
I have only just started working with her after seeing someone trying to do it the tradional way and insisting that she let them change her halter, it only scared her more and made me realise just how bad it is. I do wonder what else happened to her before the halter incident.
We have since had two successful join up sessions but instead of scratching her forehead and walking away I scratch her wither area. She is definitely more relaxed about me touching her now. She will let me scratch her further up her neck each time but we have now reached a point where I can go no further because to be honest I don't know what to do next! She also has to be sedated for the farrier. She's had a hard life and I really want to make it easier for her from now on. Obviously I'll continue in my quest to gain her trust and she'll have all the time she needs to come round. I really was delighted to find the Georgia video! Answer to my prayers. Any other help gratefully recieved by myself and Beauty :-)

I would try what was suggested in the video first. Also I wanted to share my story. 5 years ago I got my first horse- a 19 year old arabian gelding. He was very headshy at first, especially around the ears. I spent hours brushing him every day and soon he began to trush me enough that he would rest his head on my chest and I would rest mine on his forehead. I still remember the first day that he did this...that was one of the happiest moments in my life. From there I was able to eventually touch his ears and apply fly repellent on them. It was only after several weeks that I learned from my trainer at the time that at one point my horse had been so headshy that his bridle had to be taken apart to be put on his head. He was supposed to be a show horse when he was younger, and I do not doubt that his rather complicated personality caused him to be subject to rough treatment- particularly I think he was ear twitched since his ears have scars on them. The poor guy also has permanent marks from an ill-fitting saddle. Fast foward 5 years and I can hardly believe that he ever had an ear problem. I can literately walk up to him in the paddock and start scratching his ears with no problem. I guess what I learned is that phobic horses require mainly patience and time. In addition to working on the actual problem, it is quite benificial to just spend time with your horse and just love them without trying to actually work on any issues. Good luck with Beauty! Working at an equine rescue is my dream- I just wish that there was one closer by.

Jayne,
I could very well be that Beauty is in pain around her poll due to the pressure of the halter she broke. A friend of mine had a horse that (she learned later)someone had been very rough with at a racing track (trotter) and according to hearsay even slammed her head with his fist.:( She got enough confidence from the little mare that she could massage her neck and, eventually, the poll and got the soreness and stiffness out of the muscles. She got a much happier horse in return.
Maybe it is worth a try for Beauty?
Best of luck with her!

I have a 5 year old Quarter/Arab that I got from when she was a yearling. I have trained her myself (my first horse and the first horse I ever trained - not a great idea some would say, but everyone says I've done a great job). She has issues with her ears as well and when I saw this video from Monty, I was so relieved and can't wait to see the next ones. She doesn't like her ears touched but if I am patient and brush my hands over her ears a few times, she will give in and lower her head (slightly) and let me touch her ears and apply fly spray that I've sprayed on my hands to help keep the flys from her ears. I quite certain that she was mishandled before I got her and was most likely ear twitched. She is ok with the dually halter and other halters, but I need a lot of patience and time to get the bridle over her ears. I usually touch them a lot first and apply the fly spray with my hands, and I've even simulated the bridal going over her ears by using on that does not have a bit attached and have "practiced" putting the bridle on her and she doesn't have much of a problem. But when I get the "real" bridle on with the bit, she takes the bit but has issues with it going over her ears. The off side ear is the worst. I'm really looking forward to seeing more videos about Georgia and learning from Monty how to teach my horse that it's ok for me to touch her ears and that I'm not going to hurt her.

I did wonder whether it was a pain thing as well, as her reaction is very extreme, I'll keep working on gaining her trust and try to work on any stiffness/soreness in the area, judging by the extent of the scarring it wouldn't surprise me if she has done some damage other than psychological. Thanks for the advice and keep the stories coming, I always enjoy reading them ;-)

Why on Georgia's lessons doesn't have a spot with coming soon lesson? Did they forget the lesson?

I enjoyed Georgia's Lessons and also wondered why there is no coming soon spot.

This Lesson is also been a Great Help to me and my horse Joey who was abused and neglacted in his last home. I am his second owner and would like to see more lessons like this to help ensure this poor guy takes the Happy Path the rest of his life.

BTW this lesson was a Huge Step in Getting my Joey Ready to be Gelded. I want to be able to touch him all over safely and willingly before having a 6 year old Stallion Gelded. Just incase there are complications.