Twitching; is it all bad? - Rick Gore Horsemanship

Although I am not a fan of this, since like a lot things, if done appropriately, can be helpful and when abused do more damage.  So I post this with mixed emotions.  I can only hope that if you are reading this, you are trying to learn more and educate yourself about horses and will not abuse them.  Twitching strangely enough lowers the heart rate during an unpleasant procedure. A twitched horse's heart rate increases 8%. Horses not twitched during an unpleasant procedure experience a heart rate increase of 22%. The experts say that twitching causes an endorphin release that makes unpleasant experiences less stressful. 

In Australia, for example, the handlers who load horses into racing stalls used to be allowed a twitch, but that was outlawed some years ago.  You have to ask yourself why would a country outlaw a simple procedure?  In fact, most Aussie’s think Americans are barbaric for still using this procedure.  I stress the phrase, when done or used appropriately.  Done properly, twitching can defuse what could be a dangerous situation for a horse.  The physical aspect of a twitch is to stimulate the body to release endorphins. This is kind of like giving the horse a shot of heroin (it gets them stoned or buzzed).  It is a powerful and natural relaxant.  One theory is some predators know this and use this to their benefit. When lions grab a zebra, one usually latches onto the nose. That isn't to shut off the air (that's done by the one at the throat), but to release endorphins. It is a natural preparation for death. 

A twitch has to be controlled, which means it has to be able to be released and tightened as the situation develops.  The most common twitches are neck, ear, nose and gum line.  The neck twitch is done with the hand and is used to simulate a horse bite.  You will see a mommy horse disciplining their young by biting and holding them by the neck area.  I have also seen older geldings do this to other horses to teach them.  This neck grab will sometime calm a horse and or distract him enough that you can mess with an injury or give him a shot.  The ear twitch is not good or effective and I think, tend to cause a horse to be ear shy and is more of a pain compliance not a relaxant.  The nose twitch seems to be the one of choice and it can be applied with the hand, rope or chain.  Obviously I don’t like the stupid chain idea, but somewhere, a brilliant horseidiot came up with this revelation and decided that if a hand or rope worked then a chain would work better. “NEWS FLASH” - Chains and horses are BAD!  So back to the hand, by squeezing the nose, endorphins are released and the horse is apparently relaxed and preoccupied with you squeezing his nose, so he is less likely to react to you cleaning an injury or giving him a shot.  The gum line seems to be used by Farriers mostly.  It may work but once again, there is a propensity for abuse or over use.  A twitch is a last resort before using a tranquilizer or other drug.  It should not be the first (easy) choice and should be used by EXCEPTION and not routine. (IMHO)

I talk more about this on my web site:  www.thinklikeahorse.org
 

I have over 150 videos on free on youtube where I cover this topic and more:

www.youtube.com/user/horseawareness

Happy trials,

Rick