QUESTION:
Hi! I was wondering what other poeples veiws were on using a twitch as a means of restraining a horse. So, if you're intersested in voicing you opinion, please post! --M
ANSWER:
What you can do, as a horse owner, is to teach your horse to stand quietly. Your horse has only YOU for a voice. Twitches are appropriate in emergency situations, maybe, but for a well taught horse they are not needed. If someone is yanking YOUR leg around, cutting your toenails and hurting you, would you want to stand there? So that's the 2nd part of it, too. Your farrier needs to be a little bit more compassionate and less rough from the sounds of it.
There is no reason to have to restrain a horse for much of anything if it is taught correctly. I don't think any one of us here would care to be restrained and forced to do something when we're feeling threatened. A horse needs to move its feet when feeling threatened. Think about it ... the farrier has ahold of the only defense the horse has! What does a horse do when feeling afraid or uncomfortable? they move AWAY from whatever it is that is hurting them. Can't move away when someone is yanking and hangin' onto a hoof. Can't move away when someone is hangin' on their halter with a twitch on the lip. Can't move away when the hoof is pricked and causes pain. If a horse can't move, they fight. Can't fight too much when the hoof is restrained. Now the horse is beginning to feel "trapped" and only wants to move more! So you see? All of this just causes MORE resistance from the horse. Teach your horse to do the OPPOSITE of what you feel is a "wrong" behavior. What is the opposite of moving? Standing still. What is the opposite of balking? Walking forward. What is the opposite of jump refusal? Jumping. Can't teach a horse NOT to not jump or NOT to not balk. So give the horse a positive behavior that can reap a positive result that will earn the horse a reward and an incentive to try again. Restraint, punishment and force means nothing more to a horse than you being instructed to do something, its hurting you, you don't understand but you're forced to stay there and endure.
