Does Rubbing and Petting on Horses do any good?

We all show affection and happiness in different ways,...touching, rubbing and hugging are common. When it comes to horses, it is way more common to see women doing these things to their horses then men. If you haven't seen a Craig Cameron clinic, you ought to, even if just to see him demonstrate when he says' "reach down there and pet your horse's neck", and show how men just pat the horse on the neck once, feeling uncomfortable with more affection than that. Everyone laughs because they know  it's true.

I don't know if women are more likely to anthropomorphize with horses - that is believing their horses have human characteristics and feelings, and therefore understand the intent of affection. You only have to hang around a large barn for a day to her such things as: "that little bay mare over really hates men"; "my horse loves me, he smiles when he sees me coming"; "my horse loves it when I drape my arms around his neck and hug him". I'm not here to say that beliefs such as those are untrue. I just don't know. But what I do know is that to anthropomorphize negative human behavior with horses is almost always wrong. And it's funny, not funny to see somebody, usually a man, think that petting and rubbing on a horse is a waste of time, but believes that when a horse does something he doesn't like, it's an intentional act of defiance just for defiance's sake.

 I have never had a problem with anyone seeing me   rub on my horses thinking that I'm a softy or   whatever they think. I know that me rubbing my   mustache on my horse's muzzle, or burying my face   in his neck, is much more for me than for the benefit   of the horse.

 Then I get this Palomino Gelding who I call Jake. A   nervous little horse who had never really been   taught much. He had to go every place at a trot   always looking around. Not really spooky, but   always alert. I just thought 'well, he's never had a   leader and we can fix that over time'. He didn't like a   lot of rubbing either. He would switch his tail and   pin his ears. So like the saying goes, he didn't need   less of it, he needed more but at a pace he could   accept. And that's what I did, rub and touched him   every chance I had.

Jake made much improvement on his nervousness, learning that I set the pace when leading and that walking was comfortable, even free lunging. One thing that took longer to correct was when I saddled him up and started leading him to the arena, he would exhibit that nervous behavior and want to trot off. He corrected well, it just those first few steps. So one day after I untied him, I just stood there rubbing on him and talking to him (mostly in exasperation) about what it was going take to get him to relax and get some trust in me. I must have stood there 4 or 5 minutes doing this before I said 'well, it's time to get to work' and started leading him off. And danged if he didn't walk out calmly like a gentleman. So each and every time I saddle him and before I lead him off, I just sit there rubbing on him and having a conversation, and he continues to move off like a citizen. Whenever I go into his pen, Jake seeks me out for some rubbing. I always have time for that.

I remembered a passage in Tom Dorrance's book "True Horsemanship Through Feel", to the effect about taking your time to greet your horse and rub on him before you put the halter on. So I've made sure to incorporate this as well. To give Jake a rub on the forehead, scratch his withers and talk softly to him before I put his halter on. And while he has been good for awhile about dropping his head and accepting the halter, he now does it in a softer manner.

So this is a long way to get to the point that I do think rubbing and petting and generally showing your horse some affection does do some good. And not just for the human but for the horse as well. I think the horse finds it reassuring. At some level he understands you can give him peace, and it sets the stage for the next thing you ask of him. I think not to take an opportunity to rub on your horse is like hurrying up your wife to get ready for go out for supper,....and that never works out well, now does it.

Teeth Floating - make it an annual thing

We've been having our horses' teeth floated every year now for over 20 years. When I ran a large public barn and helped owners with colicing horses, I don't know how many times I asked the owner "when was the last time you had this horse's teeth floated?" Floating the teeth, which is a process using a file to grind down the teeth making them even, allows the horse to more effectively chew his feed. When the horse cannot chew adequately, there is a danger of swallowing larger pieces of feed and increasing chances of a blockade. Floating also removes the hooks and points of the molars which can cut up the inside of the mouth and the tongue, making chewing painful. Floating is not the end all to colic prevention just one of many steps in horse care that the human owner can do to reduce colic chances.

Just a few weeks earlier I was talking to a local gent who just bought a new horse and he asked me when and how I get the vaccinations done. I told him that in the spring I have my Vet come out to do annual vaccinations, draw blood for Coggins tests, and float teeth. When the horses are sedated for the floating you can really get the geldings sheaths cleaned up too. He said while he knew some horses had their teeth filed down, he personally never had a horse who had it done. I told him to trailer his horse over, get the spring vaccinations and ask my Vet to do a quick mouth exam which can be done without sedation. He brought the horse over, the Vet, Dr Amy Starr of Paw 'n Hooves Animal Hospital, looked in this mare's mouth and saw cuts and abscesses. She showed the gent what she was referring to and he committed to getting his mare's teeth floated right then. The Vet also found a segment of a wolf tooth that hadn't been removed and she took that out as well.

There are good hands out there that are not Veterinarians who make their rounds manually floating teeth and some even do sedation, over looking some state laws on non Vets giving these medications. I've used them and been generally happy about their work, then about 18 years ago or so, I met my current Vet who does power floating using a specialized battery powered hand drill with flat rotary ceramic bits to clean up the hooks and points on teeth. Power floating is faster and with less chance of damaging teeth.

Back to years ago at the barn helping someone with a colicing horse - some of the replies on why people do not get their horses teeth floated are the cost involved. But you are also receiving that Vet's experience and practiced eye. Like I said, I combine it with spring vaccinations and Coggins draws and yep, it costs some money alright, but so does calling a Vet after hours on a colic case. I think if you own a horse, you at least owe it a dental exam by a qualified Vet. If you have ever bit your own tongue then had issues with chewing, you'll begin to understand the issue.

One of the better sites, for understand the horse's dental anatomy and issues arising from just the simple and necessary habit of eating, is an information page from Colorado State University.

In the video below, you see a short snippet from a floating. The whole floating didn't take much longer, but maybe if someone had never seen power floating before they will see that is no big deal for a sedated horse.