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  Discussion on Horse prevents my crossing over to her right side...
Author Message
New Member:
cynth

Posted on Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 - 4:10 am:

Hello all,
My horse will allow me to approach her left side slowly, and after grooming her when I go to cross in front, she walks away.... Also if I try to approach her from her right at any time sh will circle around me until I am on her left side... What is up with this? If I utilize the halter she will not fight me about it but I feel like there must be a trust issue if I need to use the halter, so I would like to learn how to finish grooming without a halter. She does not seem to be blind in that eye. I have semi-tested this by making a small sudden movement with my hand while on her right side and she will turn her head.

After combing a great deal of information, I see that you should not approach a horse from the right side... note to self, stop that. But what is the best way to access her other side??
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 - 8:43 am:

Whoa Synthesized,
You need to immediately DrOp the notion that you should not approach a horse from the right side. Consider if the horse is injured on the right and needs medical attention.

As to grooming without a halter...I always groom with a halter on unless the horse is in a stall perhaps. Horses are easily distracted or startled and having some degree of control while working intimately around a horse is a good thing. For suggestions on training your horse see Training & Conditioning Horses » Behavior and Training » Modifying a Horses Behavior: Conditioned Responses.
DrO
Member:
mrose

Posted on Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 - 11:41 am:

Hi Cynthesize, for what it's worth I totally agree with Dr.O about approacing a horse on either side. I have been around horses my entire life, bred and raised Arabians for many years and I've never heard anything about not approaching on one side or the other. In fact, it's my opinion, that you should also be able to mount a horse from either side. It's my understanding that the custom of mounting on the left stems from the days when men wore swords on their sides and was simply a matter of convienence which has become custom.

I also think that if your horse won't allow you to approach her on one side, you should halter her and spend some time gently running your hands all over her body and legs and see if you can feel any swelling or heat, see if there are any cuts, and see if she reacts to your touch anywhere. Do this while standing close to her and in a safe position so she can't kick out or bite if you do hit a sore spot. If you don't find anything wrong with her, she may be reacting out of habit and you need to train her to be approachable from both sides equally. A horse's brain is divided into two hemispheres and the two sides don't share information like human brains do. If she learns something on one side, like being approached or being groomed, it doesn't mean she has learned to accept it on the other side. Each lesson has to be taught to each side of the brain.
Member:
juliem

Posted on Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 - 12:22 pm:

Hello Cynthisize. I agree with Dr. O and Sara--you should be able to approach and intereact with your horse from any direction. She may have a history you don't know about that needs to be over come. I had a 3 month old filly get a very deep wound on her right forearm that required me to scrub and hose it every day and apply medicine. Naturally this wasn't a pleasant experience for her, but she learned to endure it. However, when she wasn't haltered, she'd try to keep me from her right side. Not agressively, just by moving away. I had to spend some time with her haltered and desensitize the healed wound site to brushing, touching, scratching, etc. She's almost a year old now and I still need to be sure to brush and scratch that site only stopping when she's relaxed. I don't need to halter her now to do it and she's not protective about that side any longer. It sounds like this could be applied to your mare.
Member:
vickiann

Posted on Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 - 4:08 pm:

Not long ago I read something about a recent study that has been done about how horses use each eye for different purposes.

I wish that I could find it, but believe that is said that they selectively will use their left eye when they are looking at and studying humans who are in their presence.

This makes me wonder if your mare is being guided strongly by an internal desire to keep her left eye on you.

Sara and Julie make good suggestions about desensitizing on the right side.

I can (and do) mount or dismount from either side of my horses.
Member:
leslie1

Posted on Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 - 5:38 pm:

Ditto the above...i always make sure I can handle, groom, mount, dismount from either side.

You would be wise to train your horse to be handled from either side...as DrO says, what if you needed to doctor a wound or something from that side.
cheers
L
Member:
stek

Posted on Monday, Mar 22, 2010 - 11:12 am:

Absolutely agree, do everything equally from both sides of the horse, leading, grooming, tacking up, training etc. It will result in a more balanced horse as well as encourage you to be more balanced too. For instance, when grooming on the left I use my left hand for the front half of the horse and right hand for the back, and vice versa when grooming from the right.

Do take it slowly and be patient with your mare; most horses are either left-handed or right-handed (mostly left) and by moving around you she is likely just expressing her 'handedness'. The more you do things from both sides the more used to it she will get and the less of an issue it will become.
Member:
cometrdr

Posted on Tuesday, Mar 23, 2010 - 12:49 pm:

yup - agree with the other team here - an Ambidextiorous horse is a good thing.
also - yeah its nice to be be able to groom your horse with Trust. i.e. no halter - I have had two horses that I know love and trust me. one will let me do anything to him while he is munching hay, but other wise leave him alone in pasture. the other - nothing. has to be haltered. not that he doesn't trust me - I know that not to be the case cause I can do anything to him with a halter on. ground tied.
so IMO each horse is a wee bit different - and yes it is good to have both sides working the same. yeah maybe something to that Eye thing.
New Member:
cynth

Posted on Tuesday, Mar 23, 2010 - 4:50 pm:

thank you all for the wonderful feedback. i will let you know how the training is going. I am surely taking the good Dr.'s advice and consulting this portion of the site a bit better: Training & Conditioning Horses » Behavior and Training » Modifying a Horses Behavior: Conditioned Responses.
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