I can't get the halter on my welsh anymore...

[ridinglizzard]

My welsh pony is 6 years old and I've had him for 4 years. He has always been curious and playful. I have never had a problem getting a halter on him, he always seemed to enjoy being led around and being with us. He isn't broke, but you can pony people around on him without a problem.

A year ago we moved to a new community. He didn't seem to mind the change. This spring we brought him to a neighbor's pasture for a couple months and when I tried to bring him home a few weeks ago he was very difficult to get the halter on. Now that he is home again I cannot do it!

He lets me walk up to him, brush him, put a rope around his neck... but the moment I bring the halter near his head he tosses his head and tries to get away. I have tried over and over again with the same result. I don't know what I am doing wrong. Or maybe there is a change in him... can there be something physical going on that would cause him to be refusing the halter? He doesn't act different, although to me his eyes look more sunken and with dark circles around them (he is a white horse).

Any suggestions, techniques, or advise would be appreciated.

 

[Bunnylady]

This could be mental, or physical. If he has been where you can't see him a lot of the time, it's possible that someone has been doing something to him that has made him head shy (you say he isn't afraid of being approached or touched, only being touched on the head). Some animals may not like some folks' haltering techniques, but you say you have had him for 4 years, and he hadn't previously had a problem with the way you do it. That's looking at it from the "mental" side.

It's possible that there is something physical going on here; that there is some kind of physical discomfort he is reacting to. If you pull the halter over his ears, he may have mites or something in his ears that make them sensitive and that could make haltering painful for him. Another possibility is sunburn. You said he is white, particularly since you said he is Welsh, I'm assuming he's a genetic gray. Do you know if he had a blaze before he grayed out? Are there any areas where the skin under the hair is pink, rather than dark? If the new pasture lacked shade (or other horses kept him out of the shade), he might have sunburned those areas, and the skin would be sore and sensitive to pressure. Owning two horses that have at times had noses that blistered from the Carolina sun, I can tell you it can make them very resistant to being touched on the face.

 

[TAH]

I agree with @Bunnylady that he have sun burn, mites, and things. We had a horse for 5 months she had been grab by the halter and smacked in the face when she did something she wasn't suppose to. I took the halter off of her and had her touch the halter with her nose and reward when she did it when I wanted. Once she was fine with touching it with her nose then I would put it half way on her then take it off reward. Then before to long she would let me take it on and off her with no problem. Here is a YouTube video on how to get your animals comfortable in the halter. In he video they are doing with a donkey but it is what I used to train daisy.

Clicker Training a Donkey to Self-Halter - YouTube

 

[Poka_Doodle]

It is rather likely a mental thing. Any idea of a bad experience that might have happened?

 

[ridinglizzard]

Thank you so much for the replies.

I don't think that anything bad happened to the pony while he was at pasture, but I suppose it's possible.

Bunnylady, his nose is white (pink) so I wonder if you're on to something about the sunburn! It is putting his nose in the halter which he is balking at. His ears don't seem sensitive.

TAH, I tried the technique in the video without a clicker but just pulling the halter back each time he touched it with his nose and he seemed much more comfortable with it yesterday. I didn't try to put it right on him as I want to move slowly with him given how resistant he was the day before. I will spend more time with him doing that today. It definitely seems like a much better strategy then what I was doing. This way it can be more his decision and hopefully he'll go along with it better.

Poka_Doodle, I don't think that he has had any bad experiences. He is one of these really curious and friendly animals (I always call him my dog-horse because he is playful and likes to follow you around), and he is still acting that way for the most part. Until you try to slip that halter over his nose and then he pulls back and tosses his head. Annoying and frustrating especially since it is so out of character. Not that he isn't a little stinker sometimes, but he hasn't been ornery like this in the past which is what makes me wonder what has changed too. I am leaning towards something physical though...

 

[TAH]

So it seems pretty Likely that he has sunburn.

 

[Poka_Doodle]

Seems strange. It is probably a Sun burn. Putting sunscreen on it in the future might help prevent this from happening though.