How Horses Communicate Pain
Besides not being able to talk horses are flight animals and have an instinctual ability to hide pain. So how do horses communicate pain?
Obvious signs such as biting bucking suddenly not wanting to be saddled reluctance to go forward under saddle or short strides we can often interpret but there are times when we have to dig a little deeper and keep our spidey senses alert for other signs of pain.
Case Studies
My three horses have all communicated pain to me in different ways some obvious and others harder to detect. Bailey Girl my American Paint Horse mare is extremely thinskinneda field of long grass tickles her belly and makes her uneasy.
I touched her girth area she was fine ran my fingers down her back no response. Was she just being cranky? Did she not want to be ridden and if so why?
An appointment with my equine massage therapist revealed she had sore shoulders a place I didnt even think to look. Her saddle was custom made for her but as she aged her shape changed. But arthritis in her knees was the No. 1 culprit.
Due to Bailey Girls arthritis in her knees and lack of flexion in them she has to lift more from the shoulders trapezius and rhomboids to clear the ground with her feet. This resulted in very tight shoulders and lower neck which in turn caused rearing when the front feet were picked up too high and the knees flexed too much.
My Appaloosa gelding Bailey Boy yes I ended up with
two horses named Bailey had a completely different way of communicating pain. On a typical day on the trails Bailey wouldnt mind if the herd was quite a distance ahead of him. Yet all of a sudden he began to get anxious when they were more than three horse lengths away.
