How to twitch a difficult horse!
The most common type of twitch is the round wooden stick or pole, that is about 2 ft long with a drilled hole at on end and a piece of thick rope about 12” long threaded through the hole to form a loop.
The loop is placed around the upper lip.
The stick is twisted until the loop becomes tight.
You will need an assistant to hold the twitch with two hands.
Horse restraints
If the horse continues to move, twist the stick a little more.
Twitching a horse is not always the answer.
It has been known for a twitched horse to strike out with his front legs!
There are more humane twitches available at tack shops, should you wish to purchase one.
Try to avoid twitching a young horse.
Once the horse has been twitched it knows what will happen next time and will try to avoid this situation.
After twitching a horse, spend some time rubbing his nose and stroking his head so he gets used to being handled around the top lip.
If you have a difficult horse that is liable to kick , restraining is required.
Get an assistant to lift up the fore leg while dealing with the injury on another leg.
Remember! the horse is still capable of hopping while lifting up the one leg!
If you are treating a hind leg, you need to pick up a foreleg on the same side.
There are several situations where a horse may need to be twitched
- treating an injury
- clipping around the head
- being shod
- mane pulling
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