Question: My friend’s horse went through some trauma entering a horse trailer. Now she bobs her head up and down when longeing her, when before, she would hold her head up high. Can you tell me what this means?

 Answer: Several things could have caused the change in this mare’s behavior. Two initial thoughts crossed my mind when you said the horse was bobbing its head. A horse that is lame in a front leg will bob its head when it walk or trots. Since your friend’s horse “went through some trauma”, I assume it may have sustained some sort of injuries. It is possible that the horse is lame and may need veterinary attention. Longeing a horse will often make a lameness issue more obvious than when the horse is walked in a straight line. More force is placed on the horse’s joints and limbs when moving in a fairly small circle versus a straight line, and therefore lameness is sometimes easier to diagnose. Another possibility is that the horse injured its eye or scratched its cornea during the event. Again, I would suggest seeking veterinary treatment.

If the mare is definitely not lame or suffering from any other physical ailment (including sore or strained muscles from struggling, perhaps?), then other factor must have affected the mare’s behavior. Was the mare on the longe line when she was being put into the trailer? Does she appear afraid of the longe line now? If the mare appears frightened of the lunge line, then she may need desensitized to the lunge line again. It’s also unclear by what you mean when you say the horse would “hold her head up high”. Horses do not normally hold their heads up in a very high arched position during longeing unless they are acting up or in pain. They should have a fluid movement and give through their head, poll, neck and shoulders with most propulsion coming from the hindquarters. The horses ears are often just a few inches above the withers in a very natural position. If the horse is simply moving in a more natural motion now instead of holding her head up high and trying intently to get away from the individual longeing her (or the whip if one is used), then the communication between she and her handler may have simply improved.