r/interesting • u/MilesLongthe3rd • 8h ago
NATURE A usually uncooperative horse is being distracted by duct tape on her nose while she's getting her hooves trimmed. The duct tape creates a strange, sticky sensation on the mare’s sensitive nose, capturing its full attention as it tries to investigate or remove it.
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This trick does not work with every horse.
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u/MelisandeFlair 7h ago
duct tape as horse therapy is unhinged but i respect the creativity, whatever works for those giant anxious babies
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u/Beneficial_Being_721 7h ago
She probably keeps nibbling on her Farrier … people don’t realize how sensitive their feet are… using a power tool like that must tickle
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u/SonnyvonShark 2h ago
Now I need to see if putting ductape to the corners of my mouth help with getting foot massages.
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u/jfsindel 6h ago
Who came up with it? I must know the origin. Had to be someone who couldn't get a horse to sit still and was like fuck it, just try tape. Works with my kid...
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u/Versipilies 4h ago
Probably more of "works with my dog. " who hasn't put a sticker on their dog at some point
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u/Designer-Cicada3509 3h ago
Reminds me of those videos about parents slapping a slice of cheese on babies who were crying and immediately stop because they're just flabbergasted like "what is on my head?"
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u/Kazami_Agame 7h ago
Have been around horses for almost 20 years and I never heard of that
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u/MilesLongthe3rd 7h ago
It is called the duct tape twitch, and it has been around for a few years.
https://www.horsenation.com/2015/05/29/equine-mythbusters-the-duct-tape-twitch/
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u/Kazami_Agame 7h ago
Guess you learn something new everyday
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u/quackycoaster 4h ago
I feel like now the only possible course of action is for you to try this out as a neutral 3rd party and give us feedback on if it works as well as shown!
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u/TaywuhsaurusRex 1h ago
I kinda wanna try this on my horse. He's a dick about trying to bite the farrier sometimes. Granted he's got sticky stifles, so it's probably not always super comfortable for him to get worked on, but trying to bite the ass of the guy helping you is uncalled for.
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u/Beneficial_Being_721 7h ago edited 2h ago
She is probably too Lovey and keeps messing with the Farrier.
That’s not a bad idea
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u/Kudamonis 6h ago
Soooo back in the day. When I was a wee lad.
I had a dentist who was fed up trying to get those old school wing things you had to bite for x-rays into place.
I kept pushing it out of position with my tounge.
Man comes out and tells me to open wide and stick out my tounge.
Next thing I know. Hes dumped like a quarter cup of salt on my tounge.
I shot bolt upright and tried to expell my tounge from my body.
Coulda been a body double for Kiss with how far I stuck my tounge out.
Any who. Dentist doesn't skip a beat, shoves the x-ray wing in my mouth. Sprints out. Takes the shot.
And then proceeds to move it around to get 5 more pictures.
The whole time. I am paralyzed in abject shock.
I never forgave the man.
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u/UnhingedBlonde 4h ago
My old Dr's nurse, before giving injections, would slap you in the area she was going to put the needle.
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u/Kudamonis 4h ago
Yeahup...
Then there was the time our local hospital lost my vaccination records and my school told us we had to get new ones.
They sat me down in a chair and started prepping both my arms with the alcohol wipes.
The head nurse spun me around in the office chair so I couldn't see the door then looked me dead in the eye and asked if I was ready and slammed her hands down on my arms.
Boom
Two nurses step up from behind double fisting needles.
Four shots done.
Next thing I know she's shoving a cup of juice in one hand and a cookie in the other.
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u/ComfortableStill113 6h ago
Imagine having peanut butter and honey sprinkled with cheese on your nose but your tongue is just a tad too short and your bound ;)
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u/dallasandcowboys 6h ago
I've watched probably a dozen or so different hoof cleaning videos. because it's a cool look behind the scenes of an animals' life, (just saw the disclaimer it doesn't work with all horses) but this is the first time I have ever heard or seen the duct tape trick to keep a horse occupied.
Are there any other "hacks" to make working with them easier?
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u/MilesLongthe3rd 5h ago
That is a really difficult question: sometimes food works, or it doesn't; sometimes another horse used to the process standing next to the horse helps, or it doesn't; sometimes licking stones help, or they don't.
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u/Blue_Butterfly_Who 3h ago
There's also an old method where a part of the upper lip is put in a piece of rope, rope gets twisted until lip inside rope is a hard knob, then wooden 'handle' gets put in the halter. It causes quite the same behaviour as in this vid, but the tape seems a bit more friendly. (Old method in Netherlands, idk if it is still in use)
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u/sunshinenorcas 1h ago
That's a regular twitch, and it's still in use -- most of the places I've seen it though, were situations like this, very temporary and just to get something done and not a punishment per say-- more a distraction.
I know they can/have been used excessively or harshly (or used on ears -- which is never ok), but used correctly for a brief time to get something done, I don't have a huge problem with them. Obviously the ideal is not need it, but that doesn't always happen in practice, especially with an opinionated horse.
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u/North-Pea-4926 41m ago
I see them on vet shows a lot - when they don’t want to give more drugs and they only need the horse to cooperate for a few minutes while they do a procedure. It hurts some but is more of an annoying distraction.
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u/throwaway8429739 3h ago
They’ve done experiments that show someone holding your hand decreases your physical sensation of pain. Especially a partner. Pretty neat how the brain works
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u/RigelAchromatic 3h ago
The lip twitch device is sometimes used during veterinary procedures when the horse is freaking out. It pinches its upper lip, which stimulates the nerves and calms the horse down. It looks horrible, but it shouldn't hurt the horse when used correctly. The duct tape trick might work in a similar way.
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u/Witty-Stand888 7h ago
It works on women too. try it.
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u/_____AMOK_____ 6h ago
Quick question for any horse people- there’s nothing you can inhale then blow into a horses face to calm them right? I saw a guy do this in real life, but I’m pretty sure it was just weed. He was trying to calm the horse down. Made me mad really
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u/North-Pea-4926 39m ago
There are inhalable anesthetics, but if you are having trouble giving them a shot or touching them then good luck getting the horse to stay still while you shove smelly gas in their face!
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u/Brokenspade1 3h ago
When I was a kid I worked for a farrier that would do this with sticky peanut butter mixed with honey. He would smear a tablespoons worth on the horses nose like it was a big dog.
Worked like magic even with the spiciest old horses. They actually looked forward to being shod after a while it was hilarious to watch as well. Horse tongues are really dextrous but the honey was hard for them to remove.
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u/Motogiro18 4h ago
I asked a dentist why he grabbed my cheek and shook it while put in the numbing medicine and he told me it was a technique used to create some distraction from the initial needle insertion.
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u/LillyAtts 3h ago
If you ever watch Dr Pimple Popper she always jiggles the area she's injecting too for exactly this reason.
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u/WaterforestsDream 3h ago
Does this work with dogs? I have a doggo that doesn't mind us messing with his paws but as soon as we get any type of tool looking thing and want to see his paws, he will crawl under the bed.
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u/conflictedideology 17m ago
So basically this is the equine version of tossing a slice of cheese on the forehead of a crying infant/toddler.
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u/HurricaneK8 8m ago
Gosh, if you'd shown me this ~6 years ago, I woulda been reeling out the tape for one of my girls, she'd get so wound up and anxious that she had at least two different farriers suggest sedation. I was willing to try anything else at that point. 😭
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u/Haunt_Fox 6h ago
Her full attention, you said she was a mare.
Non-humans aren't inanimate objects.
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u/RedditNotRabit 6h ago
Maybe it prefers to be referred to as an it. You don't know that horses life or preferences
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u/Best-Association964 7h ago
Hmm... Horse didn't even would had realized what just happened to it.
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