There can be many reasons, but the ears back means that a horse is uncomfortable, and depending upon the ear position and the situation, it often means the horse is about to do something aggressive about the discomfort. | Photo: Erica Larson/The Horse

A. There can be many reasons, but the ears back means that she is uncomfortable, and depending upon the ear position and the situation, it often means the horse is about to do something aggressive about the discomfort. It can be either behavioral, in the sense that the horse is unsure or uncomfortable with people or the situation, or it can be physical discomfort, as if the horse was saying “please don’t mess with me now when I don’t feel well.”

Ear pinning specifically around people can either be that the horse has not yet learned to trust people or be the result of a history of mishandling. Horses with a history of bad experiences associated with people approaching them–either hard work, or physical abuse–might retain this behavior for a long time.

Sometimes, it is hard to figure which of these–or both–are contributing. Sometimes it can be a combination of the two. Fear of people or situations, either because of inexperience or because of past bad experiences in association with people or situations, should diminish as a history of good experiences builds up. If it is mostly physical discomfort, it will not be just specific to people or situations, so you will notice your horse pinning her ears to other horses, the dog, etc. Increased “bother” of any type will more or less bring on the pinning. In our clinic we take a long videotape of the horse in its stall, and see how it responds to all types of situations to try to figure out what is at issue. If it seems physical, viewing by an experienced behavior clinician can often guide the veterinarian where to look for the pain