How can I get my horse over being head shy?

Head shyness — the horse that raises his head, pulls away, or reacts defensively when hands approach his ears, poll, or face — interferes with every aspect of daily management that involves the horse's head: haltering, bridling, clipping, veterinary examination, and basic grooming. It is also one of the most reliably correctable problems when the approach is systematic, patient, and genuinely addresses the horse's experience rather than simply attempting to overpower the reaction through restraint. The first consideration before any training approach is applied is whether the head shyness has a physical cause. Ear pain from infection or previous injury, dental pain that makes poll or jaw pressure uncomfortable, poll soreness from a previous trauma or ill-fitting headstall, and eye problems can all produce head shyness that will not resolve through training because the cause is physical rather than behavioral. A veterinary examination is the appropriate starting point for any horse whose head shyness appeared suddenly, has worsened over time, or is accompanied by other signs of discomfort during handling. Assuming the horse is physically sound, head shyness is almost always the product of previous handling experiences that associated head and ear contact with discomfort or alarm. The horse has learned that hands approaching his head predict an uncomfortable experience. Correcting it requires replacing that learned association with a new one through systematic desensitization beginning well below the horse's defensive threshold. Find the point at which the horse can accept contact without reacting — for many head-shy horses this is the neck or the lower jaw rather than the ears or poll — and begin there. Touch that area quietly and repeatedly, releasing the touch when the horse stands still rather than when he moves away. The release for standing still is the critical element — a handler who removes her hand when the horse pulls away teaches the horse that pulling away produces the release, which reinforces the head shyness rather than reducing it. From the established acceptance point, work progressively toward the sensitive areas over as many sessions as needed at each step before progressing. The ears specifically often require their own progressive approach — begin by touching the base of the ear rather than the tip, cupping the ear gently rather than grabbing it, and working inside the ear only after the outside handling is completely accepted. A horse that has been ear-twitched in the past may require considerably more patience at this specific step than a horse whose ear shyness has a different origin.