19/05/2026
Can you recognise signs of pain in your horse?
Whether you’re a horse owner, or someone who works with horses professionally, being able to identify the subtle signs of pain in your horse can be the difference in catching a problem quickly or long term suffering.
Often, there is a high chance the problem started way before any major signs of pain became apparent to us. With horses being prey animals, they are incredibly good at disguising their pain for survival and often us humans can miss these signs or dismiss them as unwanted behavioural traits or even, having fun!
In the case of these photos, my pony was showing what is a typical pain facial expression with consistently flared ‘boxy’ nostrils, tight muzzle, bulging facial muscles, heavy angulated upper eyelids with wrinkles and ears positioned diagonally.
Although her overall condition significantly improved over the winter months, I noted that she has a weakness in her hind quarters, particularly on the right side with weaker muscular tone and a shortened stride, plus difficulty with comfortably picking up her leg. I also noticed that she was quidding when eating and that she was packing food between her incisors and top lip.
With the help from two experienced equine dental professionals, one of whom is a vet, and our experienced farrier, we were able identify the likely issues, address them effectively and quickly and provide appropriate short-term pain relief. She was struggling from long standing food packing between diastemas of her incisors which created painful pressure and low level gum inflammation, plus a loose tooth. Having cleared the packed food and balanced all her teeth including her incisors, the reoccurring packing has reduced and I am able to clear this for her easier each time. Our vet recommended 2 weeks of anti-inflammatory medication and to reassess afterwards.
With her hooves, our farrier made incremental adjustments to the angles of her hind hooves, which I have seen an obvious improvement in her comfort and movement. Having completed the medication, her pain facial expression has not returned and she is looking much more comfortable, relaxed and energised again.
As a bodyworker, it is important that we can recognise these signs of pain in the horses we work with, as it may be necessary to refer the client to their vet for further evaluation.
