head shy

comparative more head shy · superlative most head shy · alternative headshy · alternative head-shy

1. Disposed to evade having one's head touched.

   But let's say the horse is neither head shy, nor rank, and you can bridle him without fuss.

   1975 September, Bill Tarrant, “The gun dog horse: part II”, in Field & Stream, volume 80, number 5, →ISSN, page 129

   2 more examples

   And as a few strokes on the nose will make a puppy head shy, so a few rebuffs will make a boy shy all over.

   1952, John Steinbeck, East of Eden, →LCCN, →OL

   When we climb up to ride the horse, if we have not taken care of any fear he may have of our touching his ears, and we reach down to pet him while we're on his back, he may get scared and begin bucking, because he is head shy.

   1991, John Lyons, Lyons on Horses: John Lyons' Proven Conditioned-Response Training Program, Doubleday, →ISBN, →OL, page 78