How would a horse most likely respond to a tickle on its cheek?

I would vote for your suggestion of rubbing the cheek against the knee/the inside of a front leg (having put that leg forward a step, if you see what I mean). Using the back leg strikes me as being more for itches behind the ears and so on (and if the horse happens to be elderly, I think they'd be less likely to do so anyway, if their joints are stiffer). Rubbing against their own shoulder would surely be anatomically impossible, as you suspect!

Also, my horse strongly advocates using a human for such annoying tickles and itches. I certainly do my best to be a good scratching post, as long as I know to expect it - otherwise I tend to topple!

Tazlima said:

I mean, how would it scratch the spot, both physically and behaviorally?

I originally, and unthinkingly, described it as rubbing its cheek against its shoulder (the way a human would do). However, I just realized that I don't know if horses' necks bend that far. I know they can reach to scratch their heads with a hind hoof. Is that the most likely way it would deal with a tickly cheek? What about rubbing the cheek against the inside of a front leg?

I think I may have just set a record for most nit-picky detail, but doggone it, I want to get things right.

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Horses do bend down and rub their cheeks against their shoulders sometimes, though I've more often seen them reach down and rub against a foreleg or scratch a foreleg with their teeth, and rub against objects (or people) when itchy. Many horses do seem to enjoy a scritch on the cheek by human fingers to. Any place where their bridle or halter rests will become sweaty and itchy, and many of them like to scratch it or be scratched there.

Horses are all different, though. Some are what is termed "head shy," meaning they don't like being touched on their face or head, or are startled by sudden movements in the vicinity. Some are also "thin skinned," which is maybe the equine equivalent of being ticklish or easily chafed. I worked with such a horse at a riding stable, and we had to brush her very gently and carefully (and with very soft brushes).

An unexpected tickle on the cheek might be met with a toss of the head, a snort, or even by the horse shying or pulling back. A sour horse might even nip at someone who annoys or startles them. They may think it's a fly landing on them, or if they're dozing or nervous, they may take it as a threat.

Depends on if a horse is in an open field or barn. In a barn, it's just as likely to rub against a door frame or stall (imo). I had one actually tear it's upper eyelid open doing this, catching on a nailhead that wasn't hammered in far enough (new barn). Even after a shot, it took 3 men to hold the horse's head still while the vet stitched it up.

As above--if a horse's face itches, it's probably going to rub its face on whatever is around. A fencepost, their leg, a human body, a stall door, a bucket, whatever. They can use their back feet to scratch, but this requires some bending and balance, so most of the time they go for some other solid object. But I wouldn't find it unrealistic if you wrote a horse did this I've never seen one scratch its face on its own shoulder and find that hard to imagine, but I could be trying to imagine it wrong...

as others have said, it depends on where teh horse is and how annoying the actual tickle/itch is - i#ve found that if there is something to scratch on - like a dooor frame or a fence post - they will tend to use that first, however, if nothing else is available then they may rub against the inside of their legs - there is a hard growth here called a chestnut which some horses like to scratch against. Sometimes a horse will use a back hoof to scratch at teh head (i've seen my own horse fall over doing this) but not generally at the cheek area.

Back feet are usually just used for behind the ear. My horse usually rubs his cheek on the inside of his foreleg after a ride. They also love using humans as a scratching post. Some of it depends on the character of the horse -- my horse is pretty smart, and I can't imagine him rubbing his face on something sharp.