Comments on: Horse biting problem – again!

By: kathy finnell

kathy finnell — Sat, 27 Dec 2014 21:49:32 +0000

In reply to Emil Racovita. :razz: couldn't agree more

By: Justine

Justine — Tue, 09 Dec 2014 23:57:45 +0000

My horse is very dominant. He will bite at times. He is much better than when he was younger. I use a grazing mask to put him in time out when he threatens to bite me. He doesn’t like the grazing mask but he does learn in a kind way that it is not acceptable.

By: Tracey Charles

Tracey Charles — Tue, 09 Dec 2014 00:19:02 +0000

Thank you to everyone for all your support and comments. I will take them all in my stride and see what works best. We did have his teeth done last Friday and noted that his Right canine was broken, its possible this could have been his issue and why he kept nipping me. I do take on board also the dominance issue and he is testing me. I’m happy to work with anything and see how it all goes for us. I will also keep an eye on the stomach thing, if it persists over next week I’ll certainly get him checked over again (got him checked out same time as teeth done). Again thank you everyone, this support is fantastic, this is a long journey and I’m in no hurry to get it over and done with.

By: Larry

Larry — Mon, 08 Dec 2014 21:54:15 +0000

Nipping is just a lead up to biting. The horse is just testing, with a nip, to see if he can become more aggressive. It’s how the horse world works. When they want to move up in the pecking order, they start testing the waters with the horse above them. If what they are doing works, they keep getting more and more aggressive. The John Lyons solution is a good one, but you must act Immediately. If you wait to think about it, the horse, in it’s opinion has won. You are not going to hurt the horse. You just want to get a mind set that nipping (or biting) is not acceptable under any circumstances. Spending time trying to analyze why he did it is time wasted, and puts you in further danger that he thinks he won. It’s not a bad or good thing to the horse, it’s just part of their world. They do what they can get away with to establish dominance.

Some horses are just naturally cinchy, when you tighten the cinch, they will bring their head around, generally with their ears back. Not a good thing to ignore. The best solution I’ve found is that I just watch them out of the corner of my eye. If the head comes around, I just give them a quick sharp bump on the nose with my elbow and go right on doing what I was doing. They are not sure if they caused it or if I did it, but usually, a couple of times and it will stop. It’s also a good idea to smooth the skin away from under the girth after cinching, to make sure there are no wrinkles under the cinch. You can also lift one front leg forward and then the other. Just don’t stand right in front of the horse and lift the leg away from your body, that is, don’t get it above any part of your body in case the horse takes it away from you. DO NOT let them get away with these bad behaviors. They can and will hurt you (seriously) if it is not corrected. Keep in mind, this is not bad (or good) behavior in their mind. It is just a horse trying to assert their dominance in their horse world. They need to learn that they cannot get away with it – ever. Any time you let it go, you are unconsciously reinforcing in the horses mind that it is working for them. They will try it again, if it is not corrected. Look at how the dominate horse corrects bad behavior. If they live through that, time after time, you are not going to hurt them. It is generally the soft hearted owners who want to pet them through every situation that end up getting hurt. When they show bad behavior, treating them kindly just reinforces it. You want a well disciplined, well mannered horse that is safe to be around. Your job is to not accept the wrong behavior and to stroke and reinforce the right responses by praise and stroking. Be safe and be consistent. If you correct it one time and let it go the next, the horse will probably keep trying as you are not sending a consistent message. Be safe.

By: Rod

Rod — Mon, 08 Dec 2014 11:53:46 +0000

Horses are a big animal and should know there place it is up to you to teach them. That said in my experience horse bite is to test you. A quick and to the point response is best. Some people treat horses like humans but they are not. Don’t get me wrong I love my horses very much and consider them my best friends. When I brought my mare home the first day she was great but a day later she tried to bite, my quick reaction was to give her a good slap on the nose and she never tried that again. Now she is the best horse I have. The best advice I ever got was not let a horse intimidate me. But be carful they are big animals

By: ralph

ralph — Mon, 08 Dec 2014 10:32:41 +0000

Try and repeat the action of that day and maintain a careful watch and move out of the way if the horse tries to nip. This may be just a case of the horse been ticklish in that area. Rub the horse from behind the girth and see if his expression changes as you move closer to the point where you were when he nipped you. If this is ulcers he reaction would be more aggressive and will normally bite and not nip. take notice and don’t aggravate.

By: JD

JD — Mon, 08 Dec 2014 05:07:16 +0000

Definitely an Alpha issue… even with mares and geldings. You must know the pecking order in your herd and you must stay Alpha… they will test you. I have always had stud horses and you must prove you are the alpha to them. They can and will bite the crap out of you or worse before you assert your alpha status, especially if you turn your back. To prove I am alpha in the herd I take the alpha mare and put her through the paces in front of him at least once a week. this keeps her respect and you can be sure she beats the trash out of him. He sees you making her, the baddest b***h of all, dance to your music and the expressions say it all. He sees you as one real bad ass, not to me messed with. Has worked for me many years, but it must be refreshed in their mind often, at least once a week. I never have to hit or yell.
I always keep track of their head and feet because any horse can be a 1200 lb killing machine under the right circumstances. A dear friend of mine had a mare 26 years and it was bomb proof. After it’s last show, where it took 1st prize, the handler was walking it out of the winners circle and my friend was walking behind her mare. A horsefly got on her rump and instinctively the mare kicked back, trying to get the horsefly off. Her hooves hit my friend in the chest and stopped her heart immediately,,, she was dead that quick.

By: Ray

Ray — Mon, 08 Dec 2014 01:32:30 +0000

Every horse is an individual and each situation has something unique about it. Based on someone else’s description of an event, I’m not sure what I would do. I’ve probably used most of the suggestions I read in the other comments at least once in the past 50 years but in my most recent encounter with a biting and kicking horse I chose to do nothing but safely position myself when handling him. When the horse came to me he had been with a trainer for two weeks and declared dangerous. I felt the horse was not well. I thought he could have GI problems, as well as, a neurological problem. I had my vet exam him and he had both gastric and hindgut ulcers. He also had equine protozoal myeloencephalitis. As his health has improved so has his temperament.

By: Deedee

Deedee — Sun, 07 Dec 2014 19:42:00 +0000

I stand corrected. Three seconds of acting like you are going to kill him. But make them count.

By: Elaine

Elaine — Sun, 07 Dec 2014 16:36:08 +0000

Hi
When I first got my boy he nipped a lot, I felt this was because the last owner had young children who smacked him in the face and I caught her punching him in the face. You can imagine my anger. I was bitten badly on my thigh as I was saddle ring him, but now I know that there were too manyof us around him fussing and he wasn’t used to this. In the last two and half year of having him, he doesn’t nip like he use to. It took a lot of time. Now when he feels like and I mean an affectionate nip I will knock his chest with my shoulder and walk off stopping a bit away from him and hanging my head. It took him 30 minutes the first time to do e to me, now he comes and gently nudges and I will turn and hug him. He does have his off days and I just go sorry and walk off and come back an hour later and he is much better. He is a jealous horse and if I talk to anyone even my dogs when he is with me, he will eventually nip to get my attention. There is a man battle going on between my husband and him when I am around, but if my husband goes by himself to say hi he is a softy. Yes I like the attention from him, I do warn everyone but I am the one with him everyday and say good night at 11pm.
Just make sure your baby knows who is boss and if you can watch a mare in a field and what she does, she is nudge him and walk away or bite, lol we cannot bite, but we can walk away and ignore and its does work but takes time.
Take your time and get to know him but remember if he is be odd on a day just walk away but make sure he understands that you are doing this and then go back an hour later. Do loads of ground work. It’s taken me a long time and I am still learning and having to listen to him.
He hated his belly being touch, we found out he had ulcers and it obviously irrated him. Now I gently touch him every day with right hand and left hand stopping his head from swinging to nip, this has taken six month and now he just swings but doesn’t attempt to nip.
Good luck