Biter!

[charmed310]

Hi everyone

Comments

[elcewa]

I've not much advice unfortunately, though I'd probably have an equine dentist out (if you've not already) to rule out any oral discomfort. Additionally, I thought I remembered reading something about excessively mouthy behavior being a possible symptom of ulcers... does this ring a bell for anyone or am I pulling things out of my butt?

[thelovegetaway]

You've just described my horse :) I don't really have advice but if he bites when you leave the stall then you can try hanging a jolly ball against the wall. My horse loves to grab his whenever someone walked by (and thus when he has an urge to bite) and squeeze the air out of it to look all intimidating.

[kateandjack]

Get his teeth checked just to rule out any discomfort. Like an above poster mentioned, it might also be worth talking to your vet about possible causes.

Are you sure he is a gelding. Could he possibly be a rig? Mouthing and biting is very common amongst colts and stallions. You don't mention how old he is - it's also a common 'baby horse' trait.

Once you've ruled out other things, and are sure its a behavioral thing, it's just a case of discipline with consistency. Carry a crop with you whenever you handle him. When he goes to bite - give him a sharp smack on his shoulder. If he moves his head away, praise him. Training good manners is about consistency. You need to make sure you tell him off every single time he goes to bite. If you don't, he will become confused and resentful, and probably bite more.

Oh, and definitely NEVER feed this horse anything by hand - thats just asking for trouble!

I hope you manage to get this sorted - its a horrible habit. In the meantime, just make sure you're wearing a padded jacket or something! lol

[glenatron]

I have a feeling that with my horse this comes from him being weaned badly in some way so he was never really taught by other horses that biting is not OK and even now he acts more like twelve months old rather than twelve years old. He knows he's not supposed to do it, but it's a pattern he'll go back to if he's in doubt...

[makoiyi]

Everything I have ever been taught about biters is that you don't respond with a whack. Why not? Because to a male horse you are playing colt/stallion games with him and his instinct is to come back at you. Not to say you shouldn't discipline in some form but that is basically going back to groundwork where you are keeping him out of your 'space'. He has to respect you enough to move out of your way and not even 'think' of biting. Colts and stallions play this game in the pasture to see who will cave in first. No way should he try it with you or anyone else. Yes, certainly check his teeth to see if he has a problem. Some horses def are more 'mouthy' than others. My boy was but it never progressed beyond a lipping, but he was the kind that would pick up sticks and play with them. It could be an internal problem that is manifesting as others have said, so check everything first and if he still does it then he is playing games with you and you need to stop him right now.

[charmed310]

Right, so how do I stop him? How do I teach him to respect me without smacking him upside the face?

[makoiyi]

I hesitated to say because I'm an NH fiend and use those methods, but only because I know they darned well work. You can try a couple of things. When he comes at you make your hands like claws, yes, I know, it sound silly but basically you are making yourself into a predator. Stand tall and 'push' your hands towards him. The other one is to do a similar thing, use one hand to 'cover' his eye so you push your hand towards his eye and if he doesn't move away I would be very suprised. Obviously I don't mean literally put your hand on his eye but use a pushing motion. The idea is to get him to move his feet which puts you in leader position of respect. If he still persists then I would use my elbow. As he turns to bite you have your elbow ready and when it connects with him it will hurt him. The thing with that is you aren't openly using your hand to hit him back and he can teach himself that biting hurts way too much to bother with. Teh thing is he won't associate your elbow with you as such so you aren't 'responding' to his biting. It's

[acoustic11]

We have a biting stallion and if we put our hands out like that to push him away he tries to bite them.

[acoustic11]

I guess I'm old fashioned, but I use the three second game with ANY horse who tries to bite.

As soon as they go for you, make them think the world is going to end for three seconds. Make your voice deep and scold them, smack them with a whip if you have them, smack their face if you need to, or just make a whole lot of commotion and flail your hands and back them up against the wall. Keep them there, against the wall, do not let them move. Wait a few seconds, and then go back as if everything is normal.

[young_modern]

this is how i handle biters and just generally nasty horses, too. just to add on to the comment: if i find myself without something in my hand to thwack them with, i'll give them a good swift kick. i always try to aim for their chest, because that's where horses generally aim when they use this sort of method with eachother.

[taleofaredhead]

I personally do not believe this is a good first-resort way to handle a biting horse. I respect the opinions voiced on this community but I would add my own vote in favor of checking for health problems first, and then researching a more (dare I say) humane way of responding.