How
much success can I expect in 'curing' my horse of the
biting habit?
He is a 10 year old tb gelding who is a bit handy with
the gnashers. I have tried the foot thing (kicking him
on his leg when he bites), the water pistol thing,
saying no very forcefully and, when he is very fierce,
scaring him into a corner of his stable. He makes all
the moves to bite, but his teeth rarely make contact
with flesh.
I have only had him for a year, and he has always been
like this with us so I think the habit is pretty
ingrained - he is not fed titbits, not by hand anyway,
unless being ridden. He is much worse when being
groomed, and when more than one person is near him. He
is better after work when he can be really chilled. He
is worked daily, turned out for 3 hours (yes, I know
more turnout would help but impossible). He has a big
character, but is not a touchy-feely guy. He likes to
play with his lips on things anyway and, when he is
being calm and kind, will take little playful nips on my
clothing - seems to be his way of being nice!
The problem is that when he bites properly and is
reprimanded, he often comes back at me - threatens with
teeth (though not usually to bite), stamp his foot in
the direction of my foot, kick out with his foreleg,
lift his hindleg. I am totally NOT scared of him, but he
seems to have little respect for me! We have kind of got
used to each other. Because of his age, and he was badly
treated/starved/left to rot, I wonder if anything would
help? Any ideas gratefully received!
(God - I've just read my description of my horse - he
sounds absolutely terrible - he really isn't that bad,
though he does do all the things I mention!)
I don't
suppose he's a CB, is he? He sounds SO much like
my old Bramble (and he didn't have the excuse of being a
rescue.) He started off when I first got him being
so bad - he'd come across the door with mouth open,
teeth at the ready. I spent so much time standing
outside his door with a piece of Class C pipe hidden
behind my back, muttering "go on, make my day!)
But he wouldn't do it to me (come over the door,
that is). He'd come JUST as far as the gap - stop
- and gnash his teeth furiously and rear (saying, 'if
this glass wall wasn't here you'd be dead!') But
anyone else was at severe risk!
I had him just over 10 years until I lost him (paddock
accident - it wasn't ME!) and I still miss him - he was
a SERIOUS 'character' (otherwise known as an out and out
bas....d!)
I suspect you won't change him at this stage - with
Bramble, we had an agreement that there was a line
(somewhere) he wouldn't cross - but I tolerated things I
wouldn't have tolerated from another horse.
I used to
ride a horse with a similar problem, he was a real swine
in the stable before work but was positively chilled out
afterwards. I found he was much better if I let
him nibble on a haynet (and take any frustrations out by
biting that instead of me) while I was tacking him up,
and I left proper grooming until after I had ridden.
Not ideal but it kept me in one piece |
It's good to
hear other peoples' experiences - even if there are no
miracle cures. When you have a horse with a bad habit,
you do want to improve it but I suspect that this may be
impossible in Cushey's case.
Yes, I do tolerate his behaviour whereas with other
horses I would have 'lost it' by now. I don't want a 'Stepford'
horse, but it would be nice to know I could trust him a
bit more with other people. Last weekend there were some
visitors to the yard. I saw them patting him and Cush
had his butter wouldn't melt … expression. I shouted
across to warn them but they took absolutely no notice.
I shouted again. They still carried on. Cushey then
lunged for the small child, chomping his teeth. The poor
kid has probably been put off horses for ever. Moral:
put up a "do not touch- this horse bites
notice"!
Janet: He isn't a CB (cleveland bay?) altho I have had a
pretty awful experience with a CBx (hauled over the
stable door by my chest when I was 9!). I now have a
very attractive scar and a lasting wariness of large
chestnut horses.
RuthE: Yes, I tend not to groom until he has been
worked, when he is often a real pussycat. He is also
much better munching his haynet or standing in the
sunshine.
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Catherine,
he sounds just like my TB. I've had him 11 years now and
he has mellowed over time but when I first got him he
was terrible and used to lunge with his mouth open. He
bit me on the leg once and I still have a haematoma. He
is mostly just nippy these days but will occasionally
get me good, usually when I rug him up. I find that if I
hold a stick in my hand when rugging him up he doesn't
even try. He also does the holding hind leg up thing
which I mostly just growl at him for, unless he actually
looks like he is going to kick me which he never has
done. I have tried everything with the biting over the
years and nothing has worked. I think he was unhappy in
the place I kept him when I first got him and was
insecure, because the more happy and secure he is, the
less nippy he is. He is very happy now and hasn't bitten
me for ages (touch wood, I'll probably get it now), but
he is still a very mouthy horse, likes to get hold of
your coat, or hold the rope in his mouth, etc. I don't
think he is really nasty, he too has a big character,
and I think he just can't help himself. He was gelded
late as well which I think may have contributed to the
problem. My best advice is not to put yourself in a
position where he can bite you -- tie him up whenever
you are doing anything with him and make sure it is on a
short rope and that he cannot untie himself, that way he
cannot get you - I learned this early on after we got
stuck in a vicious (literally) cycle of him biting me
and me constantly telling him off -- I wanted to break
that cycle because it was making us both unhappy and
this is at least one practical thing I could do -- and I
also put up signs for unsuspecting passers by!
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I have wondered if Cushey's 'mouthiness' could be due to
late gelding - for a TB he has one big neck! And, he has
turned a bit loopy occasionally, very bolshy behaviour.
He also slams his front legs down when told off. I don't
know if this is stallion-like but it certainly looks
very arrogant.
I also agree about the cycle of nip, telling off, nip,
telling off that it is too easy to slip into. It becomes
self fulfilling after a while. I groom/tack up/rug etc,
therefore I will get bitten! I now ignore him as much as
possible and he is certainly no worse. I have also tried
to play down his nippiness to others - purely because of
the self-fulfilling thing - he started to get the
nickname of Victor Meldrew - but I made it plain that I
didn't like it and it didn't stick! It's difficult
though, because I want people to be aware of his
behaviour, but not to make a big issue out of it.
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When my colt
was nippy (not biting but lots of nipping) I found that
I was telling him off all the time. I put on a
muzzle, so I wouldn't have to be wary - maybe you could
muzzle him while he's being tacked and groomed, until
you manage to cure the biting!.
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Nope, tried
that Issy! If he doesn't snap then he stamps violently -
and given his really crappy (though improving!) flat
feet I would rather risk this nashers than have him
damaging himself even more. Also he is more likely to
kick with his hind leg if he can't 'express' his
feelings with his teeth. And that would just be opening
another can of worms..
I have to say that his teeth only very very rarely meet
on human flesh - it would just be so lovely to
have a horse that didn't give a good impression of a
shark!
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My 5yr old
sounds exactly the same!
She has behavioural problems - bites, used to kick, she
will bite herself she gets so frustrated!!
She used to lunge at you from the stable.. but I soon
stopped that!! I let her mouth run into my fist - she
soon learned that u just hold your hand up and it will
hurt if she goes near it - she's not head shy or scared
of me though!! (she is a sort of rescue- has had a tough
life!)
she will stand in the stable, bite then kick the wall!
That drives me mad!!
If the horse goes to bite me, I get aggressive towards
her, not in the sense that i will kick or punch her
etc.. (I'm not like that) I will rush into that stable,
shout at her, and square up to her and make her submit
to me!
It is working slowly but surely!!
Hitting and smacking doesn't work!! Also - pinching her
neck and twisting the skin helps! She hates it, so if
she snaps she gets her skin twisted!!!
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As a 5 year
old, your mare's habits are not so ingrained. You
should have more success than I am having with my 10
year old!
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I have had
to deal with my young stallion that I didn't have gelded
until he was three (didn't pass grading despite being
placed or winning his class at many County shows!). He
was an expert at the 'kisses with teeth' habit - once
picking me up by my leg off the box that I was standing
on to plait his mane for a major show! I am tried all
sorts - and I did resort to some things that some of you
would find unacceptable so I won't go into details but
you try dealing with a 17hh pure ID stallion who knew
that he was just a solid bundle of muscles and hormones!
Later on when he had been gelded (it took ages for the
hormones to wear off!) I got him out of the biting by
using Monty Roberts techniques. I took him into an
enclosure (doesn't have to be round) and stood in the
middle of it - every time he came up and tried to bite
me I chased him away making strange noises and rattling
cans etc - you can imagine the strange looks that I
got!!! I would chase him around the enclosure until I
got the head down, licking, chewing thing - at which
point I would stop and put my eyes down etc. Then
eventually he got the idea not to bite and was much more
trustworthy after that. I did used to try putting a
muzzle on him (one of those plastic bucket things with
holes in) but he soon realised that if he swung his head
and bashed me with it hard it was just as painful as
biting (they seem to have sharp plastic edges |
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