2 year old biting and being very mouthy..

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dressagediva456

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I have a really smart 2 year old colt who is a serious stallion prospect. He has a great temperament other than being mouthy. Not just at humans but anything. He will literally put anything in his mouth including electric fencing!

We have tried hitting him and it doesn't work. It just makes him worse and he thinks it's a game. The only improvement we have seen is since we have been using monty methods and using shake back quite aggressively when he even goes to look at biting you.

Does anyone have any other advice? He has squeaky toys to play with by his stable and a ball in his stable too. He lived with other horses as a yearling but unfortunately I'm not in a position for him to now.

He goes out for 12 hours a day in a big stallion paddock and happily stables next to mares. He's a big boy currently standing at just under 16.1hh

I don't want to geld him just because of this. He's incredible and I would love to resolve this.

Many thanks in advance!! :)
 
Went through the same thing with my gelding as a 2 year old last year and I put it down to baby testing his boundaries and teething as it would come and go, mine used to come up behind and nip if you weren't paying attention but a well placed elbow a few times stopped that pretty quick. The everything in the mouth is still around though and his fav thing is his own lead rope, I think some just like it as i've known of a few who were like if their whole lives :)
 
Thanks for the advice. Sounds very similar to my boy. I've tried the well placed elbow lol and he just thinks it's funny. Such a battle he's such a lovely horse just wish he'd stop it its very annoying!!!
 
He will probably grow out of it once he starts to work, at the moment he is not able to express himself normally by playing with others and you are getting the brunt of his frustration, if he really cannot go out with anything else and I understand the reason could he have a more interesting environment set up for the time he is out, a stallion paddock, however big, will having nothing to occupy his mind while he is out, he may run about a bit then just eat, every day will be the same, pretty boring for a young healthy entire.
I have no idea of your facilities and electric fencing may not work if he eats it but a track system or maze could get him thinking a bit and moving about more than he will in a plain field, otherwise I would possibly think about some long reining, although I don't like to start them so early in this case it may be just what he needs to give him an interest.
 
Thank you very much. Funnily enough ice just started doing a little bit of long reining and he seemed so much more content after. He fell asleep and didn't bite at all after. I might just try it once or twice a week. Maze in field definitely sounds interesting. He also loves playing with balls so may get him another for the field?
 
My friend's and my Exmoor youngsters are both very mouthy. They're a bit like toddlers, everything has to be chewed, tasted, assessed, and cleared for use on pony. My Instructor also said with some there is no point in putting anything near until they have fully investigated it. At 2, their teeth are also moving, so, again like toddlers, they mouth everything.
 
Colts who are mouthy will view a slap etc as the game they wanted in the first place. Its fun for them and if you get involved its even more fun as then its a game! Having worked at a stud that ran a lot of colts on, they almost always grow out of it :)
 
get a jif lemon and squirt it in his mouth when he tries to nip you. no shouting slapping or anything else needed and it puts them off very quickly. do you know anyone with a gelding he could be turned out with that would put him in his place and play with him without hurting him as that is a great way to keep colts although its a lot harder to find here than in mainland europe
 
My section A gelding has never really grown out of it, he will still grab my coat if its a thick one. When I got him someone had made him head shy by clouting him for doing it. I decided to ignore him unless he actually bit me, then he got a sharp slap across the muzzle. Funny thing is he rarely did it to the children, when he was fed up with them he stood on their foot.
I have had a few colts and I turn them out with the s**ty A or if they are not full of it, something with less attitude. Most small ponies will hold their own as they are usually quick enough to get out of the way. I have been lucky that my colts have not been biters, usually the sharp slap stops them pretty quick, but they are out 24/7 most of the time with company and only get shirty if they have been stood in a couple of days. The one I have at the moment, I just let him hold the lead rope it he wants something in his mouth.
 
dressagediva456 said:
I have a really smart 2 year old colt who is a serious stallion prospect. He has a great temperament other than being mouthy. Not just at humans but anything. He will literally put anything in his mouth including electric fencing!

We have tried hitting him and it doesn't work. It just makes him worse and he thinks it's a game. The only improvement we have seen is since we have been using monty methods and using shake back quite aggressively when he even goes to look at biting you.

Does anyone have any other advice? He has squeaky toys to play with by his stable and a ball in his stable too. He lived with other horses as a yearling but unfortunately I'm not in a position for him to now.

He goes out for 12 hours a day in a big stallion paddock and happily stables next to mares. He's a big boy currently standing at just under 16.1hh

I don't want to geld him just because of this. He's incredible and I would love to resolve this.

Many thanks in advance!! :)
Click to expand...
Geld him,


Mine was like this at two and bitty, when he started eating another equine I gelded him but he is still mouthy now at 15 so you may fine he will stay like this. Sorry not helpful but a reality.


I would not accept any serious mouthing or nipping and no treats by hand.
 
Thanks everyone for your advice. Will definitely try the lemon thing. Gelding him is the very last resort. He is by no means nasty or dangerous. He's just playing and mouthing and once they're off they are off. His pedigree is very rare and have a que of people wanting to use him when he's licenced next year. I will try everything before they come off. He deserves a chance. I will try to find a way to get him to turn out with a gelding too.
 
I was giving this some more thought and I think putting some things in his field that he can play with, pick up and run around with or even pull at may really help him transfer the biting from you, anything that is safe could work, a good piece of branch, I remember my two young geldings playing tug of war with one one day it kept them amused for ages, a couple of rubber feed tubs, the tough ones that they can pick up, just seen my sec a mare pick one up and throw it away in disgust as it was empty, if you left a couple in the field sometimes with the odd treat in it could entertain him.
Hawthorn or gorse is good for them and a branch tied up to the fence may be interesting, I pick a few nettles and thistles to give my ponies that are restricted and they love picking through them, obviously a treat ball or two and a football but if you look around there may be other things that he will enjoy, it may end up with the paddock looking like a scrapyard but if it helps amuse and entertain him look the other way!!
 
On the subject of field toys, my 15 month old gelding (also very mouthy) loves an old wellie, so he gets them once they've started leaking. He seems to like chewing the different textures of the sole and the boot, and it's great fun to pick up and shake.

Mine is still at the 'everything goes in the mouth' stage, and having asked advice on here myself, I'm not sure I'm qualified to give any out, but a technique which seems to be working with him is to tap his lower leg with your foot (not kicking, just a very light, rapid tap) or with the end of a schooling whip as he goes to investigate your clothes (or in our case, grab hold of the headcollar and chew it as it approaches his face!). It diverts his attention from his mouth to a different part of his body, and he'll usually stop and stare at his leg and forget what he was doing. I've been doing this for a couple of weeks now, and he's started going to mouth and then stopping and looking expectantly at his leg before I've even tapped it. You have to get the timing just right, which is the difficult part! I've been able to get the headcollar on him first time without it going in his mouth using this, which I couldn't before. I found it on a Monty Roberts Q&A thing and thought it might be worth a go, and so far I'm quite pleased with the results.
 
Mine went through the mouthy stage, (colts) a tip a friend told me was when they go to bite you, give their hoof a kick, not boot them but hard enough for them to feel it, It worked very fast with mine. One of them is now 10 (and only gelded 3 weeks ago) and has only bit once since, which was on my ar@e :D
 
What about one of these?

https://www.kramer.co.uk/Jolly-Tug-...&ref=Produktportal/googleUK&subref=450409--BL

I was tempted to get one for my daughter's mouthy youngster but they are quite pricy.

Another thing I was recommended was to have a small tin with something like marbles in it which you rattle when the horse goes to bite (but this would probably only work if you knew when the horse is more likely to try and bite)
 
Geld him or put up with it...youngsters whether Colt or filly are naturally mouthy..it's their way of trying things, learning and communicating...is it an endangered breed you are breeding from? If not, Geld...
 
He's 2 and I assume kept alone - he's goung to be bored senseless. He needs to socialise with other youngsters and have an adult horse to keep him in check. If you are unwilling to provide the stimulation he needs you are just going to have to put up with him finding outlets for his frustration.

I understand where you are coming from with wanting to keep him entire - mine is staying entire until he proves himself. If he doesn't they are coming off. The difference is though that I have the facilities to keep him from going nuts and he is a lovely, well adjusted, polite chap. If I had to keep him alone I would geld as solitary confinement is no life for a horse - especially a clever entire.

Another thing to consider is that at 2 he is going to be starting teething - I gave mine frozen turnips to mouth on and sooth the pain. Please don't hit him for biting - he's communicating his frustrations/pain.
 
EQUIDAE said:
He's 2 and I assume kept alone - he's goung to be bored senseless. He needs to socialise with other youngsters and have an adult horse to keep him in check. .
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Irrespective of whether he's gelded or not too. My gelding as a 2 year old (gelded) got bitey. I turned him away for 6 months in 30 acre field with a herd of 13 other geldings aged 2-27 and it was the making of him. Space to run free which is good for young bodies, horses to socialise and grow up with which is good for young minds.
 
Gelding may not make any difference anyway. One of mine was gelded at 13 months and still went through the daft chewing/biting everything stage at 2, although he didn't bite people.

However I have to say I would be moving heaven and earth to try and sort out turnout with others if possible. Older horses will teach him manners and occupy his mind and you'll probably find it stops.
 
Thanks everyone for your advice. I do have good facilities for him and will be looking to get him some more toys. He isn't horrendous and is in no way dangerous. He's very happy I was only asking for advice for a few more ideas and I tried the tapping of the foot today it definitely helped. He's not been gelded unless he becomes unmanageable which for now he is. I wasn't asking whether I should geld him or not... And like other people have said.. Geldings also mouth and bite! :)
 
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