Biting Horse...help??

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NinaPaz

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Hi, I have had my 4yr old gelding since last december and unfortunately he ended up with a splint injury and on 6 weeks box rest.
However he has started to bite and many people said it was due to frustration of being in the stable he is now back out but I am really concerned as the biting has to stop. I have been advised to tie him up in the stable when around him and obviously give him a row when he does it.
He is quite head shy and automatically darts off when he bites as if he knows what he has done.

Not sure how I can stop him biting and what I should b doing....any suggestions?
thanks.
 
Noramlly id say 'bite him back', butif he's headshy you dont want to make it worse
Try Having a little tin of stones ( not soemthing you normally carry around i know) and shake it as soon as he goes to bite, should stop him
In what situation does he do it? Is it attention seeking, are there proper teeth? Is it nasty?
 
Monty Roberts said to give them a tap on the shin with your foot when they go to bite. I'm not sure how hard - not too hard obviously, but enough for them to notice!

Is he doing it to play or to frighten you. Is he guarding his space?

I don't have much experience with biting horses, luckily.
 
Hi thanks for the 2 responses so quickly!

basically the circumstances are he randomly bites when he is approached over the stable door however as soon as he does it he automatically flings his head back even if he doesnt manage to catch u he gets a fright i am wondering if he has been hit when he was younger and I am trying to track down more background knowledge on him.

He can playfully 'mouth' as such however it has become more serious as over the past month he has bitten my sister and mum and my mum actually needed hospital treatment as she has nerve damage in her finger from the bite!.

It is therefore a problem however i dont think it is nasty as he seems to be genuinly scared after he does it its really odd its like a reflex action he knows it is wrong but yet still keeps doing it...I am not frightened of him and he doesnt try to be threatening, he has never bitten me however I am obviously concerned about other people around him and at 16'2 he is far to big to be carrying on biting so badly!
confused.gif


the stones in a tin seems a gd idea as he responds extremely well to noise its just catching him before he does it as he can be so quick...at this stage i am open to all and any suggestions!

thanks.
 
My section Bs a bit lie that, but theres rarely any teeth..
With people he doesnt really now if their helping tack up or near him with food he does this, and also automatically shies away- even if he hasnt been naughty and you raise your hand to do something he lifts his head
Sounds like he could be nervous of people still? Try out the tin thing, normally you can see when they go to, or do you do any kind of trust exercises with him? I know you say he never bites you, but mabye try building up moreof a bond with you, and be with him patting him of something when other people xcome to see him in his stable, he may regard it as his territory- especially if hes nervy, as its somewhere he can have to him self etc...
 
Sounds a lot like a pony I know! Try growling at him - you always have your voice with you?? Try not to let him have his head in your space at all, so he can't reach you to bite. If he does, growl/shake the can at him immediately, and turn your back on him/ignore him/walk away and do something else for a few minutes. If he is loose i.e. in the field and won't retaliate you could chase him away.

If you do ignore or chase him away, its equally important to welcome him back when you allow him and on your terms - i.e. go back to him and offer him your hand to sniff, gently stroke his shoulder, or if loose drop the agressive pose you used to send him away and turn your shoulder to him or take a few steps back. When he does approach you in a nice manner make a big fuss of him.

Thats how horses in a herd would do it - a naughty one gets chased away or told off and shut out socially, and a lone horse soon wants to behave to get back in with the herd as its dangerous being a prey animal and being alone.

Hope you get it sorted, I know how frustrating it is!
 
Have just read JCB's post properly, it does sound like its related to the stable? Could easily have started from box rest, vets approachig to give you injections, you approaching to do painful things sometimes too perhaps? The only excitement ever being when somebody approaches your stable, I think a lot of horses can get aggressive when on box rest. F really lost his bottle, and it took him ages to recover, it must mess with their heads quite a lot.

It might not be so much territorial as almost claustrophobic. He might be thinking "there's somebody approaching and I don't know if they're going to be nice or nasty to me, if I were free I'd run just in case, but I can't so I have to get in first and fight them" - fight or flight mechanism - if he can't do as he normally would (take flight) he could be resorting to fight. if this is the case, if possible I'd ask all visitors to approach him gently, speak to him nicely and make the experience nice for him, in the attempt that making all the experiences nice would make him less anxious.
 
hi...all very useful information i will definitely try all these things and think of things from his perspective a bit more and hopefully get this sorted!!
thanks so much.
 
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