Biting when being rugged?! Any ideas?!

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EquestrianFairy

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A girl up my yard today was rugging her horse whilst telling me that she (the horse) has a tendancy to nip when she rugs it- she thought it was because the last owners used to constantly feed it treats.. anyway today it bit her- hard.

She cried out loud and left the stable holding her arm with a whopper of a bruise.

I went in to do the rug up as she was very upset and it tried to nip me but i kept holding my hand up (like a 'get out of my face' style) and it sort of just turned its head away, i checked its withers and no sign of any rug rubs etc..

Any ideas? It seems an odd habit to me.
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There is a few horses at my yard that do this aswell. When some people put on rugs they do them all up then pull them forwards if theyre a bit tight at the front which makes all the horses hair not lye flat so therefore uncomfortable. Thats about the only reason i can think of...
 
A lot of horses can get stroppy when having rugs done up - especially if rugs have rubbed in the past. Best way for her to avoid getting bitten is to tie her horse up to change rugs, so it can't turn round and get her!
 
One of the horses i work with does this, the vet was out and shes not in pain or anything. Before she came to us she never really wore a rug so we thought she just had to get used to it, but now i think shes jst trying to nip to be cheeky and domiant i just hold me hand up and say 'NO' firmly then she turns away and its fine. Just really trying to show her whos boss. You could try doing that everytime you rug her and see if it makes a difference. Or maybe get the vet out just to check her over ?
 
If you find the answer let me know. My boy does nips rather than bites or if tied up grips the the fence with his teeth and almost but not quite windsucks, but only when doing rugs. Even if he has food to distract him he still at best grumpy with ears back. I try to be very gentle when putting the rug on always folding in half and pull back rather forward to readjust. I've had him almost 6 years now and even with a daily slap on the nose and a growl when doing the rug, it doesn't change his behaviour
 
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A lot of horses can get stroppy when having rugs done up - especially if rugs have rubbed in the past. Best way for her to avoid getting bitten is to tie her horse up to change rugs, so it can't turn round and get her!

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That was the thing- she was tied up and she bit her whilst she was doing the front part up? From what i could see the rugs were well fitted and the correct size.
I felt really sorry for her, it was obv a shock as she said shes tried to nip before but never actually bitten her like that.
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I have one that does the same. She was really grumpy when I went to put her rug on on Saturday so I just let her out with no rug. Half an hour later she was back at the stable so put her in and she let me put her rug on no bother
 
[ QUOTE ]
A lot of horses can get stroppy when having rugs done up - especially if rugs have rubbed in the past. Best way for her to avoid getting bitten is to tie her horse up to change rugs, so it can't turn round and get her! [ QUOTE ]

Thats what i have to do to mine and i tie him <u>very</u> short !!


Sharon xx
 
Tie her up shorter!

I used to own a horse who was very grumpy and hated having his rugs put on, he also hated being groomed and people in general but I think this was just him. Think he was badly treated as a youngster and never really got over it. He would tolerate me doing his rugs but was never really happy about it. I just had to find ways to make it as pleasant for him as possible, ie. folding the rugs to put on, putting them on well forwards of his withers and then pulling back, using light rugs, avoiding back leg straps like the plague! (as he would also kick).

I am not sure if he ever bit me whilst doing his rugs, I remember he would threaten to but i just learnt to be wary of him. I always tried my best not to aggravate him in anyway, he was a generally angry horse who seemed to react best to my quiet ways, he hated other noisy/raucous people. (He was the type who'd stick his head over the stable door with ears pinned back and threaten to bite anyone who walked past!) He never really stopped this habit, he got much better with me the longer I had him but he never got over whatever was upsetting him about the rugs. So with your friend, has she had the horse long? It may be the horse just needs to trust her more?

Sorry this probably isn't much help, it would be great if there were a miracle cure for this behaviour but I'm not sure there is
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Not an odd habit really, many mare have a nip when getting rugged. My girl would have you if she thought you weren't paying attention (or standers by, I have to ask people to move before throwing her rug on) we have 3 other mares that are the exact same at the yard. All wear dual purpose rugs and are only ever rugged by differnet owners, it's a mare thing, they just have to learn not to actually bite.
 
My old horse had perfect manners but he hated getting his rug done up. He never actually bit me but he looked like he was trying to nip me at times. I just used to growl at him and that used to worked. Sometimes I would just give him a carrot and that distracted him enough not to even pull a face.
I always wondered why he reacted like that because he was so good in all other ways.
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My horse has nipped at me (and occasionally actually bitten me) when I have been rugging him, for twelve years. Only this winter have I actually listened to him - he has been trying to tell me I have been over-rugging him all these years.
He's a native (Connie) and only had a trace clip. I have been rugging him as if he were a clipped out TB. Poor bugger.
Now I have him completely clipped out and only minimally rug him, he's stopped snapping. Unless I try to put too much on him. I now listen.
 
You must've been spying on me today.

I deigned to give my horse a hug today and the [****] bit my thigh so hard I almost cried. Its the closet I have ever got to punching a horse before. Instead I left - got in my car, put Prodigy on as loud as I could and shouted the C word at the top of my voice.
 
Maiden nips when I try to put her lightweight rug on, but not her Rambo. I have come to the conclusion that it's because it doesn't fit round her chest (only nips when I first put it on her, then when I do the front up) so have ordered her a Rambo lightweight with the V-front.
 
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