Biting when girthing up- would it put you off??

C

Coffee_Bean

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Following on from a post down the page, I would now be worried that people would be put off my horse because she snatches into thin air when having her girth done up (back, tack and teeth fine before anyone starts) She has always done this and it annoys me slightly but doesnt really bother me.

But if you saw a horse doing this on a viewing, would it put you off?
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Pickle is the same as yours, he has never bitten anyone but does threaten. He has had everything checked but I think it probably stems from having an ill fitting saddle when I got him which pushed on his spine.

So no it didnt put me off buying pix!
 
Not if it was the right horse for me!
If it turned to bite me it would get a bop on the nose. But if it snatches in to thin air than its not doing me any harm!
My friends Arab does this and always has, he's 14 now.

ETS- The arab had an ill fitted saddle when he was 1st broken in.

Helen horse- a TB I used to ride was the same, she would grind her teeth at the sight of a saddle, and she had a bad back from being raced so young and yet another ill fitting saddle as a youngster.
Its amazing how they never forget pain, she was aged 14-18 when I rode her!
 
Mags will take a chunk out of you when doing his girth even though as a driving horse it only just touches him, let along being tight! He's nearly 20 so theres no way he's going to stop. He's the most wonderful ride and drive plus he's great with kids so it'd never put me off. I always put it down to that he has very wrinkly armpits that get sore and blister easilly without propper management, that plus our old coachman (really not a nice man) used to wack up his girth hard and fast. he's never really forgotten.
 
A lovely horse that I ride does this and I do find it quite worrying and think he is in pain .... but his owner said he has always done this and at 28 I doubt he will ever stop
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...... I also know him so well now that I know that if he ever managed to 'nip' me then he would be absolutely devastated
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I must admit though, I may well be put off buying a horse if it did this, but if I got to know it then I would inevitably change my mind
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Wouldn't (and didn't with new one!) put me off!

I think sometimes, providing you have had everything thoroughly checked, it can be a reflex reaction perhaps learned in the past.
It's possible to break the habit eventully with positive reinforcement but can take time!
 
Some of the most brilliant horses I have known have had that one flaw, so I think it might go hand in hand with them bein wonderful in other respects.

So no, it wouldnt put me off though I might wish they didnt do it. Thank god my coblet doesnt tho, shes so flat and round I have to girth her up good and proper before we start!
 
It wouldn't put me off but it would make me use a different saddle and girth!
One of my horses threatened like this for a few years (when i was much younger and didn't know so much about horse comfort), but one day, for the very first time, he actually connected with my bum and bit me really hard, i couldn't sit down for 3 days, i was black and blue.
i've not been able to ignore this kind of behaviour since...!
 
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Then again, there's always the old Parelli solution of giving it a carrot each time it tries to bite
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LOL - don't you mean thwacking it with the carrot stick
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Then again, there's always the old Parelli solution of giving it a carrot each time it tries to bite
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LOL - don't you mean thwacking it with the carrot stick
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Well theres that too, but I didn't bother mentioning it because I thought everyone knew that
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See thing is she doesnt do it when you girth up when you're on etc, if she has a haynet she will either do nothing or just bite a bit harder. She is a toally lovely person in every other way really and I think it would actually upset me if people decided against her for that single reason.
 
My pony used to do this, finally discovered it was an ill fitting saddle. He is a lot, lot better with his new saddle but I still give him a haynet when putting saddle on and he doesn't react at all. Also, if I take him out somewhere I've noticed that he is too interested in his new surroundings to be bothered with me tacking up. He is 16yo so I'm not worried about teaching him bad habits as such, i.e the bribing with the haynet.

I'm careful to girth up slowly and use a string girth - it all helps.

It wouldn't put me off buying a horse if I was confident it was just a memory thing due to an ill fitting saddle.
 
I'll second the possibility of an ulcer or tummy troubles at the least. My TB has the sweetest of natures but would try to bite when I did the girth up. Through other unrelated blood tests, his gut came back as slightly struggling and being a an exracer he probably had an ulcer. Anyway, after a month on coligone he has stopped the biting....although it may not be an ulcer, he could be uncomfortable in the tummy region.
 
My old mare used to do it, but she stopped when we gave her primrose capsules. But then we ran out and never got round to buying anymore so she started doing it again, so I think it is just a tempremental thing.
 
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