Following on from biting...what would you do..?

madhector

madhector

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With a horse that shoves you with his nose....very hard, to the point where he has knocked several people over? lol

Not nasty with it, just pushy...

Interested to see how others would attempt to stop this
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hmmm this is a tough one. I usually find that horses who do this have started it from nuzzling in pockets looking for treats.
If a horse nuzzled me i would be inclined to push it back (using my hand on its check) and move it out of my space
 
Push them back. In the chest. When they go in there space give them praise. etc... they will learn eventually. My horse gets a bit pushy if he's had a treat (hence why he's not allowed them!) he will head butt you given the chance. I just push him back, make him stand for a second then praise.

I think this kind of behaviour you cant react to aggresively as, the horse isn't being aggressive to you, and will make the problem worse by scaring him.
 
Id just leave it to be honest, if the owner lets it do that then far be it for me to discipline someone elses horse.

If it were my own, Id smack him on the chest I think.
 
Well one of ours does that. bearing in mind this is a 17hand of irish draught. With him it is bad manners as he normally does it when he is being impatient.
So yeah i treat it like biting really and he gets a good smack with the lead rope and i make him stand for a while without doing it again. I just hate horses that push you around.
 
I'd say 'no' and slap its muzzle if it was hard enough to warrant it. I also train them to go back on voice command so would back it up to reinforce the fact that it can't come into my personal space without my permission...
If a youngster did that to a dominant herd member, roughly, it would be told off by nips and/or being chased away...so you must do the same.
S
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One did it to me whilst I was poopicking in the field, I think I was pulling up a weed at the time when I got a hefty nudge on my backside. I did fall over, but I just saw the funny side of it and fell about laughing. I think he just did it because he could, no malice intended, he just couldn't resist. He's never done it since...
 
We have a 5yr old that came back from someone else doing this, when he gets bored he nudges you, but its quite hard. He gets a smack and is slowly (he is a bit slow) learning he won't get away with doing it with us.
 
The Asbo pony has a habit of doing this (especially when he's hungry!). The solution is very simple - I shove him right back and if he doesn't back up with a "push" on the front of his shoulder then I poke him very hard in the chest and say very firmly "back". On the odd occasion where this fails (usually if there I am between him and food) then pinching the front of the chest and pushing the thumb and finger doing the pinching into his chest never fails.

As for Tilly, when I first had her she would literally send me flying by barging past me if I went into her stable, again a very simple solution in the form of a short, sharp smack across the front of the chest with a short crop - it only took 2 days for her to learn that under no circumstances does she push through her stable door!
 
Like this:

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They have a loop at the bottom and you can use this to ask the horse to back up. I also wouldn't hit the horse or treat him aggressively because he is not being aggressive to you - he just needs to know that you don't want him to be that affectionate!

The other thing you could do, would be, every time he does this, immediately turn and face him up. Use your body language to make him backup and once he does, stroke him kindly.
 
Depends on how you feel about it???Would it progress to more than that??you know your horse!!I let my boy get away with certain things but i know he never leaving me so it is not an issue,it is his character,other people would probably not see this,but i know him,eg:rubbing on me with a bridle on is a huge no no and he knows this!I also know he would never push it and become aggressive,he just an affectionate big lug,lolhad him since baby and now 11yrs on!!However if i had bought him to sell i would have to consider what other people would find acceptable!!
 
One of mine has started doing this while I poo pick recently. They never get hand fed.My answer
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The other thing you could do, would be, every time he does this, immediately turn and face him up. Use your body language to make him backup and once he does, stroke him kindly

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works great
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ah...thanks Tia
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I agree that treating it aggressively is wrong, as he isn't being at all nasty with it, just doesn't realise it isn't very nice, he always looks hurt when I push him away! I am working on moving him backwards as this helps his pushiness when leading so that should help
 
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