Horse bites headcollar every time...

Paint Me Proud

Paint Me Proud

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Wondering if anyone has any theories for a strange thing Chico does.

Every time I go to put his head collar on he wont let you unless you let him mouth on it first. After he has had a good munch he then lets you put it on.

I have tried to whip it on quick but he is fast too and it ends up in his mouth every time.

Any one every had a horse do this?
 
Hi, I am actually having this exact problem with my youngster at the moment. She is so quick at grabbing it, I'm trying to be even quicker but doesn't always work.

Sorry not much help but would love to hear what others have done. She mouths everything at the moment so I'm hoping she'll grow out of it.
 
My girl does this too, she even holds the lead rope while I'm leading her. For her it's a good thing because when she gets uptight or stressed (which happens quite easily) her mouth gets tight and clamped shut. I don't correct her for it because anything to get her mouth looser is helpful, but I do calmly put my fingers in the mouth and ask her to give it.

I think a lot of times it's just their personality coming out. Although if they start touching YOU with their mouth that is a disrespect issue
 
one of my stallions does it, he likes to play with it and chew for a few seconds then lets me have it back, no way to sop them unless you put something nasty tasting but i dont see it as a problem, my stallion has done it from a young age before i had him?
 
I'm quite interested to hear the replies as my 4yr old is very 'mouthy'. When he has finished eating his dinner he picks up his bowl and throws it, putting a headcollar on is always a problem as it always ends up in his mouth, leading him can be a nightmare because he tries to grab the leadrop in his mouth so he can chew it and he is always picking up rugs off his door and dropping them on the floor. I hope he grows out of it as it is very annoying!
 
At least we aren't alone ;-) my filly does the lead rope trick too but as Iron-Classic says it seems to keep her relaxed and her attention as opposed to looking for scary things to spook at. I think it's definitely a comfort thing. Head collar is trickier but again I just put my finger in her mouth and thought at least it's good practice for when she's older.

Sorry PMP for hijacking your thread!
 
My gelding does it and he's 10 now. He does it more when he is in a hurry to either come in or be turned out. He opens his mouth and grabs it as I try to get the noseband over his jaw not seeming to realise that he slows the whole process down and we're not going anywhere while he has the headcollar clamped tight in his mouth.

He is quite mouthy and babyish generally though gentle with it.
 
<=== he does it too, as did his sire. :) Also inherited from his sire, shoving you in the back when you are leading him and playing with the lead rope.
 
Interested to hear all this, our NF now 7 loves to hold things in his mouth, you have to be quick with his bridle and head collar but if he is bored or stressed you just give him the end of the leadrope to suck on.He will lay his teeth to anything interesting so nothing can be left in his reach at all. He runs off with mucking out stuff and tools whenever possible. we are trying to teach him to sweep the yard !!!!
 
Sorry to say my 21yo still does this. Can take forever to get his headcollar on some days as he just opens his mouth really wide and chews it. If he's being really annoying I have to unbuckle it and re buckle it round his nose lol!!

Irritating but I've never had a clue how to stop him doing it!
 
My gelding is 8 he loves biting the headcollar and the rope, likes to chew his reins, my coat or my hair just about anything really, one of his real favourites is the rubber curry comb.
 
My boy sucks the end of his lead rope, pulls and sucks the tie-up string, bites zips and runs them up and down for the sound effect, holds and nibbles whips, loves chewing/biting down on brushes and plastic curry combs.... he never uses his teeth on humans or horses though, I think it acts like a pacifier/dummy... comforting or de-stressing. I see no harm and find it quite cute really ! :)
 
Mine has to get the lead rope in his mouth when I put the headcollar on in the field to bring him in and also when putting it on in the stable to lead him out. Once we're moving he doesn't chew it though going out but does sometimes as we walk down the field. Someone told me sometimes that's a sign of having been weaned too early but that might be a load of old cobblers!
 
Wow thanks, I am so glad I'm not the only one!

I dont really mind Chico doing it just I had never met another horse that did it but seems it is more common than i thought.

Chico is a very tactile horse and loves to touch me, once the headcollar is on he then likes to nudge me or sometimes give me a good shove. If i turn around to tell him off he sticks his head right in the air, he knows it's naughty and he gets told off but he still does it! He is such a cheeky boy!!
 
One of my youngsters always did that - drove me insane and he was so damn quick at getting it in his mouth.

He's always been one for putting things in his mouth - used to carry sticks around the paddock in his mouth - or his mums feed bowl.

He eventually grew out of it to some degree - still don't leave tack lying around near him
 
A 4 yo at work does this everytime you try to put the headcollar on it's SO annoying!

I just try to whip it on as fast as possible before he can get it in his mouth and most of the time I can avoid him grabbing it!
 
The big cob rising 18 (but cut late at 9) does this with anything near him, he plays with his lead rope, tries to grab his bridle as it goes on, picks up stuff in the yard and chucks it at me, grabs my coat with his lips and if we are stood waiting anywhere when ridden he will often grab the end of my schooling whip and play with it! He is just very interested in everything and likes to make mischief and be a character! (his teeth are checked regularly):D
 
Yes, my girl would take the noseband of her headcollar and shake it up and down 3 times and then release it. Everything was done in threes so she would shake my sleeve, yank my gloves out of my pocket and wave them in front of me, whatever, always three times.
 
at the event yard I used to work at there was a big horse that used to do that, but he was VERY mouthy with everything. But he was totally the same - annoying if you're in a rush!
 
My young gelding does it! sometimes he is fine and others he just wants it in this mouth. and then he chews it. he has had teeth done. He is a mouthy youngster though. he uses mouth for everything, when he wants attention from me (not a bite but he will take hold of my coat and pull), he picks up the front straps of his rug when im putting it on, he will take hold of his actual rug and pull while i am putting it on, if i put a rug over the door he has to pull that off. even when I put his bridle on he has his mouth open ready for the bit and doesnt fuss when he has a bit in his mouth. He hold his leadrope in his mouth whilst leading.

I try to get in beside him, hook my arm around his nose area and slip the headcollar on that way.
 
I have 2 that do this (they are brothers), but they just love to get everything into their mouths - zippers, toggles & bobbles on hats are a particular favourite. Everything gets mouthed & played with (but never chewed). The youngest one evidently picked a pram up one day with a small child in it & the oldest one used to love to lean over the fence & nibble the pigs' snouts. They are also extremely "tactile" with their field mates and spend hours trying to get their jaws round each other's heads.
 
We have one who pulls a Flehman every time you put a headcollar on her. Actually its quite useful as it stops any chance of the headcollar slipping off her nose!
 
Been there done it got the t shirt with Ben too ;) it's annoying isn't it! I found that it became more of a habit than anything, I manufactured a field safe head collar by cutting the headpiece and inserting some bailer twine into it so I knew he would be safe, and I just left the head collar on for a week until he forgot about his little game, we would then have a while of relative head collar peace and quiet and then slowly he would start acting up again, head collar left back one, etc etc, eventually the time spent being good and not biting the head collar got less and less, and now I can't remember the last time he did it.:D
 
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