Horse suddenly biting?!

[oxo]

Hi everyone,
so my horse has suddenly (in the last few days) become very nippy when being groomed, and generally just seems a bit fed up with ears pinned back a lot of the time when he's tied up to get ready for a ride. He seems bothered at being touched/groomed much and is constantly got his eye turned to nip you..
this has come on very suddenly from a horse who would stand to be groomed for hours if you asked him to and didn't mind in the slightest being touched all over even in sensitive areas like the groin.

Anyone any experience with a sudden onset of this behaviour? Or any ideas what could have sparked it and what a good plan of action is?

Thanks in advance

 

[PorkChop]

Does he do it no matter where on his body is being groomed.

If he is worse when you groom his tummy, girth and loin area it could be ulcers.

It very much sounds like a pain reaction, especially as it is out of character.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

It definitely sounds like a pain reaction.

 

[catembi]

Mine did this when he had ulcers. Started biting & also kicking - I was taking my life in my hands doing simple stuff like rug changes.

Ulcers were treated & eventually went & he stopped biting, kicking & looking miserable.

 

[oxo]

Mainly seems to be on the underside of his body.

 

[Kizzy2004]

Sounds pain related. Could be ulcers. Mine does it though when her saddle needs re-checking.

 

[oxo]

just going to chime in here as its my daughter who posted originally at the top
I have also written on the Intelligent horsemanship site to glean any ideas there too. This is what I wrote to them, horse bit me hard on the arm last week when I was grooming - and MAYBE I was just being too enthusiastic and not respecting him? it is so unlike him! Granted it COULD be a medical thing and we will look into it as well. I am just unsure of whether how I handled it the other day has made him moody - as he is brilliant with my non horsey husband… anyway this is what i asked on IH site:

Our horse who we have had for nearly 3 months, has started biting. I was so surprised he did that the other day when grooming it took me second or two to realise what had happened. I knew in my gut I had to respond quickly or not at all. I felt he needed to know that was totally not acceptable behaviour, so I slapped him ( just on the shoulder) not on the face, and took his headcoller in both hands just firmly - not shaking at all - and said in a firm voice " NO that was really naughty!" then stepped back… I have since read a host of other things and am not sure if that was backwards move with him? I feel he needed to know that was naughty.. I know MOnty suggests lightly tapping/ knocking his boot on the shin to divert attention… the good old pony club way is probably shout and do something like a spank….

anyway - we do not want this to become more of a problem. What do you do when this happens and does it work?

Getting our dually halter today so that will help.


He is a bit lonesome in his field - there is a pony next door who hides around the other hedge and is not a sociable chap he can see other horses across from him but not able to chat with them)
our horse seems to be really sensitive to being brushed suddenly ( which is so not him!) and he is grumpy.. the only other time he was like that was when he had no field mate and was not getting much sleep - so I am thinking this other field mate in next door field isn't actually helping much - could he also be teaching mine grumpy habits as he isn't a nice horse to be around? It could be medical I suppose? but I also wonder if he is not actually just trying it on. My husband who is not horsey at all got him in from the field yesterday as I didn't have my boots with me, and he also walked him a mile or so up the road and he was absolute angel with head nice and low and his happy eyes on! So this makes me wonder - he liked husbands way of doing things…

He is ridden most days ( solved the napping that he was doing when the other pony arrived) ours is 15.1 Irish 12yr , ex driving pony and 3 month trekker - so he has been learning a whole new way of life - and doing very well… so I am confused/ concerned about his mood changes and what we need to do with this to be safe AND happy! I want my happy horse back please!

thanks in advance for any ideas!

Read more: http://ihdg.proboards.com/thread/130928/biting-wrong-thing#ixzz4Bv8fbpXX

 

[spacefaer]

Oxo - in horse terms, you were WAY too slow in reprimanding him. Most people (if not all) are too slow, compared to other horses. If he had bitten another horse who found it unacceptable, he would have been met with an instantaneous head snake, bite, or lunge - not something that took several seconds (which is quite a long time, count them) to start responding.

In terms of his reaction, horses don't do things for no reason. We may not be able to see the cause of their action or moods, but they are generally creatures of the moment. If he is more unhappy with you handling his lower body, it would imply discomfort.

Firstly, when you got him 3 months ago, was he clipped? Are you still using the same brushes on his summer coat as you used on his winter coat? (not meaning to be rude, but you sound relatively inexperienced)
Secondly, it could well be ulcers, in which case you need to talk to your vet about getting him scoped. Is he unhappy when you do the girth up? Has he changed under saddle or is he difficult to mount? Worth chatting to your vet if so.

Was he kept with others before you got him? He may just be struggling to cope with the single life...... hence your problems with napping back to company.


ETA just wondering why getting the dually halter will make him less miserable??

 

[WandaMare]

Is he being badly bothered by horse flies? They can become very grumpy and sensitive if they are being harassed by horse flies all day, some of them really don't cope with them well.

Otherwise I would think ulcers and would get him checked.

 

[Aspire]

Most likely a pain response. Agree with others, ulcers/ digestive issues most likely cause. Would try Protexin syringes for a couple of days and see if he improves. (They are leaving trial packs of their supplement at our feed merchants at the moment, enough for 5 day course) If this helps behavior, even moderately,then a course of Equisure is probably the most cost effective.

 

[oldjumper]

Sudden changes in behaviour like this indicate a physical problem. If horse is being caused stress by changes in routine/living alone it can disturb the gut and quickly lead to ulcers. I would have him scoped before doing anything else. It doesn't cost that much (though drugs for treatment are).

 

[oxo]

Oxo - in horse terms, you were WAY too slow in reprimanding him. Most people (if not all) are too slow, compared to other horses. If he had bitten another horse who found it unacceptable, he would have been met with an instantaneous head snake, bite, or lunge - not something that took several seconds (which is quite a long time, count them) to start responding.

Yes I probably was - hence my question in how would others deal with it? I did do something about it, and yes it has to be much quicker in future!

In terms of his reaction, horses don't do things for no reason. We may not be able to see the cause of their action or moods, but they are generally creatures of the moment. If he is more unhappy with you handling his lower body, it would imply discomfort.

Firstly, when you got him 3 months ago, was he clipped? Are you still using the same brushes on his summer coat as you used on his winter coat? (not meaning to be rude, but you sound relatively inexperienced)
Secondly, it could well be ulcers, in which case you need to talk to your vet about getting him scoped. Is he unhappy when you do the girth up? Has he changed under saddle or is he difficult to mount? Worth chatting to your vet if so.

He was only clipped on his neck, chest and legs… and like i said I may have been brushing with the body brush just too enthusiastically . He was fine to be girthed today and pleasant to mount. Rode out fine and even went through a spooky wood by a lake with fishing mens tents to boot! ..

Was he kept with others before you got him? He may just be struggling to cope with the single life...... hence your problems with napping back to company.


ETA just wondering why getting the dually halter will make him less miserable??

We read up about MOnty's method and used it today. He has always been a bit ticklish if we are washing down around the girth area.. he did try to peck and raise a hoof, but we did the tap the leg with a boot, and you know it worked. We felt that his stress level actually came down - we continued to wash him down in the areas he is ticklish and just reward with a quick rub on the head.. he was calm as could be.. I think we had been fussing with him too much so aim to keep contact simple and understandable with him ( as he is normally such good natured boy ) but treat him like a horse and not invade his space too much either…

I grew up with horses and my mother had a small riding school. Rugging and clipping was not part of our lifestyle in the 80's so learning about all that area is a new thing to me , granted. And I would not profess to know everything about horses! I like to think any good horse person is willing to seek advice when problems come up - does that make me a novice ? maybe.. but I would rather seek help than get into problems

He was very unstressed today - actually more calm when we had dealt with his trying to do naughty stuff. We will definitely keep an eye on his health too however and get our instructor friend to look at him too.