How do I stop him biting

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pintostar

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Not strictly a vet issue I know but...stupidly bought a pony from local horse sales about a month ago. He is really good apart from the biting. I don't feed him by hand or give him tip-bits and he has only started it in the past few days! He gets a telling off each time but now he is kind of screwing his nostrils up and really looks quite aggressive. He is 4 1/2 and gelded, I cant get any history on him, having his teeth checked next week....any suggestions PLEASE
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Personally and I know I will be shot down in flames for this but I would smack him and tell him no. It may take a while but should stop him.
 
When he bites what are you doing...i.e: grooming- tacking up-putting rugs on?

My mare's chest is very sore: she had scarcoids (which have now gone) but bites everytime I do her rug up at the front.....I guess it was once very sore for her and now even though she's gone she associates that action with pain- and still bites.

The biting will be with some sort of association/pain. I'd love to know how to break the cycle!
 
Grab his whiskers and tug them (if you can!) only when he tries to bite mind! It has to be instant.
 
Maybe try instead of actually striking at him - I don't know what you think but it can sometimes just make them more sneaky??!! but for instance if he goes to bite your arm elbow him in nose or if it's your leg bring your knee up and before long (hopefully not too long!) he'll think he's hurting himself! I'm not entirely crazy, I have seen it really work! of course he could have pain somewhere??are you doing anything in particular when he threatens?
 
There is really no pattern to the biting!! He tries when I am leading him to/from the field, picking up feet he will bend down and bite my bum!!, combing his mane he will try and have a go but tbh it's mostly when he is being led or held to have feet washed off. I could understand if I was doing something really terrible like doing up the GIRTH!! He gets a tap on the nose and a very firm NO.
 
Thank you everyone for your replies, they are brilliant!! Done the smack on the nose so will now try the other ideas. If whisker tugging and an elbow or knee in the nose dont stop him I'll just have to pull his teeth out, ha ha. xx
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When you are dealing with him can you tiie him up short so that he cannot reach you. IMO avoidance is better that the smacking and when leading him hold both reins one in each hand and give the bit a little movement in his mouth. It acts as distraction. Good luck you now have a variety of suggestions.
 
I had a friend with a horse that used to bite, she used a syringe with some water in it and squirted it at him whenever he bit her. She found that easier as she wasn't then racked with guilt for smacking him, and it worked for her.
 
Tried the water one, great as the horse doesnt see it as you hitting him! The look on their face is pretty great too!

Last time my boy nipped me I had just clipped him so grabbed a lump of skin on his shoulder and bit him as hard as I could. Dont think hes done it since (about jan 08)

Also the elbow under their jaw when they go to bite then making a fuss of him as if hes hurt himself Ive heard work.

My lad had been knocked about and used to get his teeth in first before anyone could do anything with him. Hes finally cottoned on Im not going to beat him. Wonder if he has been smacked/brayed for misbehaving?
 
Thanks kilbricken and samuelhorse - will try the water one coz that actually stopped my dog barking too!! Think he is gelded!!! Passport says he's a gelding so hadn't really thought about that although it is very coltish/stallionish behaviour!! OMG think I better go and check as I hadn't noticed anything in the stallion department!!
 
i'm sure i'll be shot down in flames too... if they look miserable and pretend to try to nip, they get a stern NO. i give them a smack on the nose if they nip me. if they bite and connect with me, i smack hard on the nose. they learn fast and never repeat it more than once.
 
You are welcome Pintostar
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although water squirt didn't work on my cat who kept scratching the settee, he just closed his eyes and carried on!
 
One of my first ponies was a biter - smacking, spraying, yelling didn't work....as it only happened when i was bathing him (which he hated) i bought a grazing muzzle and put that on him for bathing so he couldn't bite....after about 6 months of wearing his muzzle for baths i forgot to put it on one day and he didn;t do it, and never did again...i assume that after not being able to for so long he forgot about it!

so if all else fails stick a mussle on him when you are likely to get bitten!
 
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