how to teach a colt bitting is wrong

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kylee86

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hi. my 9 1\2 month colt has just started bitting. i know colts and youngsters tend to go through bitting but how do i tell him this is wrong without making him head shy. he have a nice love bite on my wrist off him from sunday. i pinched his lip today when he tried to bite me seemed to stop him for all of 2 seconds. i dont feed tip bits from my hand. how ever i have been informed that when my non horsey husband goes to work at night hes been giving him carrots. im thinking this is what has started it as my husband says hes been doing it for just over a week. my colt started bitting about 3 days ago.:(
 
It could well be your husbands fault!

Tell him to stop feeding him carrots & when your colt goes to bite try a quick "ah!" Hopefully once the carrot feeding has stopped, so will the biting.

However if it doesn't (and some people will disagree with me here) give him a quick smack on his nose when he bites - it has to be immediately though, i.e. the second he does it.

After one quick smack my horse realised that biting hurt! & now only needs a growl if she forgets herself (& definitely isn't head shy!)
 
jenki13 said:
It could well be your husbands fault!

Tell him to stop feeding him carrots & when your colt goes to bite try a quick "ah!" Hopefully once the carrot feeding has stopped, so will the biting.

However if it doesn't (and some people will disagree with me here) give him a quick smack on his nose when he bites - it has to be immediately though, i.e. the second he does it.

After one quick smack my horse realised that biting hurt! & now only needs a growl if she forgets herself (& definitely isn't head shy!)
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yes i to think it may be my husband that caused this as he only bites your hands. i had few words to say to him lol
 
When he goes to bite immediately push his face away from you and hold it a few seconds, you could use a growl too at the same time. Just repeat this until he gets the message, he won't like not being able to look at you, make it for a little longer each time if he continues. He is only young and should learn fairly quickly that biting isn't acceptable.

I would never advocate smacking around the face for any reason, you smack with an open hand, the same hand you want your horse to respond to when needing him to trust you or to accept affection from you, it just isn't done!

I hand feed treats to all 14 of ours, not one of them bites!
 
I think the tit-bits are likely to play a large part!

When my babies started to try the biting boundaries I use an elbow in the neck to push them. I believe a hand should be used for reward and elbow for bad behaviour. How confusing must it be if one minute someone's patting you,the next your being smacked (not that I smack my horses) all I have to do now is lift my elbow and they know they have done wrong.. Xx
 
I don't think it's your husbands fault - all foals nip/bite. If he was in a natural herd he would be nipping his fellow friends, and they would return nipping and that's just part of his baby behaviour - thats how the herd works and the pecking order. He sees you as his herd and it's his natural instincts. His a baby but you need to get his respect now before he gets to big.
The pushing the head away is a Natural Horsemanship method - used by Richard Maxwell.
But in truth it impossible because you need to stop the thought. Your colt will think about biting you before he actually does it - it's that thought you need to stop. Giving him a slap after his bitten you is too late. You need to stop the bite 3seconds before it happens.
I find my colt wants to put anything in his mouth. He alway bites me when leading in from the field - I just avoid giving him the opportunity. Instead of giving him a loose lead rope I simply just hold the nose band of his head collar - therefore I've got control of his head he can't bite me. When grooming and changing his rugs - I just use the same word NO - he knows what it means already. If he has a toggle or zip off my jacket in his mouth I just tell him NO. It seems to work.
Don't get me wrong when his being a real monster and try's to jump/play with me I have given him a slap and made him back up.
 
Dolcé;10437640 said:
I would never advocate smacking around the face for any reason, you smack with an open hand, the same hand you want your horse to respond to when needing him to trust you or to accept affection from you, it just isn't done!
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Aside from which, smacking faces is asking for trouble when you're dealing with bitey colts. Unless the smacker is fortunate enough to nip the behaviour in the bud with a first or second smack, the colt quickly learn to see the smack coming and take evasive action, nibble-bites become lunge-bites, and the whole thing can escalate into something that the colt either views as a game or as genuine aggression coming from the smacker - neither of which are very helpful. I expect many of us have seen this happen at one time or another.
 
I'm not sure how bold your little chap is but I managed to get my youngster out of biting by clapping my hands together near her mouth and saying 'NO' (just before she made contact with her teeth!).

She didn't like that and stopped nipping pretty quickly! It got the message across without having to smack her and make her head shy.

May sound daft but it worked for me so it might be worth a try!!
 
I've been at the receiving end of many a set of colty teeth! First thing is to make sure they can't actually get you - I always lead them with my hand close to the chin, and make sure they are walking out properly so I am level with their shoulder. If their head is by your body, it's dead easy for them to grab bits of you. To do so whilst walking properly involves them snaking their heads right round, which gives you plenty of time to see them coming and take evasive action - elbow in the neck, and block the forearm works well. I also carry a stick - not to bash them with , but having the end up where I want their nose to be tends to encourage them to walk out, as they usually want to grab it. And they can bite the stick, not me, which I prefer!

If he's biting in the stable - I would not handle him without a headcollar on. Go in quickly and calmly, put the head collar one, and then tie him up/hold him while you're handling him. If he's a real shark and you can't get in and get the headcollar on without snapping jaws everywhere, it may require the application of a blue pipe across the chest (useful piece of kit - not for inflicting pain, but for making a loud noise)to encourage him to step back and let you at him.
I've always been happy to let colts chew the end of a leadrope, but that's a matter of personal choice and I'm sure that not many people would approve. I won't recommend it for that reason, although imy first reaction to a snappy one is to shove something in its mouth that isn't a bit of me!!
 
I have delt with a few horse that have become nippy through treats , no one can tell me it isn't
Because in fact it is , or has a very large part in it !
If you want to feed treats feed only from feed bucket or from lower level Ie ground never from hand
How I deal with them and has been mentioned is to turn horses head away , if he or she has become a very bad nipper then I use what is called A nip buster
http://www.horsespeak.com/nipbuster/nipbuster.htm
 
I feed tit bits by hand to my 2 year old all the time and she has never looked to bite, I think it is a character thing he may be a bit more of a forward character. Def stop the tit bits for a while till he stops the biting.
 
Colts and fillies are 2 different species at youngsters. I have only had colts until now. The colts would bite and grab at anything and everything, for me it was a passing phase that was dealt with by firm handling and by the ever useful blue pipe. If the colts tried to bite when being groomed I put the stiff dandy brush, bristles up in their way, they soon stopped grabbing that. I think if the halter training is correct and the colt knows he must not invade your space it is easier to dealing with nipping.

Titbits are a total no no for youngstock. All food in a bucket, in the stable and baby left in peace to eat it. I am finding it very odd with my first filly, no attempts to bite or grab, even though she is very curious and runs her nose across everything that interests her. Long may it last.
 
Tit bits are fine and won't cause biting if you ask the horse to step back away from you to get their treat.
My horse has to take one or two steps back away from me before he can have a treat, you can establish this with a halter and rope on at first, now it is just automatic for him.

As for the biting DO NOT smack him! He is looking for a reaction when he bites you, either for a treat or to play or try and dominate you.
The best thing you can do is not react when he bites you, pretend it never happened and carry on what you were doing. He will soon stop doing it when he gets no reaction or reward.

Another thing you can do is to learn to back him away and always lead or handle him at a safe distance where he cannot bite you from. If he gets too close gently back him away to a safe distance where he is not in your bubble!
He will soon learn to respect you personal space and the biting will go away in time. Trust me, this works :D
 
diamondrockharvey said:
Tit bits are fine and won't cause biting if you ask the horse to step back away from you to get their treat.
My horse has to take one or two steps back away from me before he can have a treat, you can establish this with a halter and rope on at first, now it is just automatic for him.

As for the biting DO NOT smack him! He is looking for a reaction when he bites you, either for a treat or to play or try and dominate you.
The best thing you can do is not react when he bites you, pretend it never happened and carry on what you were doing. He will soon stop doing it when he gets no reaction or reward.

Another thing you can do is to learn to back him away and always lead or handle him at a safe distance where he cannot bite you from. If he gets too close gently back him away to a safe distance where he is not in your bubble!
He will soon learn to respect you personal space and the biting will go away in time. Trust me, this works :D
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You have obviously never handled young colts. The most experienced horsemen will all tell you never ever give colts titbits. I witnesses an horrific incident years ago where a woman fluffy bunnied her colt who, as a 3 year old bit the woman's breast in half. I am not suggesting colts need beating the crap out of, but make fools of them and the end result is a dangerous and ruined horse.
 
I totally agree with you - biting can be extremely dangerous. Colts are the very divil for nipping and must not be allowed to get away with it. If you're too sensitive to be able to whack them, try either a tack glove or a water spritzer.
 
AdorableAlice said:
You have obviously never handled young colts. The most experienced horsemen will all tell you never ever give colts titbits. I witnesses an horrific incident years ago where a woman fluffy bunnied her colt who, as a 3 year old bit the woman's breast in half. I am not suggesting colts need beating the crap out of, but make fools of them and the end result is a dangerous and ruined horse.
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I have 3 (now) stallions, and a gelding that was born with us, all the other boys were with us from 6 months. I use treats, hand fed, for training and always have, none of them bite. I think used sensibly treats have their place, if you allow any youngster, or older one for that matter, to become bargy and bolshy then it is probably worse if it is a colt/stallion. I am far from a 'fluffy bunny' and can stand in a field with 3 stallions and 1 dominant gelding with treats and not expect to be mugged, barged or bitten. One of the colts bit me nastily when he first arrived at 6 months, he nearly took my face off, I learned very quickly about the respect they need to be shown but that wasn't caused by treats. He was just nasty, as were his full/half brothers when they first arrived with us, they are all now of fantastic temperament.
 
Another tip which comes from NH ideas is make him think he has bumped into your arm and if he thinks it was his fault for getting too close, it won't make him head shy and removes you from the punishment. They learn much quicker if they think it's their fault. But you need to carry on doing whatever you are doing and don't even look directly at him, don't shout or react in any way. If you are in a biting situation, be ready to raise your elbow or arm and bump him on the nose.
Just another tack to try out.
 
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