how would you stop a horse from biting?

Well, as always it depends why what and where!

Horses are not agressive by nature, so something somewhere has made said horse feel the need to behave this way. Is it towards us or horse?

Is there certain times? (feed, busy, horses leaving their stables etc?) does he threaten or actually bite?

What is his demeanor with you/others normally? or in general?

How are his manners?

What are his expressions whilst he is acting this way? (i.e fear/aggression/dominance etc)
x
 
he just seems aggressive

its rug changing, and feeding
and some days its worse than others, like today... he even went for me over the door and he likes me

he threatens it but if your too close then he will have you, apparently hitting him on the nose makes him worse and hell have you...

if you go to close to the door he may go for you, he may not... hes on the corner of the stables, so everyone walks past him
 
It's always difficult without seeing the horse in his current environment, but I agree that hitting them doesn't work.

He sounds a bit stressed. Can he be moved to a stable where he can still see what's going on but one where he doesn't have everyone walk past?

Does he try to bite you if you stand by his stable or only when you pass by?
 
trys to bite anyone that goes near him when his in his stable or tied up outside

hes an ex raver (not the one i mentioned before)
doesnt get much turn out cos she doesnt want his legs ruined and shoes to come off as hes got bad feet

its a bit hard really, cos hes normally ok when handling him away from the stable

its just getting dangerous now... and i just want to find out if anyones experienced horses like this and what they did, just to bear things in mind i could suggest
 
It does sound like he is bored and would benefit from more turn out. Could be a combination of his natural temperament, boredom, stress, feeding, exercise or lack of! So many possibles.

I did used to ride a racehorse who was savage in the stable. If you caught him and took him outside then tacked him up he was fine, and he was good to ride.

Tricky one, as I am sure there would be ways to manage him, but he will not improve unless the owner is willing to make some changes - and get some help with his behaviour.
 
It sounds like he needs more routine/predictability in his day. Feed him before you leave, to stop him getting narky and expecting his grub as soon as he's bought in. Don't give treats in stable it'll encourage mugging in a horse already a bit nippy.
Make sure plenty of hay in field all day to prevent him grabbing when he comes in.
Get teeth checked
Can think of lots more, like a behav mod programme, but try those first
 
Good points. Especially one about treats. One of my own horses who is very sweet natured became nippy in one livery yard when the kids started giving him treats because he was so friendly. I was wondering why he had suddenly become head shy, when someone said he had started biting anyone that walked past without stopping!

I made a deal with the kids that any treats were put in a bucket outside his stable and they could add them to his evening feed. This kept both parties happy! and he stopped nipping.
cool.gif
 
i recently took on an anglo arab who has his moments. The problem is his old owner who had him for 8yrs always gave him treats,the grumpier he got the more she would give him,i never give treats by hand,i put them in a feed bucket. Its my biggest pet hate apart from horses being ridden with muddy hocks!! (don't ask!) i have never owned a horse who is grumpy or a biter but i have worked on yards with stallions that were evil!! I used to hold a stiff brush in my hand nearest the horses head and use the other hand to do what i needed to do,that way whenever said stallion turned round to bite he would put his nose on the prickly brush,Now Faisal is a grumpy old man in his nature anyway,he doesnt actually bite but he does snap the air at you when you do his rugs and sometimes around feed time. I do not tolerate it so he gets a firm No! from me and he isnt getting any treats so is getting better by the day. Regarding the ex racer though: these horses thrive on routine and it doesnt seem like his is structured enough,he seems like he hates the stable he is in,it may be a little too busy where he is and he may prefer a quieter spot, i think he needs a little more turnout,if she is that worried about his legs she could put some field chaps on and some horse boots for when he goes out,even for and hour would make a difference,he cant be as accident prone as my tb x,she has had less accidents since she wears her equi chaps. Biting is dangerous and should be taken seriously as they are not naturally vicious animals,it can escalate so i would start trying to improve this horses everyday life otherwise he is going to do some serious damage. My friend has a vvv moody mare that is evil in the stable,she didnt really do anything about her mare being unhappy until one day someone walked past her stable door and she took a chunk out of the persons shoulder!! It was horrific. They tried to sue her and she went through a terrible time.
 
My ex-racer is awful.
shes 19 now and was raced as a 5 year old, but has never changed.... but hers is just when we are doing up the girth.
we put a grazing muzzle on as this stops her from getting you, its difficult to stop her as its because she doesn't like her girth being done up- no matter what you do.
maybe if it is dangerous try a muzzle so the horse can't get you until you find a solution?
 
If he is on a corner and everybody walks past him, and he is getting worse, could it be that someone is smacking him or something as they walk past in retaliation to threats or faces! May be worth trying to move him to a stable with less 'traffic'
 
Lol i could have written this - my horse does this in a serious way ! Our Stable light is by him and he will snap at you he caught my thick coat last nite he bobs his head up and down ears back really threatening - i dont know if he is being cheeky or protecting his space but if it got really bad i would put a grill up because it is a really dangerous habit Oh and mines an exracer too.
He has had all the checks and he hasnt been smacked sadly it is just what he does he is just worse atm because we havent been able to do a huge amount but hopefully now we can crack on if it doesnt snow again!!

Sharonxx
 
As he's fine away from the stable it sounds to me like he's very unhappy there and bein g territorial as a way of venting his anger. I know a horse exactly the same, lovely when out but he just got more and more dangerous in stable, ended to going 4 a few people really really badly. Owners didn't change management tho, just tie him up to enter!! If it was me I might try having a chat with the owner, turnout isn't really that dangerous and it sounds like the horse isn't very happy as he is! I know it's difficult to hv these chats constructively tho.....
 
This can develop into a very serious problem. This kind of problem ALWAYS stems from the horse feeling that he has to behave this way....e.g. "attack is a form of defence". ...he cant "flight", so he has to "fight". Of course it is vry hard to know what has happened in the past. Totaly agree with what has been said though, that there are MANY other contributing factors to take into consideration, especially the Environmental circumstances. A horse I was aked to help with had similar problems and when "digging" was done into his past (ex racer too) it was revealed that he had been sold because this problem had developed and the yard owner had discovered the cause of the problem by viewing one of his old CCTV tapes. The employee who was always the last one to leave the yard at night was seen walking past each stable on the way out of the yard and punching each horse who had its head stuck out of the door hard on the nose.....maybe your horse was on this same yard???

It took a month to resolve the problem...BUT, it was resolved through consistentcy and it was easier to resolve because his new home was on a yard where there were only five other people and I involved them ALL in helping with the problem...and they ALL asisted willingly. Not always possible on some yards.
 
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