Mock 'Biting' and playing

[Deefa]

I am having a little issue with my 2yr old at the moment! When i lead him in and out from the field he pretends to bite me! he never actually uses his teeth just dives his lips at you when jumps back and has a little head shake.
He has also started doing this with the other horses in the field to get them to play with him.
Whats the best way to stop this behavour, as although i like him to have fun i dont fancy having a 17hand 2yr old on my head if it gets any worse!
I have tried smacking his chest when he does it but it just seems to make him worse

 

[spike123]

what happens if you ignore it? Does he continue to try or does he then stop the behaviour.If it is play and you won't play he will realise the behaviour gets him nowhere.If however it is done as a way of asserting himself then you need to nip it in the bud fast.My horse was very bolshy at 6 and would behave in the same way.I made sure I stayed at his shoulder and kept him moving forwards and every time he swung his head towards me I would use the end of the leadrope and just smack him on the end of the muzzle with it.You don't need to use any force to do so,just use a firm NO and continue walking forwards.

 

[Natch]

I would push the horse's head away from you with a firm NO every time he does it, and carry on leading as normal. Obviously you need to be careful, any approaches to you that aren't aggressive should be welcomed, or you'd end up with a horse unwilling to turn his head toward you.

If, given a reasonable chance to work, it didn't really, I would make a big thing out of it; when he goes to nip you, stop and back him up, move him sideways away from you etc. Remember the herd hierarchy, and whoever is boss can move the other's feet? his mock nipping, although playful, is disrespectful to somebody higher up in the herd to you, and could easily escalate to challenges of a more serious nature. By asserting your authority again he should back off and leave his biting antics to the field

 

[MrsElle]

My two year old has just started doing this when I lead him to the field in the mornings. He tries to nip me on the head or shoulder, whichever he can get to. I just give him a push and say 'no' very loudly and crossly. This morning we had a walk down with no nipping so hopefully it has worked!

 

[millitiger]

push his head away with a firm 'no!' or 'oi!'

if that isn't enough i would back him up a step or 2 to get him out of your space before walking on again.

 

[Guinness]

Don't ignore it. I would either go with the push his head away and say no, this has to be consistent everytime he does it though. Another thing you could try is a rattle-we used to use these with young colts at work, just fill an empty plastic bottle with a few pebbles and stick it on the end of a pastic tube. Keep it in your left hand (presuming you are right handed and lead with your right hand!) and just shake it a little when he goes to bite, usually it suprises them into stopping. Also helps with head tossing and generally naughtiness! Doesn't work if your horses is very spooky, but our Arabs used to respond very well, and it stops them getting headshy from smacking them.

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

When you shove him in the chest to stop him play biting at you, he thinks oooh, mum's joining in now, she must be enjoying this too! I went to see a Richard Maxwell clinic a couple of years ago and one of the horses he worked with was a young colt. The colt was a poppet but - normal for that age - a cocky little soul. He tried to get RM to join in his games but every time he play bit towards RM, RM "let" the colt bump his tender nose into the point of his elbow. RM always gave his elbow a bit of extra shove every time the colt bumped himself so the colt felt it as uncomfortable. Immediately the colt backed away a step in surprise, RM would turn round and say to him oh dear, did you bump your nose on my elbow? and give him a nice face rub. It took 5 mins max for the colt to learn that he hurt HIMSELF play biting RM and he stopped doing it. Without a doubt, he would soon have tried another way to get the human to join in his play, and then another and another! But if you stick to the principle of "make him think he's done it to himself" this will always work when nothing else does.

 

[ecrozier]

Our 3/4 year old does this a bit. We've been really strict since having him and he's not allowed any treats given by hand, any carrots etc go in a bucket then in the stable.
He still does it a bit when you lead him but is getting better, when I lead him alone I do the 'elbow' thing described by box_of_frogs above and it seems to be working. My issue is that due to time and how far I have to go to the field I have to take him up to field with my other boy and then I have to be quite on the ball as otherwise they both try to eat me or each other!! As long as I keep holding them right up by their headcollar its ok, not ideal I know but needs must with two horses and a full time job and limited hours in the day! Youngster also loves to hold his own leadrope in his teeth!