My Colt keeps trying to nip me all the time...

Sistersedge

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He's started doing it in the past week. Kepps grabbing my hat and chucking it on the floor, nipping my arms, trying to nip me when i'm picking his feet out etc. I've tapped him on the nose to try and deter him from it but i don't want to make a rod for my own back and make him head shy... he just wants to bite EVERYTHING...Wheel barrow, buckets etc etc. He's on the mare and youngstock and Dengie Hi-Fi and i'm wondering if its his feed thats making him sooo Bouncy and playful. I know it just playing at this stage but i don't want him to think its OK as he is getting really coltish....
 
My 4 yr old does the same. I read somewhere that when they do it you grab their head collar and push their head away from you and hold it there for 30 seconds. Not sure this is working though. A flick on the nose doesn't do much either. I was also told to smack them on the shoulder, but this doesn't really do much! It is a phase but as the same time its very annoying. My boy even tried to nip the horses's bum in font of him when we are out hacking. I have a mark on my hand this morning where he nipped me yesterday when I was leading him. As soon as I turn round to scowl at him he raises his head and eyes back. He knows its not right!
 
Try kicking (not hard enough to cause pain just to distract) him on his cannon bone. You have to be consistent and every time he goes to nip, they soon look like they are going to bite but then stop and look down!

It has worked for me and a few others I recommended it to. Its painless and free so has to be worth a try!!

Good Luck
 
Yes mine seems to know its not right and its very annoyong. He hasn't been like this before...He has been at Horese hospital for 2 weesk (stuck in stable) and then a week (on his own) in a paddock. I'm hoping that when i move to new yard tomorrow he calms down as he will be out with Geldings...I know he wants to play and im hoping its just a phase...
 
Trying to think like a horse.........would a stallion or lead mare allow a colt to nip it? I'm not 100% sure not being Monty! - it might be that another stallion would think it great to have a play fight - but I'm sure a grumpy lead mare wouldn't tolerate it. She would make it clear that she has a personal space round her and he's not invited in. So when a horse comes up to you and you do nothing to keep it back (i.e. flap of hand, twirl of rope, waving arms, jump up and down (!)), horse thinks its okay to get up close to you, that you are on their level. Its a good place to be because if he can touch you he can move you. I think its then hard for the biters of the horse world i.e. colts, to understand that they shouldn't bite you. Its programmed into them of course.

Could you try disciplining yourself when handling the colt that when you go up to it and it pokes its head into your space, you flap it away (using the force level required, i.e. don't over react but make sure he gets the message by moving himself BACK). You have then started a new arrangement whereby he isn't allowed to just insert his head in your personal space. If you consistently do this you do spot a change in their attitude to you. You are no longer 'another strange looking horse' to be 'dissed' but someone who's very particular about their personal space. If he respects your space, he won't bite you.

Maybe give it a try - I have found it works if you are consisent and it doesn't ruin any 'relationship' with the horse by not letting them get up close and personal - quite the reverse. You do have to spot their infringements however subtle and even when you are putting on a headcollar or doing something to them, don't let them push on YOU. They must stand there politely while you do what you need to do.
 
I've read somewhere that 'pinching' them is more effective than smacking, as it simulates a mare nipping the youngster.
 
I was recommended to use jif lemon juice in a squirty bottle (the little lemon shaped ones). I have bought one, and it does seem to work, if you can get the bottle out quick enough for it to be an instant response!!!
 
[ QUOTE ]
I was recommended to use jif lemon juice in a squirty bottle (the little lemon shaped ones). I have bought one, and it does seem to work, if you can get the bottle out quick enough for it to be an instant response!!!

[/ QUOTE ]

I love this - genius!
 
My boy whos 3 in April STILL does it! To me, and ANYTHING he likes the look of- leadropes, chairs- things that can move or be moved actually... he doesnt do it to doors/ fences etc

I think Ive tried everything- as already said- he knows its wrong as when he manages to get a hold rather than just a little touch he shoots back out the way.
Ive tried tapping/ pinching in all sorts of places, jumping up and down, shouting, making him go back afew steps, ignoring- haven't tried kicking though I don't think I'll try this either...

He's got worse again the last few weeks- think he's teething- have spoken to the dentist she's coming out soon.

It doesn't help though because my other horse really lets him get away with biting him/ running into him, barging him out of the way, so he's learning he can do this and even did it when he was 2-6 months to the pony he lived with! I can see how horses can become bolshy though with different handling I think my boy would be barging out of doors, into people etc.

Wow Ive gone on!
 
My 4yo nipped me once when he was a yearling.....he got belted hard in the nose. You can call me cruel if you like but he has never done it since and is as far from headshy as is possible, hes a real cuddly pony.
 
yep same here my colt bit my boob so smacked his chops stright away .my friend said dont smack your baby then he bit her so she slapped him ,that was the last time he ever bit and hes not head shy .its a case of not letting him start it if he bit another horse they would bit him so its tit for tat .if you do it staight away he knows why he hade it and learns not to do it .
 
I tried all sorts of ideas out on my colt, but it seemed like whatever i did was a case of "any attention is good attention" as far as he was concerned (so I tried ignoring him but that didn't work either). I had more bruises than you could shake a stick at for the first 18 months of his life, as no method worked (even though I stuck at each tactic for at least a month before I would let myself move onto another). As he just loved the "attention" he got whenever he bit me, he didn't even mind being tapped on the nose and it certainly didn't make him headshy.
The only method that did actually work was to get his bits chopped off
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- okay maybe a bit extreme, but what bliss!!!! He hardly ever bit me after that, he was probably worried what I might get cut off next haha!!! Afterwards, it reduced greatly, until it became just an odd bite every now and again, maybe once every few weeks if he was feeling naughty and actually thinking about it as I type this I don't think he's tried to bite me for about 6 months or more(he's 3 and a half now). So that's my advice, de-bollock him!
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