Pony nipping ,when led

carthorse

carthorse

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Our 4 year old lead rein pony is nipping when led .I have tried using my voice sharply but he takes no notice , have schooled him without a rider and tapped him behind me with the lead rope or whip on his quarters, that works but he soon goes back to nipping when ridden.
He has also taken to trying to chewing the reins whenever he gets the chance or the lead rope , anyone got a dummy!
Any advice ,having to lead holding the noseband at the moment if I have the leadrein loose he keeps nipping.
 
It is a shame because he is such a sweetheart and never nips little one, he seems to know . Don't want to make him head shy or jump with rider on and sometimes he really marches along and then other times he just wants to nip , usually on the way back from ride[ only goes about 500 yds down road and then he is not keen on turning round]
 
okay, would you use the whip to punish your horse if he napped? Or would you use it to send him foward? In effect, what your LR pony is doing is trying to say "I don't want to do this" but sounds too well mannered to actually stop and nap.

so using the leadrope behind you really isnt effective for what he is doing. Because okay, you're sending him on, but he doesnt associate this with his mouth. No-ones suggesting you wallop him one, a gentle but firm tap and a "NO!" will stop it. Time it right and he'll be fine.
 
It might sound mad but when I had a youngster who nipped I screamed as loudly as I could each time he 'made contact'. Frightened him half to death I think and he stopped after a couple of times. Might be worth a try?? May be best to warn others before you do it though
smile.gif
 
im with _charlie_ , sharp tap on the nose and a firm no - im doing this with my pony at the moment, he grabs at the lead rope aswell which i see as just a baby thing, like human babies like to chew so he gets to do that, that also stops him thinking about chewing me, maybe not the best habit to get him in but i feel better with him doing that than ending up with a pony that bites!
 
My friend had a little shetland who was a similar age and he used to nip and was also quite fussy with his head. She had his teeth checked and he had his wisdom teeth out and from then on he was perfect. Might be worth getting them checked?
 
I went through a stage of having to bribe Murphy out to his field with carrots before work inthe morning because he was walking sooooo slowly and making me late!! Unsurprisingly, if I didn't have a carrot he'd try and nip at my arms/hands in search of a treat. So everytime he did I'd leap around like a loony, growling at him, waving my arms, basically just a really extreme reaction but didn't touch him. He doesn't like the reaction, so he doesn't do it (probably wouldn't try this on a spooky horsey though!!!)
 
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