The biting HAS to stop

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Footlights

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Ok, I have tried - growling, tapping his shin with my foot, prickly brush on his nose, elbow etc and although he hasn't actually bitten me for a while, he pins his ears back, turns towards me, bites the air etc - it's not getting better and it HAS to stop.

I do not want to hit my horse but I think I need to step it up, I'm being too soft.

Any ideas? Before someone gets hurt - probably me!
 
Okay you CAN be too soft with a biting horse...
But, you still have to be very kind but firm. Can you just outline why you think he bites first? How long have you owned him and at what point does he bite? Girthing? Handling? Leading?
 
I hit my horse if he bites! He doesn't do it very often but he can be a real miserable git. I don't hit him for the latter, though I do growl at him and send him back out of the way if he's rude, but on the odd occasion he has bitten me, he's got a bl00dy good smack for it. He knows full well he isn't supposed to do it.

I don't feel guilty in the slightest about it either... I've watched mine in the field with others and how they behave towards each other. I've just bought a new one and when turning them out for the first time together, the little one bit the big (miserable) one. Little one got booted for it. I have seen plenty of horses be put in their place for biting another when it wasn't playful. Horses biting humans is just plain rude and IMHO deserves a smack.

However... under what circumstances does he bite/snap? You need to differentiate between him being miserable and there being something else going on. My horse has some issues with his back last year which he demonstrated by snapping when the saddle went on...vet, physio and some treatment later, that stopped. His snapping about that is very different the times he's simply being rude...
 
My gelding can be a nippy sod, but he has improved alot recently. He's not the type that you could 'step it up' with so I just ignore it when he puts his ears back or nips the air. I also go in close, rather than hanging back in the biting zone. ;) If he turns his head to nip me, I put my hand flat on his cheek and gently push his head away.
 
I am surprised the hitting worked :S
I have known a few biters, the worst one was an angel for me to handle at college... Yet most students would not go near him and often when did, come out to fill an accident form...

He was worse with anyone that would flinch, try a 'tactic' to sort him out or raise a hand (college would go mad if they found out but people did try it)!

I (being a dolly day dream) used to tootle in there, talk to him loads, stand in a safe place and bridle up first with constant rewarding, then tack up.

Stuff like bathing and handling just took time and the more I had a conversation with myself, the happier he got. A few weeks in of handling him, he used to sigh a lot more and seem relieved.
 
Wear a baseball hat. If he goes to bite you, take the hat by its peak and extend your arm in his direction - very quickly. You will probably hit him with the flappy fabric part of the hat and he will jump back. If you can coordinate this action with a growl you will have a way of warning him off with out doing him any harm. Don't do it often enough to make him headshy!
Good Luck.
 
He does it when he is tied up and I approach him, he pins his ears back, shows his teeth and sometimes goes to actually bite. I usually growl at him, and then ask him to back up out of my space. This obviously isn't working.

Putting the saddle on, girthing up, everything else he is fine, doesn't even put his ears back. He sometimes also tries to nip me when I am putting his headcollar on/off in the field.

I really don't want to hit him anywhere in the face as he is already funny about his head and I get the impression he has been hit in the past. I also don't want to start an argument with him as he will argue and definitely win.
 
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Footlights said:
He does it when he is tied up and I approach him, he pins his ears back, shows his teeth and sometimes goes to actually bite. I usually growl at him, and then ask him to back up out of my space. This obviously isn't working.

Putting the saddle on, girthing up, everything else he is fine, doesn't even put his ears back. He sometimes also tries to nip me when I am putting his headcollar on/off in the field.

I really don't want to hit him anywhere in the face as he is already funny about his head and I get the impression he has been hit in the past. I also don't want to start an argument with him as he will argue and definitely win.
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Does he bite if you ignore, continue in what you are doing and stay in the same place when he gets in a place where he could easily bite you?
How long have you had him and has he always done this?
 
kirstykate said:
This one for me to
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me three!


My mare needs reminding sometimes she has manners and id like to keep my limbs in tact...so a sharp smack somtimes does the trick

(although it generally hurt my hand more than it hurts her)!

she does bite when doing up her front rug straps....thats just cheeky cause shes cranky so she gets a very light tap on the chin but thats turned into more of a game! (no-one else ever does her rugs except me)

So you need to have that line between cheeky and nasty - OP yours just sounds nasty....

!
 
No he doesn't actually bite if I ignore it, but the face pulling and ear pinning is getting worse. I have only had him a couple of months, and he has always done this. He is an ex racer and was gelded very late.

How do I do a well timed smack if he is being aggressive as I approach him and when he is slightly out of reach? Do I smack him when I have approached him?
 
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I have a confirmed biter and he is not pleasant to have around, and now I have young children, he is potentially dangerous. He was a biter way before I bought him and it is deeply entrenched in him. He spent his early years in Poland where I believe he was treated very violently (he shows all the signs and a well respected professional has confirmed this). His attitude seems to be I'm going to get you before you get me, even though he has only received clear and fair treatment from me. He has even bitten me so badly on my leg that he bit through the muscle and I've been left with a permanent lump.

One idea to combat his biting was suggested to me by an IH practioner. She said that he's looking for a reaction from me with his biting and that what I should do is strap thick magazines to my arms and legs so that he can bite me all he wants, but that I will not react and that this will eventually stop the biting cycle.

I have never tried this as I believe that my horse is too psychologically damaged, but you never know maybe it will work for another.
 
Footlights said:
No he doesn't actually bite if I ignore it, but the face pulling and ear pinning is getting worse. I have only had him a couple of months, and he has always done this. He is an ex racer and was gelded very late.
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Interesting. I am shocked at the advice to raise a hand (he just sounds he needs time)

My own arab has been known to bite (other people, not me). She makes an attempt to nash but it's rug and saddle related as before we had her, she has bad marks from rugs rubbing and an ill fitting saddle.

I simply ignore it and she is an angel for me to handle. Maybe he is very very sensitive, race handlers are often great but sometimes you have to be quite firm to keep things in check and maybe that just didn't suit him and no one adjusted, hence the anxiety when you go up to handle him?

I would personally use ignoring and reward when he puts ears forwards and relaxes.
 
another smack vote, but not on the face - as you said yourself he has probably had this before and will soon turn headshy.
Also try 'biting' him back on his neck, similar to what some people do to twitch horses and although you said you already do it, get him to move away, not politely. tell him to get out of your space within a second rather than asking and him deciding whther he wants to comply.
also second the opinions for things that won't necessarily hurt but shock him, like the baseball cap idea (not heard that one before!) or slap him with something that doesnt hurt so much as shock him, so something noisy...
as you said if he gets away with threatening one day he will step over the mark.
 
Smack when he goes to bite, we have one who does it when you are putting the rug on a good slap on the shoulder works with her.
 
Footlights said:
I really don't want to hit him anywhere in the face as he is already funny about his head and I get the impression he has been hit in the past. I also don't want to start an argument with him as he will argue and definitely win.
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Fair enough.

If he is tied up when doing this, I've found a sharp loud 'Eh', and a good poke in the neck with your index finger works just as well. You'll only need to do it once or twice before your voice is enough.
 
Goodness!!!! Someone please please please come and smack my mare when she goes to bite.

Good luck with that :S
 
amymay said:
What time does he need? A biting horse is a dangerous horse.
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Sounds like anxiety towards handling to me as he does not yet know his owner. Sorry but I feel she is doing right in not smacking.

Like I said, someone please come and smack my mare and see how it goes down for you. Then observe how understanding and ignoring her has such a different and SAFER result
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by amymay
Crack him one -



christen said:
is it useful?
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At times YES I have no problem with that.

I had a very nice little LR pony who knew his manners but had been accustomed to walking all over (literally) his previous owners, he led them by the nose the little toad.

I had known him for years, but after I actually bought him the very first time I was leading him to his field he tried to put his head down to help himself to grass, now, I am not used to horses being rude like that, so I pulled him up, he didn't like being told what to do one little bit so he lunged at me. The little sod bit my thigh so hard that it bled, without thinking I punched him, hard, on the muzzle. He looked at me as if to say "Oh, OK then, not a good move" and from that day on he was a poppet, any child could do anything to him. If I had said, as his previous people were wont to do, "Oh, bad boy" he'd have tried it on again, and again, and hurt someone, as a childs pony that wasn't acceptable.

So, sometimes a damn good crack will work, it helps if you know your horse and have some inkling as to why he bites, plain bolshy, scared, discomfort, it also depends on the severity of the bite as to what reaction I give. If something really goes for me then I will give as good as I get.

If a youngster bites me, as youngsters do, I slap them, on the shoulder, belly, bum, neck wherever I can reach, my youngsters do not bite, neither are they headshy or nervous.
 
Imogen_ said:
Sounds like anxiety towards handling to me as he does not yet know his owner. Sorry but I feel she is doing right in not smacking.

Like I said, someone please come and smack my mare and see how it goes down for you. Then observe how understanding and ignoring her has such a different and SAFER result
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Imogen, thought we were talking about the OP's horse, not yours? If you are happy with being bitten, great - fill your boots.

And an anxious horse is very rarely an aggressive horse. However an aggressive horse, is quite often, always an aggressive horse, and needs firm handling.

I'd never advocate beating something or smacking it around the head - but a short sharp crack to the side of the nose will do absolutely no harm at all - and the noise alone is enough to make them think twice. Done well, once, and the problem is usually sorted - because from that moment on the voice is usually enough. Unless the horse is particularly aggressive, and then the only thing I'd advocate to the head is a bullet.
 
Imogen_ said:
Goodness!!!! Someone please please please come and smack my mare when she goes to bite.

Good luck with that :S
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Out of curiosity here,

Why does she bite in the first place?

What would she do if she was slapped?
 
Since living out 24/7 and having a correctly fitted saddle my horse no longer bites. He still hates being groomed but he’s so much happier about life he puts up with it! My horse just disliked being stabled, if you’d have seen him a year ago you would have thought me insane to walk into a field with him loose with a bucket of feed, he now turns away and puts his ears forward before he is fed!
 
kirstykate said:
Would you rather be bitten?;)
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So do you 'crack him one' before he bites? :confused: I don't see how hitting a confirmed biter will stop him myself, sounds like he has learned to bite because it works for him. Hitting him may well teach him to up the anti. :(

Enfys said:
Why does she bite in the first place?
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I think this question needs addressing. What about keeping a diary of events and circumstances leading up to a bite to see if there is a theme?
The other thing is to always be aware that he bites and keep yourself at a safe distance and aware of his body and facial language when dealing with him. Managing to not provoke a bite is a good start imo.
 
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One of mine once went to nip me....he wanted out of the stable and I was fiddling with his chest straps on his rug. He didn't barge- just nipped......he got a swift crack on the shoulder and a shout.....and I carried on doing his rug. No massive drama....didn't prolong it but I made sure he knew it wasn't acceptable.

Never done it since.
 
amymay said:
Imogen, thought we were talking about the OP's horse, not yours? If you are happy with being bitten, great - fill your boots.

And an anxious horse is very rarely an aggressive horse. However an aggressive horse, is quite often, always an aggressive horse, and needs firm handling.

I'd never advocate beating something or smacking it around the head - but a short sharp crack to the side of the nose will do absolutely no harm at all - and the noise alone is enough to make them think twice. Done well, once, and the problem is usually sorted - because from that moment on the voice is usually enough. Unless the horse is particularly aggressive, and then the only thing I'd advocate to the head is a bullet.
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I am simply using it as an example.

My mare has never bitten me, only bitten one person who went in with a fist at the ready thank you.
 
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