tips for dealing with a nippy/mouthy horse

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clairefeekerry1

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my gelding has recently taking to mouthing/nipping me when doing up his rugs or grooming him or putting his headcoller on. he's off work al winter due to an injury so its probably started through being a bit bored but its getting on my nerves now. he never ever acutally nips he just kind of grabs your clothing. he doesnt get tit bits or anything like that but he seems to be doing it more as a game. the more i poke/slap/elbow the more he trys and does it! he seems to pride himself in trying to do it quicker and quicker everytime! any tips? someone said try rubbing the sides of his mouth when he does it and turn it back round on him?
 
Went to a 'How to sort out a problem horse' event once and the woman there said to have a small container with something noisy inside (i.e. marbles) to shake at the horse when he goes to nip. I imagine you have to be pretty quick to catch him in the act but it could be worth a try.
 
I'd be interested in this one, as my horse is just the same.

If I'm 'firm but fair' and knock his nose away or make him step back, he takes the p*** and gets worse, and if I get strict and wallop him for it he freaks out and I can't get near him.

Short of knocking all his teeth out I have given up :rolleyes:
 
LittleBlackMule said:
If I'm 'firm but fair' and knock his nose away or make him step back, he takes the p*** and gets worse, and if I get strict and wallop him for it he freaks out and I can't get near him.
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You have my sympathy! It just goes to show how tricky it can be to get the severity of a punisher right - too little and the horse ignores it; too much and it makes the horses fearful and/or resentful.

I have a method based on sticking my finger into the roof of the horse's mouth the instant he starts to nibble and holding it there for 2-3 seconds while he tries to spit it out which I have found to be 100% effective in dozens of horses now. Although I have never been hurt doing this, it may be criticized on the grounds of safety. So it is probably better if you found an alternative way to make the consequence of his actions unpleasant or uncomfortable in a timely fashion i.e. instantly - because that's what is needed (unless you're willing to put time into learning and applying positive methods to teach polite behaviour, rewarding behaviours incompatible with nibbling - and not everyone is willing or comfortable about doing that, even though it does work very well).

Rubbing the sides of his mouth may do the trick if it's something he doesn't being done to him. The downside is he's likely to see it coming from you personally rather than as a direct consequence of his nibbling.
 
clairefeekerry1 said:
my gelding has recently taking to mouthing/nipping me when doing up his rugs or grooming him or putting his headcoller on. he's off work al winter due to an injury so its probably started through being a bit bored but its getting on my nerves now. he never ever acutally nips he just kind of grabs your clothing. he doesnt get tit bits or anything like that but he seems to be doing it more as a game. the more i poke/slap/elbow the more he trys and does it! he seems to pride himself in trying to do it quicker and quicker everytime! any tips? someone said try rubbing the sides of his mouth when he does it and turn it back round on him?
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Take a stepback and really think through exactly what is happening and what your exact response is? ie. do you lean or step back away when he nibbles?

Could he be telling you something? Could he have a tender belly? I think of this especially because you mention he objects to grooming and rugs as well. Is it worse when you go near his belly? Could his teeth need checking? Is he still not feeling 100% and this is making him grumpy and not wanting to be caught etc. Is his coat/skin itchy? What happens when you do bring him in? Perhaps just bring him in for a feed then release again sometimes?

I'd tend to wrap up well and ignore the nibbles, and I mean ignore, no response at all and just carry on. The second he stops nibbling and or moves his mouth away make a big fuss of him in a way he likes such as rubs or scratches. Try and make his halter time more pleasant and look closely for other reasons such as above? Is he reuctant to leave his mates after his time off? If this could be a factor try and keep his time away short and sweet (feed?) and gradually increase...

Just some ideas for you to think about.
 
Thanks for mentioning the ignore option, Amandap. That will certainly work if the horse doesn't find the offending activity (or the owner's response to it) rewarding in some way. Unfortunately, chewing leadropes appears to be highly rewarding to horses who do it and that is hard to ignore unless one has spares! :/

And I agree it's always a good idea to rule out other causes of possibly medical origin that might be causing unwanted behaviours or general grumpiness.
 
This may sound silly but my 2 year old that i have had since a yearling very occasionally used to bite and i would bite him back on the nose and he really didn't think much to that!!!!
 
to be honest he's gone from ridden everyday and competing nearly every weekend to nothing so think he is generally just frustrated and board. but its still rude!!! i have considered nipping him back but he puts his face in things i'd rather not be assosiated with! lol!
 
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