Very odd behaviour, any ideas?

[Kellys Heroes]

Ive posted this in NL before but although someone had seen it before, they didn't know what it was a response to or what it was caused by.
My friend's mare will bite the gate or door after she's been given a treat. She's a 9 y/o, 16.2hh IDxTB and is a very laid back horse on the whole.
She doesn't actively seek something to bite (eg, rugged her in field the other day and she didn't go to the gate after she'd had a treat) and she doesn't suck, just bites a few times!
She doesn't do it after a feed or a haynet, just treats.
Any ideas?
K x

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

Hi KH. I wouldn't worry. It's almost certainly a low level displacement activity rooted in a bit of anxiety, a bit of tension.

Displacement activities are what an animal does when it can't do what it really wants to do. So a bull will paw the ground in a towering rage because it really wants to kill the matador. Some horses paw the ground as they eat from their feedbowls because the natural way for a horse to eat is on the move, nibbling at grass. My cat watches birds out of the window and salivates and squeaks while he watches. That's because he'd really REALLY like to be out there in a killing frenzy! Treats are more exciting than ordinary hay/feeds so your friend's mare really wants to climb over the gate, rip the treat bag/polos from her owner and scoff the lot. She can't, so she settles for letting the angst out by biting something. She really, really wants to be biting another treat!

She sounds a lovely mare - give her a hug from me x

 

[amandap]

I have no idea if this is relevant but do you feed treats indiscriminately? By this I mean, when you feel like it rather than as a 'reward' for a specific behaviour?
I'm just musing if the frustration may be coming from the horse wanting more and not knowing how to get them if that makes sense. Do you use clicker training? This may be a way of getting rules in place about treats so your horse knows when treats may be available. It forces you to be strict with yourself too if you use treats and random feeding of treats is advised to be stopped.
Don't know if this is any help but I too see the behaviour you describe as frustration (displacement behaviour) and it would be imo a good idea to sort it so the horse isn't frustrated and it doesn't escalate.

 

[Kellys Heroes]

Thanks guys
amanda - she gets a treat when my friend gets onto the yard, after riding and at the gate for turnout once her headcollar has been removed generally speaking. Other than that, just in her feed. Like I said she seems to be a very laid back girl and hardly ever gets herself in a stress!
Box_Of_Frogs - she is lovely, they were lucky to find her and I certainly will do!!
K x

 

[amandap]

I misunderstood your post I think. So, does she do it when she is already standing by the gate or 'door'? I envisioned she was being treated over the gate or door so sorry for jumping to conclusions.

 

[Kellys Heroes]

I misunderstood your post I think. So, does she do it when she is already standing by the gate or 'door'? I envisioned she was being treated over the gate or door so sorry for jumping to conclusions.

Sorry I think I was being confusing
When we get onto the stable yard, before she comes out of her stable, she gets a treat over her door (out of our hands) and when we turn her out, when we are stood in the field having just taken her headcollar off, she has another one - she then bites the stable door or the gate depending where we are. Sometimes she gets in the field and bombs off down the field and doesn't even wait for a treat!
K x