Why do horses bite? I mean REALLY bite

[ArklePig]

This has got super ridiculous so I'd like to thank everyone who shared their experiences and offered advice and mitigations but I think I'll stop it here. As always I appreciate all the advice, less keen on the attacks.

 

[Gingerwitch]

You literally said we have the OPs version but we don't know what actually happened. I'm the OP, you quite literally just called me a liar of course I was going to defend myself!

Well we dont. It's a simple statement, the over riding point is you were close enough to get bit. If you had minded your own business and got on with your loan pony, you would not have been within reach
How do you know how owner feels ? As I know how many posts are on her about worries in moving yards.
It's a public forum, just because your not getting all the posts going your way does not mean people cannot have an opinion.
It's very rare for a horse to attack anyone, being around horses for many years there is usually an explanation.
Horses that do make unprovoked attacks are usually pts or knocked about, but that is very rare.
I do not know many horse owners that would move a horse that attacks people onto a general horse yard. So it's not un reasonable to question what happened.

 

[Gingerwitch]

That post was specifically directed at her tho lmao she is the OP??? ???

Oh must have imagined my reply to others on this thread. Lmao

 

[smolmaus]

Well we dont. It's a simple statement, the over riding point is you were close enough to get bit. If you had minded your own business and got on with your loan pony, you would not have been within reach

oh whoa whoa whoa I actually think we should wait until we have the independent survey of this yard before we say such things. We can't possibly know if she would have been within reach of this horse while also being within reach of the loan pony. We must have the truth here GingerWitch I'm sure you agree, we need the facts.

 

[Gingerwitch]

oh whoa whoa whoa I actually think we should wait until we have the independent survey of this yard before we say such things. We can't possibly know if she would have been within reach of this horse while also being within reach of the loan pony. We must have the truth here GingerWitch I'm sure you agree, we need the facts.

Yes let's.
The only fact here is
Horse bites person = person close enough to get bit

 

[smolmaus]

Yes let's.
The only fact here is
Horse bites person = person close enough to get bit

How do we know any of this even happened? Does this horse even exist? ArklePig could be three racoons stacked in a trenchcoat in which case the possibly fictional horse would be right to bite her, in my opinion.

 

[milliepops]

This is nuts
the OP has said they weren't pestering the horse and has said they will give strange horses more space in future. isn't that enough?
While I prefer people leave my horses in peace I can near as dammit say that they won't lunge out over the stable door to bite someone who happens to be standing there. it IS an unusual thing to happen on a normal mixed yard. thank god.

 

[Gingerwitch]

How do we know any of this even happened? Does this horse even exist? ArklePig could be three racoons stacked in a trenchcoat in which case the possibly fictional horse would be right to bite her, in my opinion.

Good point.

 

[Auslander]

Jeez GW, give the OP a break. You're doing exactly what the horse did - taking a chunk out of the poor woman with very little provocation.

I've been bitten badly once - I was standing with my back to the horse's door, standing in the middle of an aisle, and she dived over the door and sank her teeth into my shoulder. I didn't blame myself, and neither did anyone else. Horse got moved to a quiet corner of the yard, and no clients were allowed near her unless she was out of her stable, tacked up and under the control of a staff member. She had a personal bubble that was larger than anyone realised, and when we realised, we took steps to keep everyone safe. Nicest mare in the world out of her stable

 

[[139672]]

Had a new horse at the yard. First morning one of the livery owners was feeding the horses, when she put in his feed bucket he flew at her and bit her really hard on the arm. No warning. Never heard of him biting again but he was not a happy horse. Kept throwing the young daughter off as he used to suddenly take off. The owner and her daughters were not very experienced and the owner was a bit of a wet blanket, and he was wasted on them to be honest. They moved him to another yard a few months later and not sure how he got on after that. We had a pony there who was very aggressive around food, apparently he’d been starved in a field with some other ponies and had to fight for his food. He once bit a girl on the boob when she got too close walking past, she admitted it was her fault getting too close to his door. He used to fly over the door with no warning, whenever he had food, including hay.

 

[Equine_Dream]

Come on now OP fess up.....you said something offensive to the horse about his mother didn't you?

 

[laura_nash]

Well we dont. It's a simple statement, the over riding point is you were close enough to get bit. If you had minded your own business and got on with your loan pony, you would not have been within reach.

Without knowing the layout of the yard you can't possibly know that. All the livery yards I've been on it was very possible to be bitten by someone else's horse whilst minding your own business.

I was very nearly bitten by YO's mare in a similar and totally unprovoked attack some years ago. Mare was immediately moved to a different stable where people didn't have to walk past and a warning sign put up. In her case it seemed to be hormonal.

I was also bitten badly on the shoulder and thrown across the stable in a completely surprise attack many years earlier when changing a rug in the evening as a favour, still have a scar. Poor horse then ran into the corner and shook, he was so scared I couldn't feel at all angry with him. We discovered later that another groom on the yard, who usually did evening stables in that block, was a nasty piece of work (he was sacked) and I presume had done something to trigger that. Horse was lovely otherwise, before and after.

 

[smolmaus]

Just for a bit of levity and because I've had a glass of wine, observe the most savage attack I have ever endured. Only 8 months and already an attempted murderer as far as I'm concerned. I read the several signs up about all three of these recent rescues being bitey (especially this little monster) but the big lad had asked very specifically for a butt scratch and he gets whatever he wants whenever he wants so goodbye safety protocols!!

 

[marmalade76]

I once knew a stallion who would hide just inside his door and dive out and grab unsuspecting people as they walked past, just for a bit of sport. He was a right nasty piece of work, lazy as hell and not great at anything so I have no idea why it was kept entire

 

[Elno]

My five year old mare gets furious if you stand outside of her stable. She has never actually bitten hard, but she threatens and lunges at you with bare teeth and ears flat and will nip you if you're not careful or stand with your back turned. If you're inside the stable with her and in other situations she is very friendly and cuddly. I' m not sure what pisses her off actually ??‍

 

[PSD]

My five year old mare gets furious if you stand outside of her stable. She has never actually bitten hard, but she threatens and lunges at you with bare teeth and ears flat and will nip you if you're not careful or stand with your back turned. If you're inside the stable with her and in other situations she is very friendly and cuddly. I' m not sure what pisses her off actually ??‍

She’s a mare, she doesn’t need a reason ?

 

[Elno]

She’s a mare, she doesn’t need a reason ?

Valid point! ?

 

[Spirit2021]

The problem when horses are showing that type of aggression is that they could seriously hurt someone . It’s a behavior that needs to be corrected .

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

Just musing on this really. New horse on the yard today, beautiful looking thing. I was stood outside its stable admiring it, not touching it or in its space. Literally just standing at a good distance saying how pretty he was. In hindsight I should have left it alone. Anyway, it bit me, and I mean it really bit me, he kind of recoiled his head into his neck and sprung out at me with a proper forceful bite so it was almost like an attack rather than a leave me alone nip. He got me in the boob but luckily didn't break the skin as I was wearing a fleece, a baselayer and a padded sports bra lol.

Obviously I've made yard owner aware - not in a complaining way, just thought she should know. I've never seen anything like it and just wondering if this is normal in a horse who may be anxious on a new yard or if that's particularly bizarre behaviour?

Lack of ground manners and discipline in the past. I make all my livereis write down any foibles and things i need to know when handling so i am aware of things.

 

[ycbm]

My five year old mare gets furious if you stand outside of her stable. She has never actually bitten hard, but she threatens and lunges at you with bare teeth and ears flat and will nip you if you're not careful or stand with your back turned. If you're inside the stable with her and in other situations she is very friendly and cuddly. I' m not sure what pisses her off actually ??‍

I would want bars on the door of any horse that did that I'm afraid. My friend picked up part of the face of a child who stood too near the door of a horse that was space defensive, and drove her to hospital to have it stitched back on. It's just not a risk worth taking.
.

 

[Elno]

I would want bars on the door of any horse that did that I'm afraid. My friend picked up part of the face of a child who stood too near the door of a horse that was space defensive, and drove her to hospital to have it stitched back on. It's just not a risk worth taking.
.

I agree ? We are boarding at a riding school so I suspect that maybe children in the first place have been petting and annoying her and maybe giving her treats. I would really blame myself if something happened to them though-even if at the moment she doesn't actually bite it can escalate to it eventually if not nipped in the bud. Luckely we have several stalls available (albeit not as roomy and nice as the current one) with bars so I'm planning to move her there.

 

[littleshetland]

I think a lot of it is territorial issues. Some horses really are very protective of their stable space. Quite often (not always, I know..) moving them to a quieter part of the yard with less traffic passing in front of them helps a lot.

 

[Silver Clouds]

I would want bars on the door of any horse that did that I'm afraid. My friend picked up part of the face of a child who stood too near the door of a horse that was space defensive, and drove her to hospital to have it stitched back on. It's just not a risk worth taking.
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When I was a teenager I was at a PC rally on a commercial yard and another PC member had her nose bitten off by a horse whilst walking past it's stable (a horse belonging to the yard, not one brought by any of the PC kids). As well as being horribly disfiguring it also caused her breathing problems, and she had to wear a dust mask most of the time to avoid damage to her airways. Apparently the horse was known to be a git, but nothing had been done to warn people visiting the yard, or to block access to the stable door (eg a grille).