Horse biting people to play?

[Guilherme]

We had a young colt a few years back that got real “mouthy” and the usual methods (crop, end of lead rope, etc.) were not working consistently. So I read about an NH solution and tried it; it worked.

I knew when we was going to get “playful” so I used a 20’ lead rope and we went for a walk. He lead pretty well 'till he decided it was time to play and it usually began with a bit of antsing and dancing then a nip. As soon as I saw the pre-nip behavior I gave him an oral correction with body language that said, “don’t.” He ignored the warnings. a As soon as he started to move his head I spun on him, did my best imitation of horse-eating monster, and ran him off to the end of that lead rope. He was visibly frightened and immediately tried to come back to me for protection. I pushed him off again, and kept him out there for two min. That two min. out in the world where any predator could get him really bothered him. When I let him back in he was very submissive. I let him relax and we continued our walk.

Like all young males, everywhere, he was a slow learner. Within a few minutes the “cutting up” started again and he ended up back at the end of that 20 foot rope, visibly frightened. He spent another two min. out there and then came back in, submissive. We walked for another 10 min. with no repeats. The next day we took another walk and when he thought about acting up all it took was a look to settle him. We had no more problems of this sort.

A slow learner? Yes. But that just implies that some learning is taking place; and it was.

Didn’t have to smack, stick him, or inflict any physical pain at all. I just exiled from from the herd and he got the message loud and clear.

This might not work with every horse. But it did work with this one.

G.

[Ticker]

@goldenstirrup

My young horse has started to nip at people but if I smack him on the neck he thinks it’s a game and bites back. I’m now keeping a lead rope on him whenever I’m around so when he tries to bite I do a sharp tug.

What would you do? TIA.

First of all, you did not state how old your ‘young’ horse is , level of training, gelded or not.
How I would respond to a youngster like yours really does depend on these factors.

As many posters have mentioned, backing him up is a great way to dominate him…but we don’t know if he is already trained to back up. I would not recommend backing him up if he is not already trained to a back command…that’s not a good way to train a horse to back up.

You were very correct to note that when you slap his neck he thinks it’s a game and tried to bite you again. I have mentioned in older posts that if you invite a horse to a display of strength…such as slapping his neck as a correction…he may accommodate you by responding with ‘his’ show of strength, which you stated he did. Based on this statement from you, I’m going to guess that he may still be a stallion or was recently gelded in the last few months. In any case, if he is over the age of 18 months he will most likely resent a physical correction. You can surely give a slap to a baby and stop an unwanted behavior…but a maturing horse…ahhh…you have to finesse based on their personality or you could end up reinforcing a bad habit instead of correcting it…especially if the correction is not effective.

My goto response for a nippy young male is to carry a spay bottle filled with water and blast him in face while yelling insults at him…whatever makes me feel better. It’s harmless and most importantly, it has never provoked a reciprocal display of strength. It has always been successful for me in stopping unwanted behaviors…amazingly fast. Horses don’t like being squirted in the face.
If he already knows how to back…I would back him up as a display of my dominance.

Because I know that the water trick is always successful, I continue to hand feed treats as I please for training purposes. I believe it is critical to provide positive feedback to a young horse. Good luck to you.

[Scribbler]

That is a very good point. It didn’t occur to me the horse would likely be too young to know a cue for backup. And it wouldn’t be a good idea to use it as discipline before it was completely established as a regular cue.

Though Guilherme has a good technique of running the horse off without it actually having to back up formally.

[WildandWickedWarmblo]

Studdy behavior. My male horse has always thought he is still a stud, and he nips mares and women. Not children or men. No, I’ve never broken him of that habit even disciplining him. He’s not stupid just studdy.

[goldenstirrup]

@Ticker

First of all, you did not state how old your ‘young’ horse is , level of training, gelded or not.
How I would respond to a youngster like yours really does depend on these factors.

As many posters have mentioned, backing him up is a great way to dominate him…but we don’t know if he is already trained to back up. I would not recommend backing him up if he is not already trained to a back command…that’s not a good way to train a horse to back up.

My goto response for a nippy young male is to carry a spay bottle filled with water and blast him in face while yelling insults at him…whatever makes me feel better. It’s harmless and most importantly, it has never provoked a reciprocal display of strength. It has always been successful for me in stopping unwanted behaviors…amazingly fast. Horses don’t like being squirted in the face.
If he already knows how to back…I would back him up as a display of my dominance.

Because I know that the water trick is always successful, I continue to hand feed treats as I please for training purposes. I believe it is critical to provide positive feedback to a young horse. Good luck to you.

Sorry for not providing details, he is a coming 3 year old and was gelded as a weanling. He’s also already 17 hands and not fearful of people in the slightest and we are working on respect and not running people over (improving quickly and helping with the biting). He learned how to lunge in September.

I taught him to back up yesterday by wiggling the lead rope and poking his chest with the dull end of the lunge whip and he did figure it out.

The spray bottle is a good idea, but was it hard to train your horse to accept water near his face for bathing?

[goldenstirrup]

Thanks everyone for the ideas, he nipped me once today so I made him work as soon as it happened and he did not try again.

[Ticker]

I have found that they know the difference between a bath with water on their face and a spay bottle in their face as a correction. Mine enjoy grabbing the hose and holding it in their mouths where it often sprays everywhere. Fly spray is also not a problem.
A smart youngster isn’t going to get constant face squirting, they often learn very quickly to not repeat a behavior that earns them a face washing. After the first two or three times, I usually just raise the bottle and give it a few shakes as a warning along with a verbal warning. Most often that’s enough to stop their behavior. So realistically, you are not constantly squirting them but you have that option.
Once they gain maturity and have a fair amount of training the spray bottle is retired.

[Scribbler]

@goldenstirrup

Sorry for not providing details, he is a coming 3 year old and was gelded as a weanling. He’s also already 17 hands and not fearful of people in the slightest and we are working on respect and not running people over (improving quickly and helping with the biting). He learned how to lunge in September.

I taught him to back up yesterday by wiggling the lead rope and poking his chest with the dull end of the lunge whip and he did figure it out.

The spray bottle is a good idea, but was it hard to train your horse to accept water near his face for bathing?

I would tend to skip the spray bottle and use the back up method.

First you want a method that doesn’t require any extra equipment. You won’t want to carry a spray bottle around forever! Whereas sending back can be done with halter bridle or even at liberty.

Second I would never risk making a horse head shy.

This sounds like a bouncing big boy who is going to need some solid ground work to make him into a good citizen!