My 2.5 year old gelding is driving me nuts. He knows he isn’t allowed to bite, but that doesn’t stop him from trying. It’s beyond obnoxious, and I’m tired of it. EVERYTHING goes in his mouth. His halter. His blankets. The muck tub. The lead rope. The reins. The worst part is that his jaws are like vice grips… so trying to pry his jaws open is nearly impossible. Anyone have tips on curbing his mouthiness? A bop to the nose means “game on” to him. Is he ever going to grow out of this?
If he is chewing everything. Halter, leadrope, your arm it is a sign of ulcers. The saliva takes away pain.
If you think it is behaviour. Teach him to stand still. This means he stands still with his head in one place. No asking for you to stroke. No interaction with you. His head should not go down or forward or reach anything with or without a halter. Tied or loose.
I would not pry his jaw open. I want them to make the wanted decision and they get rewarded for it. My horses know the word uh uh. Which means not what I want. Good boy means yes and that is what I want. So he would get uh uh over and over again and tap with the metal bit on the top of the dressage whip on his muzzle until he drops it. Immediately he would get Good boy.
For the biting hitting does not work. It is a game. Oooh she was fast that time. I will have to be faster next time
You need to be so fast that when he goes to bite he hits your elbow or something that will hurt. So you are not hurting him. He is hurting himself. They do not go back to touch an electric fence again. Use the same principal.
John Chatterton uses a pull and release technique. They bite. You step away. Pull on the leadrope attached to hurt and then release and you step back near them.
As with all training the timing is key. Get yhe incorrect timing and you will teach them the opposite of what you want.
I hadn’t considered ulcers, though he doesn’t act ulcery in any other way… I think he’s just very orally fixated and playful, but he needs an off switch. He LOVES balls and toys and anything he can find in his field to wave around… lost bell boots… fly masks… sticks… dog toys… if only I could teach him to find shoes!
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Could be ulcers, but more likely you just have a mouthy horse. I’ve had a couple of (always geldings…) who have been like that as youngsters. Hitting and smacking doesn’t work because, as you pointed out, it turns it into a game. I’ve always used a finger/fingernail in the gums as my response to the horse trying to bite/nibble/taste me (with that type it’s almost never an aggressive move, but more of a general mouthiness). When you take that approach it turns the bite into an uncomfortable reaction that makes them want to avoid doing it.
Took me a few years with a mouthy young gelding I had to figure that out…a few years of smacks, big waving arm reactions, and all sorts of other things that have always worked for me with other horses. But this one was a royal pain in the ass from about 11 months to 4yo, but as soon as I started reacting with the finger to the gums (and it works even if they nip and dart away, you just calmly wait for them to quit waving their head around and then get them - although once you get used to it you can usually get them as soon as they “aim” at you), he quit trying to get me and, in fact, went out of his way to avoid opening his mouth around me (aside from when it was appropriate like to take the bit).
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I had a bitey colt, and as soon as I was able to start clicker training him I fixed the biting–and without getting into the “you bite me and then I’ll see if I can bite you” game. I was planning to leave him entire for awhile, so really didn’t want to get into trying to punish it out of him, because that doesn’t very often work well with stallions.
He was 4 months old before he cared enough about the treats, but the first thing I taught him was that he could earn treats for keeping his teeth away from my skin. He got it within a very few sessions, and then he had a new game to play.
And here we are 15 years later and he still loves to play clicker games.
I have a yearling filly that likes to put everything in her mouth. I hadn’t considered ulcers but I certainly could try a week’s worth of Ulcergard to see if it changes anything. I’m hoping she just outgrows this phase. She is the first filly I’ve had that is this mouthy though. The colts stopped from well-timed elbows and one quit once he was gelded. This filly is persistant though.
We just bridled them while handling, they could play with the bit instead of everything else. 2+ ages may be chewing to get caps off adult teeth. Has he been checked to see if his teeth are coming in right? And some are just really oral, which is where a bridle and bit help keep them busy. Some never outgrow that “need to chew” and do not have ulcers. Give them a chew toy, and ignore them. It is a better outlet than dancing, head throwing, actual biting.
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For the first 4 months I led my colt by the halter noseband so that I could control where his teeth were. 
I wish the bit would distract him, but it doesn’t. I’ve longed him a handful of times and he trots around chewing on the lunge line! I ponied him with a bridle and tight flash under a rope halter… he still managed to grab my chaps, my saddle pad, and my reins a few times.
When I got my old horse as a 4 yo, he was pretty mouthy. Not nasty - just too oral and if unchecked, he could make contact with teeth! I mostly solved it, although I think time and maturity helped a lot.
First, I used a lot of “no chew” on reins, lead ropes etc. I had to experiment because some products didnt bother him at all while others mostly stopped him. I did provide stall and paddock toys to throw around and he even had a knotted rope that I could give him and he would hold and kind of suck on while on crossties.
For being mouthy with people, letting him “run into” an elbow or two helped. What seemed to work best was if his mouth opened near me I took hold of his lip and pinched and held (Not a real tight pinch but just enough to be uncomfortable). Of course he started pulling away and I let him go. Between the two (and his chew toy) he figured out that putting his mouth on people was really uncomfortable and not a fun game.
I have a SUPER mouthy 5 yo. It’s just how he processes his energy, we did instill rules about no human parts in mouth. But it was most maddening when ponying, bc I have my hands full of rope. I finally just put a muzzle on him for ponying (he would nip at the other horse’s neck too). I initially felt a little guilty, but omg, it’s been wonderful. He will still suck on his tongue if he needs to play with something, but as soon as he realized no bitey game, he walks obediently next to us & we can all calmly enjoy our ride! An excellent use of $15.
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I thought my colt was just a jerk this way, but once I treated for ulcers the behavior disappeared. Well, didn’t disappear, but faded back in to normal coltish boundary pushing. He’s still busy, but anything like he was. My newest victory on that front is a hay slow feeder for his turnout. Keeping a little good in his stomach has made him much more agreeable overall.
Secondary question: what type of bit would you use on this type of horse? Would you start them earlier to give them a job or let them mature a bit longer than normal? He loves when I work with him but I can’t tell if he’s mentally immature or super bored.
I did put a muzzle on my colt when I was trimming his fronts on the stand, because I knew it was just too much temptation to have me right there under his nose just inviting him to run his nose up and down my back.
Yes!!! I like to rasp a bit between farrier visits and even cross ties don’t feel like enough to really remove temptation when their front foot is up on a stand. What kind of muzzle is working for you?
I’m using the tough - 1 easy breathe, that just velcros on to a halter. It’s super easy to take on and off, & the big holes help convince Baby Monster that I’m not trying to suffocate him (like I obviously was when I tried a fly mask with a nose flap & he tried to rub it off in panic, goof).
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Some horses did have trouble with a fly mask with a flap. I think they were made out of material like canvas. When they got wet from a drink in the dam they covered the nostrils and the horses could not breathe. Horses can not breathe with their mouth like we can.
A friend gave me a leather muzzle that has a hole in the bottom, which worked really well because I could stuff a hay stretcher pellet (one of those bigger ones) up through the hole when I wanted to reward him for leaving his hoof on the stand.
When I had to pony mouthy yearling colts, I carried a whip (crop) in my right hand. When they grabbed anything (the pony, the reins, me) I gave a sharp smack on the nose or neck. For the really naughty ones it was like playing a game of whack-a-mole, but I’d rather fuss with that then get my pony horse chewed up and cranky. After a couple smacks, most of the colts respected the whip enough that I could wave it alongside the pony’s neck and they left him (and me) alone…at least for a few minutes.
It does take some practice and coordination, and a tolerant pony. I hold the lead rope in both hands; drop the rope in right hand if needed to “spank,” then go back to holding rope with whip hand. Hold whip like a golf club, pointing up/out toward neck and nose. Occasionally the colt overreacted, pulls back or ducks sideways, but I try to keep moving forward no matter what and not let “escaping” become part of the game.
I have a yearling intact colt, his hormones finally have announced themselves. I keeping all my horses on tummy additives in general, as a just in case. This is the first young horse I’ve had by himself, have always had a minimum of two together previous, it helps them tremendously to have turnout with another horse.
I finally threw this colt out for a day with an older Appy who wasn’t mean but basically ponied him. If the colt jump on him the Appy would butt bump him, one time nearly knocked him over lol. If the colt bit, he got squealed and threatened back. It helped so much, older horses can help add the boundaries sometimes without us having to do as much work.
