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Problem Solving: Biting

Biting can mean a variety of actions. Horses are known to bare their teeth, swing their head with an open mouth, nip at your clothes, beg you for treats with his face in your pocket, nibble on you, and everything else around the barn.

Reasoning

It is natural for horses to explore their environment with their mouth and lips. Behavior like this has the same effect for horses as it does humans when we use our hands to touch objects. Horses bite for a few different reasons. Some horses do this because they are naturally playful and interested in everything in their environment. Others tried nipping when you didn’t hand over the cookies fast enough, you laughed it off and gave in, and he learned that he could turn you into a vending machine.  Then there are the horses who are the have been allowed to show aggressive behavior and have become dangerous. Some horses are biting because they are in pain. This is especially true if your horse displays this behavior when being saddled. Have your horse checked out by a vet and equine chiropractor to check for pain as well as check your saddle fit before correcting the biting.

Solutions

Backing

Starlight is backing up in response to my rope putting pressure on her.

Begin by simply moving your wrist side to side and shaking the lead rope.  Keep shaking the rope until you see a change in your horse, which could be as little as attempting to shift his weight back, to completely taking a full step. When he does either release the pressure and completely stop moving the rope. If the horse doesn’t offer to move after about five seconds of doing this you will have to increase the pressure a bit by waving your forearm. If this is yet not enough after another five seconds increase the pressure still and use a whip, stick, or the end of your lead rope to slap him on the chest. If you horse’s feet are still stuck keep slapping his chest with increasing pressure until he steps back. Release all the pressure when he takes a step. Practice this lesson until your horse is consistently backing up with the lightest shaking of the rope. It is very important to start with the least amount of pressure possible when teaching your horse something new, he will only be as light as the pressure you start with. Now that your horse knows how to back up on cue you can move him out of your space each time he gets mouthy.

Blocking

Blocking is an effective way of protecting yourself without smacking your horse. If you slap the horse when he bites you he will just think it’s a game and will just bite again. When you watch geldings out in the pasture they stand face to face and bite at each other until one of them steps back. To them it’s just a game. Let him run into your elbow or fist. If you’re saddling and he swings his head around at you just stick up your elbow and let him run into it himself, no hitting required. You can also use a brush or the end of a whip to block your horse whenever he is feeling nosy. If he is friendly nuzzling you give him more attention than he wants. When he wants attention and uses his mouth in your space just rub it a lot and a little faster than he wants.  He will soon learn he doesn’t like that kind of attention and he will stop.