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Horse Problem - Biting Problem - Hand Feeding Has Caused Biting Problem

 

 

 

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QUESTION: I have just bought a beautiful Thoroughbred cross. He has been fed by hand in the past and has a nasty habit now of nipping and biting. Can you help me solve this little problem?
 
REPLY: Yes, hand feeding is the major cause of such biting problems. I hear this problem a lot out there. First off, stop all hand feeding of this horse. If you have to, post a sign "Do Not Feed Horse" around his stall, paddock, wherever he is kept, so that others will halt that practice as well. One owner I know with this problem, caused by stable visitors who loved to come "feed the horses" regularly at her horse's boarding facility, put a sign up outside her horse's paddock that read a little more politely, "Please don't feed me. I am on a special diet and other foods might upset me." That was quite clever of her, didn't offend the visitors and even served to enlist their help surrepticiously.
 
Next, to erradicate this dangerous behavior, you want to set up with him the "black and white zone" to show him that this behavior is no longer going to be tolerated. White zone is when he's behaving and life is good. Black zone is when he crosses the line and tries to bite, and bigtime pressure is applied then to show him this is not allowed/will no longer be tolerated. In natural horsemanship, we tackle such problems by making the right thing easy, the wrong thing hard.
 
Have him in natural horsemanship halter/12' lead rope combo (lead tied on, not clipped on with a clip). You can get one here: CLICK HERE
 
Set it up to flush out the behavior if you can, so you're afforded the opportunity to school him on this. Keep in mind that you have only 3 seconds to react at the bite attempt to discipline him; after that 3 seconds it means absolutely nothing to the horse, so don't go there after that 3 seconds. Be ready and react quickly. When he goes to bite, make a loud "shhhhhh" sound, bop him under the chin (nowhere else on the face, you don't want to create headshyness, but under the chin he'll never see it coming), then quickly jerk the lead rope downward repeatedly, walk into him and he'll skedaddle his feet backwards. Get very assertive here; biting is an extremely dangerous act that we can never tolerate with horses and you must show him this for your and everyone else's safety sake.
 
After he's skedaddled backward, stand back at the end of the lead rope and pause for a minute, still staring at him, full eye-to-eye contact (staring is a pressure). Give him a moment to think about what just happened. Via thinking, they learn. At some point there, he'll probably work his mouth (sign of understanding/submission). Reapproach him and stroke him, reward for his back-off. And set him up to do it again. And repeat if he does it again. Be very, very consistent here so that he knows from now on that if he goes to the "biting place" he will receive that disciplinary action every time. Use the "shhhh" sound every time, too. Is a very effective disciplining sound we've found with horses. And you're also planting a sound-cue in his foundation that means "stop it." And this is a far more effective sound than "no" (which sounds just like "whoa" or "go" to a horse as they primarily hear only consonants). Shhhh stops them in their tracks and let's them know they just did something wrong if you use it while disciplining as such. Soon just a quiet "shhh" will stop even biting thoughts at the door and he'll check himself quickly.

Incidentally, just FYI, I use a natural horsemanship halter with 12-foot lead rope to train in at all times, and that attached lead rope comes in handy for just about every single thing I do with the horse whether it's just in my hand or on the horse. It's designed for maximum communication by the way the knots are tied at strategic pressure points around the horse's face, so...the smallest amount of pressure is quickly and easily felt by the being-schooled horse. Not all halters are the same or communicate the same. I personally will not work a horse in anything but a natural horsemanship halter/12' lead. Period. If I arrive on a training scene with a horse in any other halter/lead, I stop and change halters to mine. And it has a nice, long (safe!) 12-foot lead attached; slack is your friend in NH! Slack allows you the opportunity to have room to communicate to the max to the horse, but the 12-feet distance allows you to remain safest from a biting, rearing or acting up horse without ever really losing control of the horse. And the length allows for many interesting, effective exercises that you can do with the horse, as well. Just wanted to pass along my two cents worth regarding what to work the horse in there; I think it is that important.

This, incidentally, is a good lesson for others to learn from, where hand-feeding horses can lead to unfortunately. Not always, but sometimes. If you want to give your horse a treat, and you want to avoid this problem with any horse, simply set the treat on the ground for the horse, or in a feed bowl, and let them eat it from there.
 
I do not allow a horse to "root" for food on my body at any time, either. Rooting or "mugging you" can lead to biting. If a horse roots for food on me, his head will be met with my pointed index finger on the side of his muzzle, poking him away, like "a nose" of another horse that pushes back and says, "move away, don't put your nose or mouth there, please." I train horses that if they want to sniff me (which is fine, that's friendly), they must do so with head/muzzle down, not in up/biting position. A horse will bite with the front teeth generally, and in order to do so, they have to bring the head up and forward. I don't allow that head position when a horse is in my bubble space. I teach them to lower their heads when in my space. I plant a drop the head cue into every horse's foundation that I work.

Remain consistent from hereon with your horse to let him know that biting is no longer an option and it will halt quickly, I assure you. I get called in quite often for this very problem, and what I find quite interesting is: it generally takes only one strong-enough reaction on my part (two tops), exactly as described above, and then no matter how hard I try to set the horse up to do it again, they just don't go there again. Period. And it gets fixed that quickly, though they may try it again with the owner as "test," but if the owner does the exact same thing, remaining completely consistent there, the horse doesn't repeat it with them either. So...this is very much about establishing yourself as "lead mare" (which they'd never dream of nipping at!) and remaining consistent there from then on, and the problem evaporates. But stopping hand-feeding of such horses has to be part of the behavior-rehab program as well! :-)

 
 
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