Playful Nipping

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Crimson Rose

Positive Reinforcement Pony Trainer
Joined
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For those of you who have raised young fillies, about what age did your filly slow down on the playful nipping? This cooler weather has my filly all playful, and it is starting to get slightly annoying... 🤣
 
Playful nipping with whom? My boys are constantly playing and nipping at each other all the time. They never nip at me, they know better plus my nip back is not very nice 🤣
 
Playful nipping with myself and her dam. She likes to try to be sneaky sometimes and playfully nip my back LOL She thinks she is being sneaky, but she is very noisy in her approaches 😆
 
She should stop right around 20-25 years old. Or shortly after she hurts you and you correct it instead of letting her do it. If she is very clear in her intentions, you are aware she is coming to bite you, why exactly are you allowing her to do it? You could stop her at any point by moving away, moving her away, or even just telling her no sharply.
 
She isn't coming to bite me, she is just slightly nipping me. I have been bitten by one of my previous miniatures in the past, and this is completely different. I have been having her target my hand for scratches, or having her move away when I am working, and most days this works well. Yesterday was just different due to the weather changing so rapidly. Otherwise she is a very well mannered filly considering she was mostly untouched a few months ago.
 
Horses don't understand human social structure. They only understand horse. She views you, not as the leader of the herd, but as her playmate. As an alpha mare, you need to educate her that the behavior is not appropriate. There are never teeth allowed on me from any of my horses. Lips and muzzles, ok, and only if they're being respectfully curious. I am the owner of my space and my person. They must move away from me when instructed, it's not the other way around. Youngsters will test - they have to, it's part of their growth and learning herd structure. Each of the babies has to try putting teeth on me at some time, and some event decide they should try to charge at me once. Lucky for me, I've seen that all before and know how to very swiftly shut down that behavior and move them without hesitation so they realize I am the leader. They will sulk and pout but eventually will come back again in a much more respectful level of interaction.
Black and white, clear boundaries and clear instructions, little gray area make happy horses. Oh, and I do feed all of my horses by hand as well!
 
My 7 mo old colt has always been mouthy in a social, curious way. I've let him know that lips are okay, not teeth, that grabbing clothing is not okay. I just started to clicker train him this week and I noticed that he is much gentler taking the tiny bit of carrot from my hand now, more so than the older Foodie mare! He was all lips and she still tries to swallow your whole hand, I swear! LOL I've also noticed that it is much easier to get accidentally nipped while feeding those teeny tiny mouths than it is with a full size horse. I agree that it is all about respect and being very clear in your actions so that the horse knows precisely who is in charge at all times. Ask, then tell and back it up with a bump on the lead or a thump with the end of the rope. They are not breakable and we would never be as rough as they are with one another! They won't resent you for the correction, quite the opposite, they will respect you for protecting your space. My colt also likes to ask for rump scratches by backing up to you so I just push his quarters away and when he gives me the correct end, he gets scratches. He used to offer to kick when he was eating if you walked behind him ,though he wasn't sure of the exact mechanics yet which was hilarious. We gave him a thump on the rump, verbal "no" and then rewarded him with scratches when he settled down and was polite. Now you can approach him while he is eating with no problem. Also, those little nips can quickly turn into something much more serious so stopping it now can prevent big problems down the road.
 

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