Colt Still Biting - Calling All Trainers!!!

[clpclop]

My 7 wk old Colt is still very aggressive and bites at everything and anyone. He'll chase after us and try to bite us on the butt or leg. He seems to not want to be touched except a "sweet spot" on this withers. He bites our dogs, my filly and my mucking shovel is a favorite.

I'm continuing the discipline by flicking his nose and sternly saying "no!". When he rears up at me I step into him and stomp my foot and he backs down and runs away. We've provided soft rubber toys & balls for him to play with, to no avail.

This just breaks my heart! I want to love him so much and he is just so darn ornery!

Has anyone experienced a horse like this?

Will he "outgrow" this horrible behavior?

I really need some encouragement in dealing with this little boy.

 

[ThreeCFarm]

Sorry no suggestions other than this: I never use the word "no" with a horse, as it sounds too much like "whoa." I always say quit.

 

[Leeana]

He is just 7 weeks old, you cant expect him to be able to take in and understand 'that is a NO NO!'.

Thats like trying to teach Geometry to a 2yr old, lol.

Im no expert but i wouldnt send a 7wk old foal to the trainer just over biting. I dont know if Flicking him in the noise would work for me, he might need something a bit more 'strict'. I always do the punish-reward thing. If Harley was to bite me (he's 8 months old), i would smack or twist his lips and then when he started licking his lips (meaning he was thinking about it) and then i would pat him (for thinking about it) because he in his mind linked the bite to the smack. This is how i trained Lexus not to bite and she hasnt bit or nipped since she was 6 months old (she is now a yr old).

For rearing, make him back up. I know it would be hard to do with a 7wk old but find a way that works to get him to back up ....if you make him back up that means he looses. He's probaly wanting to play one of those 'stallion games' when they try to make the other one bow.

Good Luck!

Colts sure are fun huh? lol

Leeana H.

 

[txminipinto]

At the risk of sounding abusive to some, this is how I would handle it (actually I do have a stud colt on the ground with no other foals so I know what you're going through). He is treating you like another horse, so treat him like a horse. Flicking his nose and stomping your feet is not going to solve the problem with this particular foal. Biting, striking, and kicking are serious no nos at my house and if a horse (for what ever reason) lashes out at me in this fashion they receive the exact same responce they would receive from another herd member. They get hit, shanked, or kicked back. Now, I know this sounds extreme but it's really the only way to drive home the point that humans are to be respected. My responce depends on the severity of the situation and what I have available at the moment.

Yesterday, 2 mares bit or attempted to bite me. One, I was clean her stall and she reached around and nipped me. Like another horse, I spun around "squealing" and smacked her on the neck making her back away from me. The other, I had walked her into her stall and was turning out a light when she nipped my leg. Again, I spun around "squealing" and shanked her in to a corner. Both mares knew I wasn't playing and they had over stepped the boundaries.

He is small enough when he rears that you can bump him. Don't bump him hard enough that he falls over but just enough he looses his balance and has to feet his feet down. On horses that make it a really bad habit of rearing up in my face, I will shank them until they run a few feet backwards. They learn quick that it's much easier to stand there and be nice then it is to have to run away backwards.

The best lesson I've ever learned in horse training is make the right thing easy and the wrong thing hard. A horse will pick the easy way every time.

This colt is young enough that this could turn in to a more worse situation than it is already. Right now, he needs to learn that you're the boss, not a friend he can push around.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

What Carin said!!!

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[ClickMini]

Well, I guess I would handle it a little differently myself. Instead of focusing on what you don't want him to do, focus on what you DO want him to do. Think of it this way. There are SO MANY possible wrong answers. If you are very clear about what the right answer is, AND TELL HIM WHEN HE GETS IT...now that would be a little easier, wouldn't it?

Get a picture in your mind of what it is that would make him your "perfect foal." You mentioned that he really has a sweet spot for scratching. That's great! That is your reward spot. Let's start with the biting, since that seems to be the biggest hot spot for you at the moment. Where would you like his head to be when you are around him? Facing straight forward? Nose on the ground? YOU decide. Just make sure your selection has his nose somewhere away from your body.

I use a marker signal that is my yes answer cue for the horse. I use a "tongue click" sound, where you pop your tongue down off the roof of your mouth. It is a pretty distinctive and sharp sound. You want to have your foal associate the marker with the reward. So you can charge that sound by making it, then giving him a quick scratch. NOT TOO LONG. You don't want to encourage him to perform mutual grooming! Just 1 or 2 seconds worth of scratch should be good enough. Once you have done this about 25-50 times, he should start to figure out that when he hears the marker signal, he is going to get something desirable (a scratch). Now you can start thinking about rewarding behavior.

Watch your foal as he moves about. Keep out of his reach, but be ready to mark and reward the very second you see his head move into the EXACT SPOT you want it. That really is the purpose of the marker...it has the ability to mark a very precise moment in time. The marker is strongly associated with a desirable thing...scratch, food, even to be left alone! Depends on what is motivating to THAT animal.

In the case of a biting foal, I would probably prefer that he swing his head AWAY from me to get his reward. And yes, I would teach a biting horse this process using food. I have done, very successfully, much more successful than ANY other method I have used.

For rearing, you will want to teach him an incompatible behavior. For example, he can't rear and lower his head at the same time. Head lowering is pretty easy to teach. You might also want to teach him to touch and hold on a stationary target.

Here are some good resources for you if you decide to pursue this route:

http://www.theclickercenter.com

http://www.clickryder.com

http://www.equineclickertraining.com

http://www.canadianclickercentre.com

Your little fellow just needs to understand what is expected of him. Flicking him probably won't build the kind of relationship you are really looking for, in my experience.

 

[SmoothEZ]

Here is another way that you can deal with this problem. I have used this on a colt of mine in the past and it only took a couple of times and it worked. Carry a squirt gun with you when you are out messing with the horses and when he tries the biting routine squirt him once in the face at the same time as saying in a loud strong voice NO. He will after just a few time associate the not so friendly wet face with No and walla you will have a horse that understands NO in no time at all. This also works well with unruly cats too LOL

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[rabbitsfizz]

Squirt guns are good, clicking is good too, once you have actually got his attention, but, I have to say, IME, using "horse" at him has always worked best for me.

Being very, very single minded and firm and consistent, in any language works.

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[clpclop]

Thank you to everyone!! You've given me some very good ideas and thoughts. Wish me luck in the coming days and weeks while using these ideas. I have purchased a clicker system but have not taken it out of the package yet. Might be a good time to try. My major concern is that he comes out of this with emotions intact and not to produce a headshy or angry little boy.

Thank you all again!

 

[Charlotte]

Aggressive colts are going to turn up every once in a while......it is natural for them.........They are preparing for the time in their life when they will have to defend their band of mares from other stallions. They don't know they aren't wild and this scenario will never happen.

The way we deal with aggressive colts is to (every day if possible) catch the colt while in the stall and 'flood' him. hold him in a hug......arm around the chest and rump and rub and scratch him all over.......for as long as it takes for him to stand and accept that he has to put up with us. With a biter we pay special attention to 'loving' on the head and mouth area.

If your contact with the colt results in a lot of your response to his 'bad' actions you are acting just like another colt to him. Watch them 'play fight'. That is what he thinks he is doing with you. You must control all interactions with him. Does he have another colt to do his play fighting with?

It works here.......mostly :bgrin

Charlotte

 

[Valerie]

Haha, yep, sounds just like my little "Rascal"...he is about 6 weeks old now and darn ornery. I had Bonnie do a reading on him and she goes, he's a pistol...then she goes, nope, he's a little *hit. Yep, that's our boy. I was quite upset at first, but she did say he isn't evil, just being a colt.

I tend to try to discipline like a horse would. I do squeal and I do stomp my feet at him, and I will kick at him (but not a hard kick, he is just a little guy) and he does seem to respond much better to that.

I also try not to so No, as it's too close to Whoa. He does here "quit it" but I do like to try the horse antics first. He is a challenge & like I tell my hubby, never turn your back on em. I did yesterday & the little brat knocked me out of my shoe while I was shutting the barn door. Yep, it was totally my fault & no, I couldn't get him then, but I was ready the next time around (yes, he is persistant), but I was ready. So, yep, I broke my own rule, never turn your back and it was a good reminder. :bgrin

All in all, I do like Rascal's personality and I think Bonnie hit the nail on the head when she said, He thinks he's all that and a bag of chips". Yep, he does. She also said, wait until he is 2. Yikes. :bgrin

Keep in touch, I can so emphathise with you. I tried squirting lemon juice in his mouth per someone's suggestion & the little brat liked it. Go figure. It's going to be a long road ahead.

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[CharmedMinis]

I also like to do the play horse game, it mostly works.

Another thing that works for me with biters and ones that rear.

For the rearing, when they rear up at you, grab their front legs and hold them up until they lose their balance on their back legs. I did this twice with my colt when he was young and twice is all it took, he never reared again.

For the biting, this only works if your quick but it does work. The minute they try to bite, shove your hand in their mouth and grab their tongue and hang on for about 15-30 seconds. Again this only takes a couple goes before they quit all together.