Nipping/Biting

[kingminihorses]

Ugh! Here lately my mare has been acting strange...I suspect she may be coming in heat because of her strange mood swings. For the past two days she has started to bite at me when I come in her stall with the feed and boy does she throw those ears back once I pour it in the bucket. I have not punished her even though she nearly did actually bite me this morning. How do I go about this?? Ignore it? And another thing...today when we were trotting, she tried to bite me once again, just out of the blue! I was shocked because she has never acted this way before. Maybe she's just too excited? She was bucking and kicking a LOT today during turnout time, that stinker!

Ahhh! I dont want a biter! Help!

 

[PaintedPromiseRanch]

for biters around here we generally pinch their lip or nose pretty hard, along with a stern NO or we also use what we call the "game show noise" a lot - you have to make a loud noise that sounds like the buzzer on a game show when the person gets the wrong answer or doesn't answer in time. i have no idea how to type that OH! maybe... EERRNNHH... if you get my drift

but i will say we generally start with young'uns, not sure how well this would work with an older horse as we have not had this come up except with our babies...

 

[Alex]

People have theyere ways, and everyone will tell you different.

As for when you feed her just wait till she stops, then feed her. Let her know YOU are boss. This may sound odd, but If your just leading her or shes in her stall, bite her babk if she bites you.

 

[Lucky-C-Acres-Minis]

I'd take a crop in when you go and feed her and if/when she pins her ears or threatens to bite give her a good swat (not real hard but hard enough to send her the message), if she were in a herd setting and pinned her ears/bit a more dominant horse they'd in return bite/kick her to show her 'who's boss'.. I too use a pinch to imitate a 'bite' back.. She needs to be disciplined so she knows that biting/nipping/pinning ears is not good behavior and needs to learn to respect your space.. By giving her the grain after she acts like she's going to nip/bite you, you're 'rewarding' that behavior..

 

[kingminihorses]

This is great advice everyone! What would you do if pinching her lip or popping her with the crop made her even madder or more violent? This morning when she did thow those ears back and showed teeth I did pop her with a lead rope I had in my hand on her shoulder, and she charged at me.

All this just started yesterday, but this morning was the worst yet, and I want to nip it in the bud Now!(no pun intended)

 

[Alex]

Oh, I didnt just pinch, I actually bit this horses ear. He soon lost his devel horns and turned into an angel!

I meant that you should wait till she calms down to give the grain.

Take your time;be patient.

 

[Lucky-C-Acres-Minis]

Be firmer with her, she's just testing you to see if you'll back down.. Consistency and firmness is key, in order to get her over it you have to be consistent and firm in correcting her, don't let her get away with bad behavior no matter how 'small' it seems.. Might try "time outs", tie her up and make her stand.. Once she calms down and is standing quietly, then go to her, pet her etc if she doesn't give you attitude, and then take her back to her stall or workout.. I usually do this with the youngins when they're misbehaving and not listening to my corrections/discipline..

 

[The Simple Life Farm]

If I have one that nips me, I remove their nose from their face (so to speak). I will not have a horse that bites, it hurts!!!! I would quickly poke her on the muzzle with my fingernail, shout a loud "NO", and walk away. Give her about 10 minutes, then try it again. Repeat as necessary. I agree, you gotta stop this ASAP. Good luck with your girl. Remember, tough love

 

[Miniv]

This is great advice everyone! What would you do if pinching her lip or popping her with the crop made her even madder or more violent? This morning when she did thow those ears back and showed teeth I did pop her with a lead rope I had in my hand on her shoulder, and she charged at me.

All this just started yesterday, but this morning was the worst yet, and I want to nip it in the bud Now!(no pun intended)

Please look at her as if she were a human child going through the "terrible two's". Would you just let her get away with it or would you discipline her NOW before it got worse??? (I'd take care of it NOW or your will have a monster on your hands!)

Pop her with a crop or your hand, stomp your feet, and raise your voice! (Just please don't smack her face.) Make her think that by "crossing THE LINE" with you, she is about to face the WORST FATE POSSIBLE. (Fake her out!)

From your description, she KNEW you weren't being serious and firm. She did not take you seriously.

And if she's doing this with grain.....do NOT give her the grain. It won't hurt her if she misses a meal, if necessary during the learning process. I bet she'll figure out the lesson very quickly. Sure, give her some hay, but NOT the "candy"........

I said it above, and I'm repeating..........Our fur-family are often just like CHILDREN.

 

[nootka]

The ones I've had like this have been handled this way:

It USUALLY begins with food aggression. She's asserting her dominance over you. I'd go right into her stall with a very confident air, a direct body language, but ALSO watch HER body language. The very second she begins to scowl at you (oh, yes, you can see them starting to think of charging you, kicking or nipping), charge over to her and body check her.

By that I mean stomp good and hard, loudly and bump into her shoulder, side or hindquarter and bump her aside. If you have the food in your hand, make sure to keep it out of her reach.

If she backs away and faces you with a subservient, soft expression, and maintains that attitude, you could go ahead and feed her, or not. You might even walk to her neck and stroke it, and talk softly to her.

If she starts with the aggressive posturing again, then walk right to her and bump her aside. She should begin to take steps to get out of your space.

A loud squeal or grunt will let her know you're serious.

There's a book about the body language of horses that I read years ago, and found helpful. I learned the most, though, just watching horses interact.

At all times, you need to be aware of the body language of the horses you're handling. I can usually see when mine are thinking about doing something nasty, so I can "AH AH AH" them into stopping.

I do have a compulsive biter, though. He does it out of stress or frustration, usually only in the ring. He does not do it at all at home. It's hard for me to discipline this behavior because it's not really aggressive, it's a replacement for his cribbing behavior that he does on his own. Still, he's nipped me a few times, so I have to accede that with him, I am at a loss.

Good luck with your mare.

Liz

 

[ClickMini]

Well I handle things a bit differently than most. If this is a feeding time event, the way I would handle it is if the horse began to look aggressive in any way, I would turn and walk away from the stall. Count to three, then return. If she pins her ears or any sort of bad body language, she is just asking you to leave (with her food of course!). If she gives you an interested or ears forward look, praise her (or if you have ever clicker trained her for anything, you can use the click sound), and give her SOME of the food. Just a little bit. If she pins her ears, she is asking you to leave with the goodies. If she pricks her ears forward and looks nice, she gets food. It may take a few days but it will work. I walk through my horse herds with pockets stuffed full of treats and I don't get mugged for food nearly ever.

 

[Jill]

I would deal with her issue swiftly and firmly. When one of my horses tries to nip, bite or kick me, they pretty much think I've declared a momentary WAR on them.

In this case, where you can pretty well figure she'll try it again "next time" you go in there, I'd carry a crop (or a switch) and as soon as she makes to nip/bite you, I would lay into her with the crop around her shoulder area (not near her face). At the same time, tell her in a gruff voice "QUIT!!!" (no sounds too much like woah). Your hands slapping her will make NO impression. I would bet you won't have to do this more than two times (two "sessions") before she realizes that the two legged mare does not let you bite her.

My horses who have tried this kind of stuff don't try it more than once or twice. And, they love me. They don't think I'm "mean". They think I am the boss and that I'm to be respected and not bit or kicked. If one is even acting questionable, a glare from me is about all it takes now and they get the message (behave!).

It's so important to deal with nipping / biting quickly and firmly. A few years ago, a member here had a mini bite her lip off. I do not mean her lip was bit, it was literally bit OFF.

 

[kingminihorses]

Thanks everyone for the wonderful advice!! Taking it all into consideration here's how this morning feed went:

As soon as I got to her paddock I went in and walked up to her(I usually just come in with feed). I had the butt of the whip in my left hand and went to pat her with my right...well as soon as I touch her neck she tries to nip, I hit her with the whip on her chest pretty hard mind you cause I was Mad(she couldnt see it coming so she jumped and trotted off with ears back and tail ringing). I walked back to the door, she came back to me, I went to pet her and she did it again of course so I popped her in the chest and on the hip as she trotted away.

Well it must have sent a message because the third time she let me pet her with just ears back. I didn't want her scared of the whip so I let it slide over the top of her neck, over her back and hips and then underneath her neck and to the chest(she took a step back when I got to the chest-thats good isnt it?

)

Now I go get the feed and the war begins.

I pour it in and she goes to bite at me when I get close, I hit her with the butt of the whip on the chest yelling "Quit!! Quit!!" She runs off and I stand in front of the feed bucket shooing her off everytime she gets close...of course this is making her mad.

I timed it, it took almost 20 minutes for her to show signs of submission when she tried to approach me(that tounge started coming out and ears forward). I let her come to the bucket at that point and then re-approached her...I was shocked to see her just stand there and let me pet her.

her ears were back but NO biting. I left her and reapproached her 3 more times just to make sure it wasn't a fluke. Lol! So we left on a good note...but I have a sneaky feeling it will be back to round one at this evenings feed time.

Thanks everyone who posted!! She is my only horse and the last time I had a horse was 10 years ago, so yes, I have a LOT to learn.

 

[Lucky-C-Acres-Minis]

Well sounds like she's gradually learning but like the others said as well it'll take a few times for her to get the full concept

Just remember when you go out tonight to be consistent/firm in correcting her, what she didn't get away with this morning she can't get away with tonight! It can be frustrating that's for sure, but don't give in to her, she'll learn