He grabs his reins when i ride, nips my boots when i try and turn him, chews lead ropes and cross tieswhen i tie him up and nips at other horses when we ride. He has even pulled fly masks and tail bags off of the other horses in the pens around him and torn them up. I don't give him anything by hand and he was cut when he was 8 months old. He will occasionly nip at me, but that has decreased with age since he is in full training now. I am worried about him getting hurt more than anything (he grabbed the cord for my clippers while i was clipping him today). Although the chewed lead ropes and broken water pipes from pulled waterhoses is very annoying. I have put every product i can find on his equipment to try and discourage this habit, but he licks everything off. If you have any suggestions, PLEASE HELP!! This is his ONLY bad habit, he is wonderful to ride and has a very quick mind and picks up on everything asked of him immediatly, and there is no way i will be getting rid of him.
I have a 3 yr old geld that bites and chews on everything and everyone in the barn, pls help b4 he gets hurt!!
so far i like Liz S answer the best...i will stress as well...do not yank, hit, whatever on his head! now, if my stud colt comes at me to bite...yes, i pop him in the mouth. you have to be quick, and it actually still hurts you more than him. i just lost my mouthy mare...she chewed on everything. god forbid you get a new saddle to try on her..sturrips, girth, you name it. she actually only bit me once when i first got her, i immediately popped her mouth (with my hand) and then we went back to work rather than back to the barn. one thing i found with her and especially the chewing on the reins thing...i put her in a leather nosed sidepull...never had a problem again. she hated bits...she was very sensitive to my sidepull. my boys love the water hoses...i just make sure they are out of reach. if he's trying to eat your toes while you ride, pop him with your foot a bit...reinforce this with a loud forceful verbal command (such as NOOO, AHHH). you dont have to do it hard, the verbal works even better in the long run from the popping. ive tried all the horse toys and the cheapest and best thing ive found is a gallon milk jug with a few rocks in it. mine will play for hours with them until they have killed them...costs me nothing, except the milk i already drink. i think youll be fine if you continue to be firm about the misbehavior especially around others, give him toys to destroy (milk jugs), and keep on working together...hope this helps, mel
Reply:Try to keep a spray bottle in your pocket, and when he bites spray him in the nose. Report It
Reply:Put pepper on everything. When he bites, it'll hit him and he won't go around chewing things.
Reply:I had the same problem. There are a few ways.
When he nipped at me, which was a lot, I learned a wrangler's trick. You reach in his mouth, the place where there is just gums and no teeth, and grab a hold of his tongue and pull it out. Sometimes they will slightly chew on their tongue and realize, this sucks! I only had to do it twice to my guy and he never nipped at me again. He is young and testing you. He is trying to see what he can get away with. He could be bored as well. Keep toys with him to chew on and teach him those are his toys.
If he chews on his stall give him a little smack when he does it, and pet him when he does right (usually right after the discipline) to reasure him you won't only hit him with that hand, but reward hin as well. So pet him with whatever you hit him with. And when he plays with his toy reward him. Pet him and love on him and praise him.
In the saddle you give him a little kick when he head gets too close. You have to establish what your space is. Tell him no and if he tries to still chew on you bring your foot down on his nose. Right before you do just keep lifting your foot up and down if you can, try not to kick right out at him. He will think you are attacking him. If you bring you foot down on him straight, it's his fault. He ran into your foot because he didn't stop invading your space. I know it sounds funny. But when he gets hit it's his own fault. Let him know what space is your's and where his limits are. Always, if you discipline him with a swat, smack, or slap be sure to pet and praise him with whatever you used to punish him when he has done what you've asked. You are kind of teaching him in his own language then. He'll learn where your space is and when he is too close. Horses with other horses just give little signals, all the leader has to do is pin their ears back and everyone moves. Once he learns what he is allowed to do and what is not tolerable he will quit.
My horse always messed with hoses and stuff to get attention. It sucked, so I know how you feel. Try and keep it out of his reach or use a hot wire, we had to use the hot wire.
Just keep him nice and busy and warn out so all he'll want to do is rest when you are not around. He won't even think about being a booger. He'll be asleep!
When my guy was tied up he would chew the leads. So I put an old one out there that stayed out there and he was allowed only to chew on that. It was a totally different style and color than the leads I used. So he could tell the difference. It worked with my guy. He only chewed the old one. I would tell him no when he would chew his lead and then he would try and be sneaky and chew the old one. Soon he learned it was okay, or he thought he was still being sneaky because I never said anything when he chewed it. I ignored him.
Hope this helps.
Reply:Don't kick his head like other answer said. That will make him head shy and make him hate you.
He sounds like he has a respect problem. My mare nipped my once when I tinghtened her girth and turned around to get on. She just got my back and didn't leave a mark but she did get in trouble! Big trouble! She never did it again though. I would put him in a round pen right after he nips you and make him run around until he's tired. He will figure out when you nip at people you get lots of work.
About the chewing, paint tabasco sause on whetever he chews on. Make sure it doesn't get into his water or feed tub. Make sure he gets out everyday to play. If the chewing on other horses gets out of control put a wire muzzle on him. A horse at my old barn used to crib and chew off other horses tails. We tried everything but finaly just put a muzzle on him.
Since he's 3 he might be getting new teeth. Provide small logs in his stall to chew on and salt and mineral bolck to lick.
Reply:He is bored. He is lonely. He is still like a child.
Reply:Your gelding may have a problem with cribbing, since you say he chews everything. The nipping problem i would put an end to right now. He already knows that he can get away with it! My paint had kinda the same problems. She would nip at me all the time and when she bit through my skin i admit i did hit her, because that hurt! I would also get bit by her when i gave her treats! So what i did was everytime she would nip me i gently bopped her on the nose to warn her and after a week i have the habit broke! I also trained her to lick when she wanted a treat, it was like training a dog, if i wanted her to lick i said lick and put my palm on her lips! Believe me it sounds crazy, but omg it worked! Since your gelding is young break him of ne bad habits that he may have! Good luck with your boy!
Reply:The first thing I would do is have a vet check his teeth.
If everything there is fine I would say you need to work on respect. Do a lot of ground work and get him to respect your personal space. Clinton Anderson has a lot of good techniques for this... though I do have to say if he is actually biting you, a quick hard smack on the nose would be my reaction.
Reply:agree he is bored, and stop letting him get away with nipping at you. Pop him back, BUT do not use the reins, get a double flapper riding bat, and us that, it makes a lot of noise and you will not have to hit him with it, unless you really need to.
You keep letting him get away with it and he is going to get you or someone else, and don't know if you know, but a horse can not stop in the middle of a bite until he has fully shut his mouth. And that can do a lot of damage. If you can't handle him now and you don't get this stopped within a couple of weeks you better be getting rid of him. There is a product called NO CHEW...but if he is severely bored it do no good. Horses are social (heard) animals and need company
Reply:i would get his teeth checked, i had a mare like that she, i got the vet to check her teeth , and after the vet floated her teeth she felt much better and dosen`t threathen me anymore no we get along great, she was trying to tell me her were bothering her.
u could also ask your triainer for advice, he can help u.
Reply:Two words -- Glue factory.
visual arts uk
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