Saturday, November 10, 2012

Tips for Teaching Your Horse Not to Bite

By Brad Chase


There can be a number of motivations behind biting when it comes to horses. Body language of the horse will give you clues to that.

Aggression- A horse might use biting as a way to tell other horses to back off or stay out of their way. Typically, aggressive biting is also accompanied by an outstretched head and neck, flared nostrils, and flattened ears. Move away from the threatening behaviour when you see such body signals to save yourself from a horse bite.

Fun- Horses will often initiate play with both horses and people by biting. This is especially common with younger horses like geldings and colts. This is often because they are excited.

Tidy Up- Horse nibbling on other horses' necks or withers is also quite common. This gentle form of biting may even be targeted towards people.

Bored Horse- By nuzzling or mouthing items horses sometimes deal with boredom. This can become a problem. Horses may nip you to get your attention when they become frustrated. This behaviour is also used sometimes by horses who want treats.

A horse biting situation can be caused by a number of motivations. Here is how to teach them not to do so.

Top Solutions for Horse Biting Issues

In what situations does your horse bite? Here are some solutions.

Guarding Food- Have you noticed your horse often bites when you try to feed them food and horse supplements? Often this is because horses think they are guarding the food. It is definitely a behavioural problem so you should remove the food when they show signs of aggressive biting. When your horse calms down, offer the food again, but if he begins acting aggressively again, take the food away. This will train the horse that it needs to stop the aggression to get food.

Fear- Often, horses that are afraid of noises, are head shy, are sensitive to handling, and have other fears will bite. You will have to go through the process of desensitizing in this case.

Pain- Sometimes horses will bite when they are in pain. If your horse is trying to bite and being aggressive, carefully exam him for equine health and tacking problems. Arthritis may also be the issue here. He may need horse supplements to reduce inflammation and pain. Or perhaps you just need to adjust the saddle? Or rough girthing? Reduce your horse's discomfort and you will find a biting solution.

Energy- Young horses like nip and bite when they are feeling excited and playful, but sometimes horses do so because they have too much energy. You can help your horse channel and control high levels of energy, without biting, however, by providing more exercise, like leading and lunging, and by using calming horse supplements when necessary.

Suffering from horse biting problems? Horses bit for many reasons, including aggression, high energy levels, boredom, and pain due to equine health problems. Since biting is dangerous to humans steps are required to curb biting issues in horses.




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