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Member
Posts: 21
| I have a mare that likes to bite. No she is not in pain. Ive had the vet check her ive had the chiro check her. She usually does it when you are brushing her or try to put a kid on her. She has bit me pretty hard a few times and ive tried flicking her on the nose and ive had to smack her nose pretty hard cuz she tried to bite me and then when i turned around she tried to bite me again. I dont like hitting my horses at all but her biting is getting out of control. i have a friend that rides her when i am busy with my other horses and she bites her too. but she wont bite anyone else and she wont bite kidss. How do i get her biting to stop? |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 417
Location: CA | Honestly, a grown horse that bites would feel my fist in the soft part of their nose. "Flicking" her is going to do you no good. It sounds as though she has some serious respect issues. |
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Member
Posts: 21
| oh ive gotten her on the soft part of her nose pretty good a few times. and she still bites. i can punch her anf turn around and she will bite me again
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Veteran
Posts: 160
| KayleeAllDay - 2014-03-19 11:55 PM
oh ive gotten her on the soft part of her nose pretty good a few times. and she still bites. i can punch her anf turn around and she will bite me again
Then hit her again! Be consistent. Don't "flick" one time, "hit her" one time, and then "punch" her the next. Hit her HARD. In the nose. Every time she does it. No matter what. I would even pop her or block her with my fist or elbow any time she even acted like she was going to. Even in herd settings, biting is a huge no-no. I never feel the slightest guilt knocking a horse a good one, because the would elicit the same reaction if they tried that nonsense with the dominant horse in the pasture. Just my two cents. 
Edited by horseshorseshorses 2014-03-20 1:01 AM
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 Expert
Posts: 1218
Location: Great NW | lift up her lip - do you see any little bumps or blister looking things anywhere in her mouth or on her gums. If so her skin/body hurts all over from Herpes. Try adding L-Lysine to her diet. you can pick some up at most feed stores. the best price is direct from a feed mill. Sounds to me like her skin really hurts - it is from Herpes - the L-Lysine will help control it. if this is the issue - once she is on the L-Lysine for a week or two you will probably see a difference in her attitude. I have had three different horses with this behavior and the lysine worked on all of them. it is cheap and easy to feed as a top dressing to their grain. I buy mine from a feed mill and then work up to a good handful to their grain over a week to get them started - then when I see their behavior getting better I lower the amount until I find they level off. the sore spots for Herpes seems to be higher on the neck and back- they don't usually like their forelocks or manes messed with and in sever cases they do not like their back brushes and defineatly do not Curry these horses or they will bite. Your mare may just be one of those that dislikes adults. In either case she does need to learn that biting is not acceptable but always look for the cause. |
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Member
Posts: 21
| horseshorseshorses - 2014-03-19 11:00 PM
KayleeAllDay - 2014-03-19 11:55 PM
oh ive gotten her on the soft part of her nose pretty good a few times. and she still bites. i can punch her anf turn around and she will bite me again
Then hit her again! Be consistent. Don't "flick" one time, "hit her" one time, and then "punch" her the next. Hit her HARD. In the nose. Every time she does it. No matter what. I would even pop her or block her with my fist or elbow any time she even acted like she was going to. Even in herd settings, biting is a huge no-no. I never feel the slightest guilt knocking a horse a good one, because the would elicit the same reaction if they tried that nonsense with the dominant horse in the pasture. Just my two cents.
okay. she didnt try to bite me today. But ill start hitting her hard in the nose when she bites. cuz its getting dangerous with her biting. i dont need anyone getting hurt. and im just a wimp on hurting my horses but then now that you said its the same reaction for trying that nonsense with the dominant horse in the pasture. Thanks :)
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Member
Posts: 21
| speedjunkie - 2014-03-20 8:38 AM
lift up her lip - do you see any little bumps or blister looking things anywhere in her mouth or on her gums. If so her skin/body hurts all over from Herpes. Try adding L-Lysine to her diet. you can pick some up at most feed stores. the best price is direct from a feed mill. Sounds to me like her skin really hurts - it is from Herpes - the L-Lysine will help control it. if this is the issue - once she is on the L-Lysine for a week or two you will probably see a difference in her attitude. I have had three different horses with this behavior and the lysine worked on all of them. it is cheap and easy to feed as a top dressing to their grain. I buy mine from a feed mill and then work up to a good handful to their grain over a week to get them started - then when I see their behavior getting better I lower the amount until I find they level off. the sore spots for Herpes seems to be higher on the neck and back- they don't usually like their forelocks or manes messed with and in sever cases they do not like their back brushes and defineatly do not Curry these horses or they will bite. Your mare may just be one of those that dislikes adults. In either case she does need to learn that biting is not acceptable but always look for the cause.
Ive already checked her lip and everything. no bumps. she doesnt have any skin problems besides having pink skin and getting sunburnt in summer. but Shes sensitive by her flank area. She had baby ^ years ago. so i dont get why her stomach is so sensitive still? but anyways, im thinking its more on the behavioral biting side. Shes not in any pain unless i press on her stomach really hard. |
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  Ms. Marine
Posts: 4626
 
Location: Texas | Punch her hard right in the soft spot of her nose and be consistant about it. She'll learn quickly that biting isn't something she wants to be doing. |
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Member
Posts: 21
| BarrelRacing4Christ - 2014-03-24 11:07 AM
Punch her hard right in the soft spot of her nose and be consistant about it. She'll learn quickly that biting isn't something she wants to be doing.
i am consistant about it now and shes still biting. im thinking about getting out my stud chain. one thing that she hates the most is stud chains. especially if its on her gums
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 Miss Laundry Misshap
Posts: 5271
| One of my geldings tried this when we first got him. Funny thing about him is that if you just tell him no and then play with him and butter him up, he'll quit and won't attempt it anymore. If you hit him, he'll try to bite you again.
Now, he doesn't even try it.
There was a bit of history from the people we got him from. The man was gruff, not really mean, but no nonsense. He also didn't spend any time doing any lovey dovey stuff. His wife was a bit frightened of this horse's bluster and he knew it. He'd get cranky to make her leave him alone, because he knew it worked.
On another note - My friends horse was a severe biter. She ended up wrapping her arm, putting a hot baked potato under a light shirt, and letting the horse get ahold of it. (I think this might also be in a book) Horse never bit anything again! |
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 A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | She had gotton away with this for a while it sounds like, so its going to a couple of good soild hard punches to the mouth befor she understands that bitting is a bad thing. Dont tap her, knock the crap out of her. I will not have a bitting or kicking horse, its not if they will hurt someone but when. |
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Expert
Posts: 1477
Location: In the land of peanuts and cotton | Ok Don't laugh at me cause it worked but I had a young horse that was doing it playing but turned into a bad habit. A old old horseman told me to grab her ear and pull it down and bite the very tip. Not hard enough you get blood just enough she knows you did it and it hurt. It stopped her after about 3 times. You have to do it quick so that she doesn't have time to react by pulling her ear from you.
Edited by TessBelle 2014-04-11 9:40 PM
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Fire Ant Peddler
Posts: 2881
| I use the John Lyons 3 second rule. Do the punishment for 3 seconds. I slap the crap out of them on the side of the mouth. This has worked for me for more than 50 years. I just dropped one off at the trainers and told him to do the same thing. I make sure that it hurts. |
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Member
Posts: 21
| ill have to try that hahaha |
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Expert
Posts: 1694
Location: Willows, CA | Ray Hunt was a good friend, and we rode together a lot. I can't count the number of times someone asked him what you do when a horse bites you. Ray would say "bare the pain, and next time, don't let him bite you". You need to pay attention and have the horse run into an elbow when they try to bring their head around toward you. That way they caused their own discomfort for their attempt. A hit after the fact does not do as much good as one that they cause while trying a bad behavior.
Edited by winwillows 2015-07-28 11:19 PM
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 Serious Snap Trapper
Posts: 4275
Location: In The Snow, AZ | Honeymoney - 2014-04-11 9:37 PM
I use the John Lyons 3 second rule. Do the punishment for 3 seconds. I slap the crap out of them on the side of the mouth. This has worked for me for more than 50 years. I just dropped one off at the trainers and told him to do the same thing. I make sure that it hurts.
This has always worked for me. Make that horse think it's life is ending for 3 seconds. And then go back to what you were doing. Consistency is key. |
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The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
| KayleeAllDay - 2014-03-20 9:13 PM
speedjunkie - 2014-03-20 8:38 AM
lift up her lip - do you see any little bumps or blister looking things anywhere in her mouth or on her gums. If so her skin/body hurts all over from Herpes. Try adding L-Lysine to her diet. you can pick some up at most feed stores. the best price is direct from a feed mill. Sounds to me like her skin really hurts - it is from Herpes - the L-Lysine will help control it. if this is the issue - once she is on the L-Lysine for a week or two you will probably see a difference in her attitude. I have had three different horses with this behavior and the lysine worked on all of them. it is cheap and easy to feed as a top dressing to their grain. I buy mine from a feed mill and then work up to a good handful to their grain over a week to get them started - then when I see their behavior getting better I lower the amount until I find they level off. the sore spots for Herpes seems to be higher on the neck and back- they don't usually like their forelocks or manes messed with and in sever cases they do not like their back brushes and defineatly do not Curry these horses or they will bite. Your mare may just be one of those that dislikes adults. In either case she does need to learn that biting is not acceptable but always look for the cause.
Ive already checked her lip and everything. no bumps. she doesnt have any skin problems besides having pink skin and getting sunburnt in summer. but Shes sensitive by her flank area. She had baby ^ years ago. so i dont get why her stomach is so sensitive still? but anyways, im thinking its more on the behavioral biting side. Shes not in any pain unless i press on her stomach really hard.
Have you treated her for ulcers?
In my experience a horse will try and bite or nip if they are experiencing ulcers |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 851
Location: West Texas | If a horse bites me, I'll be darned if I bare the pain, that stinks. If she really is a biter, I would get something other than my hand or elbow. Set it up to bite me and then as she goes to do it, knock the tar out of her. One thing you can't allow a horse to do is bite. If it is a nipping problem, that is a little different. Be quick, consistent, and very very assertive. It won't take too long to fix, done right. And don't be afraid that your going to hurt her. I've got a mare herd. If a dominant mare get rushed to be bitten, a double foot slam to the chest is what usually nips that in the bud. |
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Veteran
Posts: 143
Location: TX | Biting is a zero tolerance of mine.
Take a mechanical pencil or safety pin. Hold it in the hand closes to her when doing the brushing or whatever makes her bite.
When she reaches to bite you poke her in the nose. It has to be done every time. She will begin to realize that every time she reaches to bite you or anyone else that she gets poked.
It works but, you and anyone else that handles her needs to do it.
If you are punching her and that isn't enough. This would be my next step. I had a colt that would do the same thing. I put her in the position of when she would try and after three times she stopped.
Good luck. |
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Nut Case Expert
Posts: 9305
Location: Tulsa, Ok | Biting, kicking, any aggressive behavior is totally 100% acceptable for ANY reason. That horse would be would be immediately meeting my fist every time he/she considered biting. |
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