Why does my horse bite me?
Have you been bitten by your horse? Maybe you were doing up their girth and they whipped around and gave you a nip. Maybe you were standing outside their yard talking to your mate and they struck out and gave you a good bruise, much to your embarrassment. Maybe the are constantly at you and hassling you and its impossible to handle them without coming away covered in bruises. Even though they are herbivores that mouth can pack a punch!!
One of our philosophies at Equestrian Movement is “first do no harm”. So before you delve into the training of any behavioural issues we believe it is vital to rule out all possible physical reasons they could have for that behaviour. Working with your horse team of equine health practitioners you want to rule out any pain from:
Ulcers
Muscle pain (back, neck, pole etc)
Gut pain in general maybe from fresh grass etc
Dental issues
Reduction in range of movement (for example a recent horse I was working with was trying to nip my when I wanted to pick his back leg up because back pain was limiting the range of movement through his hindquarters)
Poorly fitted rug
Poorly fitted tack
Once you have ruled out all these problems, the next thing to do is see if you can see a pattern. Is the nipping only associated with a certain ask? For example, is it only when you put the rug on or is it only when you brush them. I have experienced in my time some horses, though not the majority, I would call sensory. They are particular about the feel of things, some people have called them ticklish. These horses don’t like being groomed because they don’t like the feel of the brush, or they may not like the rug being pulled forward because they don’t like the way the hair gets pushed the wrong way.
Once you’ve ruled this out you’re left with the majority of horses that are just naturally mouthy. Nippy horses are generally naturally mouthy horses. When you see them in the paddock they are biting at the other horses usually trying to antagonise them into play.
They will also usually drive you crazy by putting everything in their mouth!! Your whip, your saddle, your saddle cloth, the brush. Anything left lying around is fair game. So when you think about your nippy horse and what they are trying to say its important to realise that they are probably a very social temperament looking for connection (as long as you've ruled out all other problems such as pain, ulcers etc.) So what they are truly looking for from you when they are nipping at you is your focus, attention and to play with them.
It is important these horses know you are “with them”. They are also vocal and get easily stressed and more nippy if they think your training methods are unfair. They get almost an angsty tension about themselves if they don’t feel heard or respected. They are a little on the needy side, very demanding of your attention and love to be spoiled and fussed over. However, when the trust has been broken by you or other handlers they don’t know how to best express their neediness and can be standoffish whilst at the same time picking at you. If they’re safety really feels threatened they are more likely to become aggressive and lunge at you than run away.
Opening the lines of communication and rediscovering that connection is the best way to redirect that angsty mouthy energy to affection. I also have a little trick for turning nippers into lickers and occupying their mouth which I’m putting together into a freebie. If you don’t want to miss this mini video training make sure you’re on our email list.