Expert:
Rick Gore
Specialty: Horsemanship
It is never the horse's fault. Good natural horsemanship and a true understanding of horses will always get the best results with a horse.
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Specialty: Horsemanship
It is never the horse's fault. Good natural horsemanship and a true understanding of horses will always get the best results with a horse.
Is your horse biting, is he nipping or his he nuzzling? Knowing the difference can increase your relationship with your horse. I see lots and lots of people always pushing their horses away from them. “Respect my space” they call it. I hear life long horse owners telling new owners do not let you horse get too close, keep him out of your space, if you let a horse put his nose on you he can bite you. When I see this, I see horses that want to feel safe with their owner, who want to see their owner as a herd member, who want to show affection to their owner and then they get pushed, backed up, disciplined for “being in my space”. Stop this madness. A horse is not going to bite you if you let your horse get close. Beware of those that tell you otherwise. Watch any of my videos on Youtube and you see my horses all over me and they have never bit me. Why, because they know they should not.
If you pay attention to your horse, if you read your horse and understand your horse, it is pretty easy to tell if he is being naughty or nice. A problem is many do not know the difference. Horses nuzzle each other in the herd; they show mutual respect to each other. They also sometimes nip each other and sometimes bite each other. It is all normal and natural horse behavior. It is true a horse can bite you anytime he wants. If he wants to bite you, you cannot stop him. You may think you can, you may think that you are so in control and that if you keep your horse “out of your space” then your horse will not bite you. Most horses do not bite without a reason. A horse that bites is biting for a lot more reasons that just being in your space.
A horse will bite for protection, to show dominance, to play, to tease and to explore. Sometime a horse bites by accident when taking a treat. Not all bites are hard or forceful. However, most bites do hurt most people. If you make a choice to be around horses, then you make a choice to accept certain risks associated with horses. If you are around horses you can be stepped on, kicked, hit in the head, ran over, bit or struck. If you ride horses you can get bucked, thrown, dragged, ran into a fence post, head butted or fall off. All these things can happen to anyone at anytime. So if you choose to accept all these risks, then why are so many, so adamant that your horse can NEVER put his mouth or lips on you?
Trust is a two-way street with horses. If you never trust your horse, he will never trust you. If you do not pick up his feet from fear of being kicked, your horse knows it. If you do not walk behind your horse or mess with his tail from fear of being kicked, your horse knows it. If you do not ride your horse or get on him bareback from fear of falling off, your horse knows it. If you do not work your horse from fear of making a mistake, your horse knows it. If you do not get close to your horse from fear of being stepped on, your horse knows it. Moreover, if you are always pushing your horse away from your face or pushing his mouth away from you from fear of being bit, your horse knows it. If you do not trust your horse, do not expect your horse to trust you.
I let my horse nuzzle me, he searches me for treats, he licks the salt from my sweat off my face and he loves to feel the different types of clothes I wear with his muzzle. I think fleece is his favorite; he cannot stop wiggling his nose on fleece. I allow him to choose to bite me whenever he wants. I know he will not because I trust him, he trust me and we understand each other. He has no reason to bite me, since I give him no reason to bite me. He knows and I know I am his leader, I am the head horse and he cannot disrespect me or show dominance over me. He knows this since I show him every time we are together or if he forgets. I address each act of dominance with the appropriate level of direction. I teach him that he cannot push me, he cannot move me, he cannot test me and cannot move up (higher in the herd) over me. Since I am consistent, since I make the rules clear and easy to follow, he knows them well. I think our relationship is better because of this. Horses need direction not correction. Prevention is always better then treatment. Consistency is your horse’s best teacher and inconsistency is his worst enemy.
I really wish more people would reconsider the long honored position of “never let your horse put his nose or mouth on you”. Trust your horse, learn to read your horse, bond with your horse and let him know that you understand him enough to trust him not to bite you. Do not try to prevent him from biting you; help him learn that biting is not allowed. He may try to nip you to see if he can, correct it, show him that is not allowed, help him learn and teach him as his leader. The more you trust him, the more he will trust you and trust is the building block of a better relationship with your horse.
So go give your horse a hug, give him a nose to nose nuzzle, let him show you that he will not bite you and that you can trust him to trust you.
Happy Trials,
Rick
You can visit my Youtube site for over a 500 free videos:
www.youtube.com/user/horseawareness
on August 17, 2009, 1:53 pm
on August 18, 2009, 12:34 am
This sounds like a learned behavior and the horse has been taught that it is OK. Since no one has stopped him or told him that it was not allowed, he has been taught that this is acceptable. Intentional teeth on a person are never ok, so by allowing this you now have to correct it and stop it. You do not use a sledge hammer to kill a fly but you can’t use a Kleenex either. So you have to set him to do what you know he will do, so you can correct him and re-train him. So go pet him, and stop, be ready as soon as he comes around to bite, be ready with an elbow and have him teeth run into your elbow and make it stern but not too hard. Then pet him again, stop and he will com around slowed this time, not wanting to run into your elbow, so make sure you elbow attempts contact. If you do it right, it should not take more than two times. This is an easy thing to fix and since you taught it, you need to fix it, before it gets worse and teaches more bad lessons. A lower horse will not bite a higher horse….think about this….. I assure you if a lower horse bit my Mustang that horse would pay quickly. The fact that this horse bites you should tell you that this horse thinks, because you allowed this, that he is higher and he can make you do something by biting…. Not good for you or the horse. Hope this helps.
Rick