Tips for Teaching Your Horse Not to Bite

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.

Antagonism- When combined with other horses, some horses may use biting as a signal to tell other horses to back off. Signals like flared nostrils and flattened ears may accompany aggressive biting. Body signals like this should be heeded and people should quickly move away from the threatening behaviour of a biting horse.

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.

Boredom- 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. Horses who want treats may do that as well.

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? Let's take a look at a few situations that might cause your horse to bite you or the horses around him and consider possible training and solutions for the problem.

Guarding Food- Have you noticed your horse often bites when you try to feed them food and horse supplements? Horses do this because they think they are protecting the resources you are offering. Look for signs for aggression and take care of this behavioural problem by removing the food as soon as aggressive biting symptoms occur. offer the food again only when your horse calms down. He will eventually learn the only way to truly get food and keep it is to stop the aggression.

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.

Excitement- Being excited and playful might look like a good thing but sometimes horses have too much energy and they bite. 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.

Do you have a horse biting issue at hand? Biting issues my be caused by high energy levels or other equine health problems. Biting for any reason can be dangerous for humans, though, so it is essential you take the proper steps to curb biting issues in your horses.




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