Horse Information - Aussie Horsemen

If you’ve ever found yourself on the receiving end of a bite from a horse, you’ll knowjust how painful an experience it can be. And more than likely it happened so quickly you didn’teven get the chance to do anything about it. While some horses will come at you with teeth bared,leaving no mystery to their intentions, many times the nip will come from out of the blue, which,when coming from your ‘Good Boy’ horse, can shake you up as much from the shock of it as from theactual pain.

As with all ‘vices’ there is always a reason for a horse biting and it’s not from him being ‘bad’,so there is little point reprimanding him. Your horse is a prey animal who lives in the moment andonly understands that some things are comfortable and some are uncomfortable. If he goes to nip andinstead finds discomfort (like your hand moving rhythmically in a blocking motion) he’ll soon learnthat that’s not a good idea. If however he gets hit for biting, he’ll see it as either a predatoryaction like attack, or as a challenge and he may well challenge you back again.

There are several different types of bites that you can get from a horse, however they come fromjust a couple of sources. Lets take a look at each of them and find out firstly why they happen andalso what to do about it.

The ‘Aggressive Attack’ Bite.
There’s no mistaking this one. Usually you know even before you enter the yard how this horse isfeeling. Depending on how extreme the case is, the phases and the signs of this unhappy horse willbe quite clear and increase the closer you get to him. Generally this is a horse who is scared and /or feeling threatened so how you approach him is crucial. If he is scared and he can’t escape, hewill lash out at you in order to protect himself, as he does not have enough trust in you (or thesituation) and hasn’t given you permission to approach him. If he feels threatened he will usewhatever force he needs, again to protect himself, from the perceived threat ... you! If you do gonear this horse, you are running the very real risk of getting bitten or kicked so approach at yourown risk.

What To Do About It.
My best suggestion would be to leave this horse to a professional horseman. There are two reasonsfor this. 1) Your own safety. Unless you have the skills and timing to really know what you aredoing with this horse, you will most likely get hurt and quite severely. So many people think thatthey can and should try to ‘fix’ this horse when in reality even a professional would be hesitant todo the job. A professional can and they will be able to do it, however they have a very healthyrespect for their own skill and safety to be able to do so. Often those who just barrel on in thereare people who don’t fully realise the actual danger involved. A horse can move as fast as a snakewhen he wants to ... .faster than you will be able to see. Their neck and jaw are incredibly strong... I once saw one of my horses cantering off with a 40kg bag of chaff in his mouth like it was afeather! ... so they can easily pick up a human without him even aware that it has happened.

If you are working with this horse, its important to understand that he has some fear and distrusthere. So help him to not see you as a threat and also not as a wimp either. If you stand up to himhe’ll feel more threatened. If you back off you’ll invite him to dominate you more, which can makesome horses more aggressive.

If he is scared of you, begin by building his trust and your relationship. Don’t try to forceyourself on him. Allow him to get to know you over time. Use approach and retreat and spend someundemanding time with him until he can handle you in his space. Gradually get to where you can askhim to sniff you by way of introduction before you try to get a hand on him. From this point it’sjust a matter of practicing your ‘no yield’ (being able to rub him all over) until he sees you areno longer a threat and he can start to relax around you. From there just continue your programmethrough the first few lessons.

If he feels threatened by you, such as a stallion or very dominant horse, I strongly suggestyou let a professional difficult horse handler take over for a while. Things are not done muchdifferently with this horse, however there is little room for error with a horse that comes at you,unlike a horse that is fearful and will run away. Your timing and release need to be spot on andyour body energy needs to project confidence without threat and definitely no retreat or wussiness.It is a fine balance to work with this horse. Building rapport will be your greatest asset ...asking for and getting the yields without the horse feeling that he is losing any stature takes alot of skill and excellent communication.

The ‘Letting You Know’ Nip.
This one is far less serious but can still give you a bruise or two if you’re not paying attention.And attention is the key to fixing it as well. This one is usually from a horse that is physicallysore or tender somewhere, or unsure of what you are asking / doing. There are phases behind it ifyou pay close enough attention (warnings first before the teeth actually connect), so if you do geta bite, in this case it’s a little lesson in listening more closely to your horse. It may happen forexample when you are doing up the girth, massaging or rubbing a sore spot, touching an area that thehorse isn’t totally comfortable with or any number of reasons. Often the horse will show somediscomfort at first in this case. They may then turn their head toward you, or even put an ear back.Phase 3 would be to actually nip your clothes to get your attention before phase 4 of actuallyconnecting with your skin.

What To Do About It.
If you pick it up in the early phases, before the actual bite, be aware of what it was you weredoing when your horse let you know. If you were doing up the girth for example, chances are you werebeing a bit impolite and just reefing that cinch up. So back off a bit. Just do it up a little at atime (as per your saddling procedure), move your horse around a bit until they are comfortable andthen do it up some more. Be polite ... they were with you. If it’s a sore spot, again be aware ofit. Use your approach and retreat to get there and use a lighter touch. It may be a sore muscle thatcould do with a massage, so start soft at first to loosen it up and then gradually increase as yougo.

Most times with this one it’s just a matter of being more polite with and around your horse. Theythen will be polite with you. If you get a bite, chances are you either missed the phases, or youwere too rough or impolite so they went through their phases pretty quickly. Either way, it’s alesson for us!

The Playful ‘Lets See Whose Boss’ Game.
This one is generally from young horses or horses with a lot of play in them. It starts as a littlenip to see if you are paying attention and can quickly escalate into something more serious if you’re not careful. Basically it happens because the young horse is trying to test out which of you isgoing to be the boss ... in other words it's part of the young horse's herd lessons to find outwhere he stands in the hierarchy. You’ll see young horses nipping at each other for hours ... alwayswith one winner! It can seem cute at first with foals doing it, however it is very disrespectful ofpersonal space and quickly teaches horses to be biters if its not curtailed. With foals oryoungsters, one will nip and see what happens. The other horse will either leave, give a big highphase bite back to tell them to back off, or just offer a nip themselves. The first option tells theyoung horse that he has won out and is more dominant over the other horse…in other words higher inthe pecking order. The second option tells the youngster that he is out of line so back off. Thethird is a ‘yes’ answer to the offer of play and will usually end in a trade off of bites back andforward, gradually getting harder and more determined as they go until one either gets sick of itand follows through to end the game, or backs down and submits to the other.

What To Do About It.
You really don’t want to teach your horse to bite, so try not to get drawn into the game. Firstup, if he nips, he is in your personal space and you let him be there. So again, there is no pointreprimanding him for it. It’d be like feeding your dog at the table then telling him off for sittingby the table begging. If you don’t set the situation up it won’t happen. He needs to learn hismanners from the herd and you need to reinforce them when he is with you. If you hit him back again,he’ll only see you as either a predator (which is what makes horses head shy and timid) or as achallenge so he’ll bite you back again. If you are aware that its coming and pick it up in time, youcan use a bit of rhythmic pressure to yield him out of your space. But make sure you give him a rubonce he has yielded so there are no hard feelings. If you hit him back again you can expect him tocome back at you even bigger next time or to run away ... neither of which is a good option.

Mutual Grooming.
This is something many horses will do for each other and get a great deal of enjoyment from. Theywill sniff each other out along the back and shoulders, searching for an itchy spot in a place thatthey themselves can’t reach very well and then get the teeth out to start scratching. If they offerto groom you, it is a really special thing … as long as it is done politely and with respect. Ifyour horse offers to groom you back when you groom him, he is telling you he enjoys what you’redoing and would like to reciprocate ... it also tells you that you have some measure of rapport withhim.

What To Do About It.
Enjoy it! Just make sure it is polite and respectful and doesn’t over step the personal spacemark. Not all horses will do it so don’t be offended if your horse doesn’t. He probably doesn’t doit with other herd members either. Just be aware that horses do groom each other fairly roughly attimes and their skin is much thicker than ours, so they can inadvertently get a bit rough. If hedoes get rough, don’t tell him off for it, just be aware of it and ask him to back off a bit by justmoving away a little or using a small yield. Just like another horse would do.

If for some reason your horse does bite you unawares, the best thing you can do is to not react in anegative way that will only demark you as a predator. Instead, just smile and chalk one up for yourhorse and promise yourself that you’ll be more aware next time. Your best bet is to not punish themas they may expect, but instead do the opposite ... give their mouth a rub inside and out and theirnostril too. Show them that you don’t play that game and do some ‘no yielding’ (desensitizing)around the area that just bit you. And watch their expression! ... you’ve just done the opposite towhat they expected and will most likely change their minds about it all ... a bit of reversepsychology goes a long way.

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