idk .. he just bites and i slap him (not hard,) but enough to get his attention .. he stops then when i try to touch his muzzle he lays back his ears and nips!
To me, this does not sound like a scared horse, it sounds like a disrespectful horse. A scared horse is not going to pin his ears and bite, he will throw his head up and away from your hand.
I agree with foxhunter's advice of treating him as a herdmate would. If you are worried about making him headshy by hitting him, do what another person suggested and make him work. Do this in an arena on a lunge-line or in roundpen: he tries to bite you, you back him up fast and make him work, work, work. Run him around until he's good and ready to stop, then let him stand a minute and think. Try to touch his face again; if he bites, he has to work, work, work again. Make it clear to him that biting has consequences, and he will stop doing it.
Another note, do NOT hand feed treats! For a horse with disrespect/nipping issues, this is a very bad idea. If you must treat him (which I don't recommend), put the treats in his bucket or on the ground. He should not be expecting treats out of your hand at this point.
Thanks! He's on his way to becomming a better horse!
Report Abuse
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com
Next time, try backing him up aggressively when he nips. Horses don't really like to back, so this is a good punishment for nipping. Another thing is when he nips, smack him but then follow through and rub his nose in the same movement without taking your hand off. That way he gets the message that nipping is bad, but you're not trying to be mean. It sounds like he genuinely doesn't like his nose being touched so the advice to give him treats and pet his nose while doing it is good.
I too am a great believer in natural horsemanship. If a horse tries to bite me then I will 'bite' it back and by bite I will use my fist and either punch it on the neck hard or, if I can time it correctly, which I usually do, give him a good flat handed slap hard across his muzzle.
This IS natural. I the herd if he bit another horse that was above him in the order - which you should be to him - then they would turn around and beat the heck out of him.
It is not a matter of him not liking his muzzle it is the fact that he does not always get a treat when they do so and so he turns to bite to show his annoyance.
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com Forget making Parelli rich and start to boss your ill mannered pony and stopping all hand fed treats will go a long way to helping you on the right road.
Perhaps he's head shy?
Scared of people touching his head or hes had a bad experience before and that leads to him thinking if someone touches my nose im going to be hit?
i understand you giving him a smack, every horse should have respect for you, if he does it for no reason then a small one wont hurt. Ive seen alot worst. next time just dont hit him and be very quiet and calm and just walk away if he trys to bite. he might need some parelli training to see what the problem is?
First of all if you knew anything about horses you would know that the # 1 thing they hate the most is people toucheing their nose, how would you like it if i went and started rubbing your face? If he doesnt like the LEAVE HIM ALONE! and dont smack him hes only just trying to tell you that he doesnt like it !!!!!!!
Let him take time 2 now you better
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com And if you keep smacking him hes not going to like that
And let him eat out of your hand and while hes eating pet his nose so he can get the filling
And if hes still not he might be one of thous who just don't like to be petted:)
have you hit him in the face?
