Katie: If he was my horse, the first
thing I would do is have my vet check him out to make sure he isn’t
injured and that when you cinch him or brush him you are not aggravating a
long-term injury. If no injury can be found, it may be he’s “cinchy”
and lets you know he doesn’t like to be cinched by nipping at you. I
would first attempt to ride with the cinch as loose as possible and still be
safe. Don’t try to tighten the cinch all at once, but tighten it in
stages by lunging him after each tightening increment. Finally, if he
nips at you, immediately move his feet. Get into a fierce body position
and back him up each and every time, making some unpleasant sound. Let him know
you won’t accept this bad behavior. Don’t hit him which would
likely make him head shy. Use your lead and move him back. If he
hasn’t been trained to back up using the lead, then start with
that. Make the bad behavior difficult for him and good behavior easy. This
is going to take some time. Remember he has probably been doing this for
a long time and correcting it will also take a long time. Be patient, he
WILL learn.
From:
ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Katherine Hogg Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2007 1:49
PM To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [RC] Biting horse
Hey guys,
I'm new to ridecamp but I'm loving the discussions on here.
They are very enlightning. I was wondering if anyone could help me, I have a
big thoroughbred gelding called Red and he has always had a problem with his
girth (i think you call it a cinch?) being done up. Everytime he feels it
tightening he tries to bite. When i first got him he used to be really vicious
about it but he has progressed lots and only tries to nip now and then (thats
on a good day) but recently he's being trying to bite me just while im brushing
him. He usually does it when I brush his back and stomach, and when i feel him
just about to do it I turn and he swings his head away like nothing happened.
Sometimes he gets me, buts its never hard enough to hurt it just gives me a
fright. Can you suggest ways to get him to stop, I usually growl at him and
sometimes i'll slap him on the neck but its really not that effective. I would
really appreciate it.
