My mini bit me! Any advice to break this habit?

[Alicia G]

I bought a Miniature horse about a month ago, and hes been at my house for bout 2 weeks. Hes 15 months and still intact (that will change soon :/ ).He hasn't been worked with all that much, only lead broke. Now I have been working with him, getting him used to brushing, bathing, cleaning his hoofs etc, etc. But he has this nasty habit of biting, I mean hes already got the goat on more then one occasion, and now its me hes going after! Only when I put the water dish in. When I lean down to hook it on or off the wall, he grabs at my head! He already took a chunk of hair out and just as I put him in tonight, he bit my face. I have a pretty good sized bruise (and my pride is a bit bruised too ). Now I punched him both times when he did this, as I was taught to do with normal sized horses, but I don't know if Im doing the right thing. This is my first Mini and I feel like Im learning all over again. All advice is appreciated
On another note, will having him gelded help to calm him down?

 

[goodhors]

With his young age, being male, you will have to deal with biting issues for a while yet. Just part
of herd behaviour that they tend to outgrow. Gelding him will help a bit, certainly reduce his aggression.
Just know that gelding process is not going to remove biting totally.

Some things we do with young equines, is to ALWAYS handle them with a halter and lead attached. If he
reaches to grab, you can jerk him with the lead, make him back up away from you. Backing him makes
you dominant in the "herd of two" so he is punished for trying to move up in status of the herd.

We NEVER EVER hand feed a young horse below age of maybe 5yrs. If you MUST give treats, put them in
his feed pan in stall or give them in a small bucket. He does NOT associate hands with treats, not
checking you out for snacks.

And we ALWAYS punish if he "oversteps my personal space". I have this invisible bubble around me, he is
not allowed to intrude into. Again the backing him up, usually works with most of them if done EVERY time
he gets pushy. Gets your space back, he is forced to give way to you. With the really bad ones you may
need a short whip to make him back away. Halter and lead just is not enough to make him behave.

Horse can't help his trying to move up, part of being a horse, being a youngster growing up. Just that such behaviour can't be
tolerated or you will get hurt. Is he doing any kind of rearing towards you? I heard of a corrective method from another
mini owner of many years for correcting that, which I NEVER would have dreamed of.

 

[mydakota]

The next time he bites at you, you have to make him absolutely believe he is about to die. Beyond any shadow of a doubt. (This can be done fairly and without abuse--reprimanding true aggression in a way the horse understands is not abuse) Goodhors gives good advice. If he is on a leadline, wade into him jerking it hard until he is running backwards. In the horse world, he who moves the others feet wins. Move his feet fast, hard, and away from you (but facing you) When not on a lead, I would not enter his enclosure without a lungewhip in my hand. As long as he minds his manners, nothing happens. If he threatens ANY aggression--spell it out for him. It is not abuse to do so. In a herd, any herdmates higher in the pecking order would do the same. He will understand it. Just don't leave any room for doubt.

 

[WHFarms]

I agree with the other posts, but I handled it in a little different manner with a horse that tended to nip at people's behinds. I took push pins and put them in my pockets with the ends poking out. Horse went to nip my butt and got a bunch of pricks in his nose instead. Now, in your situation, biting at your head and face is an entirely different matter and I would definitely do what others have stated in here.

 

[Alicia G]

Thanks for all the great advice. And to the first person who posted, he only once did something else, and was turning his butt to me and threatening to kick. I went and booted him between the legs and he hasn't done it since He is great on the lead too.

 

[ridinglizzard]

My welsh pony was 2 when we got him last year and still intact. He tried to do the same biting thing as yours... although only got as far as attempting little nips. This changed over night when we got him gelded within the first two weeks of having him. He has never tried to bite me again since then and I have had him a year and a half now. He is an excellent pony.

That said, when my five year old was leading him one day this summer he did bite him on the shoulder. I felt terrible for my son, who now avoids the horse like the plague, however I understand that the little horse was just trying to get away with what he could with my young son. I learned my lesson... no matter how sweet the pony is with me he is still a young horse and I have to be really careful with him around the kids!

 

[Paintingpheonix]

Thats just like our gelding, he used to bite every time he got the chance, but the only problem was it didn't stop after he was gelded, he still tried it, and one day he took a chunk out of my face, and that was it, I got his lead rope (lucky its long) and just made him run and run till he was lathered in sweat and was so sorry he proberly would of done a backflip if I had told him to, and the vicousness stopped after that, though he still tries to nip, nowadays all I got to do is give him THE look ( the once that says i WILL kill you if you do that) and he just stops and backs off. So my best advice would be, the next time he tries it, just make him move till he is so very sorry his kissing your boots. But I would not punch them, it just teaches them to be scared of you, or to hate you. For example, theres an appaloosa next door who was punched in the face when she was younger cause she bit. You seriosly cant get near her, unless you ride her and gain her respect (shes a very strange horse). One time, apparently someone came in to the yard, to try and steal something, we can only suspect, well this mare tried to jump over a gate, didnt make it all the way over, (so now there's a really bent gate) kicked there car very badly in the process but managed to chase whoever it was down the street. So she's a really good guard dog too, if you have inexpensive property, but that has nothing to do with the whole biting issue. Except what her attitude is like due to her former handling. Hope this helped

 

[PatchiePonie]

give 'em a good old slap in the neck or chest. hope this helps???

 

[wvgal61]

I just bite their nose, works everytime