please help me!

im at my wits end with my lil man!
he keeps wanting to chomp on everything and everyone, he is nearly 5 months old, loves to bite on everything! u walk up to him and he starts chomping! i cant even think about showing him this year he is just tooo horrid!!
how do i get him out of this?
and is there anyway u can stop him from raring up??
what makes u decide if u want to geld him or not?
thanks in advance

My little boy gets a smack for biting, not that he does it very often. Rearing up i was advised to distract them when they are going to or in the process of doing it. Seems to work so far. Others may have suggestions, would also like to hear.

As for gelding, its up to you. Do you need a colt/stallion? does he have qualitiies that you would like to see passed on to future offspring? whats his conformation like? Do you think he would make a better gelding?

My boy as massive shoes to fill. If he dosnt continue growing into stallion material, he will be gelded. Hope all this is some help

Em

thanks for that! i was smacking him but got told it could make him headshy? so now i either flick him or pinch his mouth area!! he just isnt learnin NO!!!
he doesnt rare up tooo much though today when he was in a mood he did!
he is a gorgeous lil man but just his chompin thing!

can i upload videos here? would love to show u exactly what he does

Hi, my little colt sometimes tries to nip, at this stage I poke him with my finger at the side of his mouth, where it is soft and he should pull back.
It will teach him that if he goes to bite he will feel some pain and stop. I have done this several times with my colt and he no longer even tries to nip.

Hope this helps and it needs to be done consistently.

Wendy.

i have been doing it over and over and he just wont learn!

Sounds frustrating! My oldest colt was a really annoying biter when he first came. I did research on heaps of forums on it, and finally settled on the pinching method as the best (so to not make him head shy). After a bit of practice (you have to get hold of them really quick!) I modified my method to grabbing the mouth/nose area (anywhere) with my fingers, twisting really hard and holding for about 3 seconds at the same time as growling or doing my "ah, ah, ah!" (aka "you naughty bugger!). Whenever he tries it now (very rare, but he's a boy - he likes to push his limits!) he gets the "nah-uh"/growl thing as a warning at first (99% of the time will stop him there) but if he proceeds, he gets the pinch. And that'll cure him for another few months, LOL! (boys, i tell ya!)

I found that worked best for my guy. I've started the same on the youngest colt (3 months old) as he's decided he likes to munch on everything. Working so far

that is the method i have been using and he still insists on chomping EVERYTHING!!! he is such a lovely lil guy, and can be a sweetie if he gets over this horrid horrid habbit!

Have you been associating the voice command with it? Or even saying "NO" really firmly - I think it's important they have a consistent voice "warning" to go with the habit, and again when they still continue to bite. Also send him out of your space/"bubble". That was something I forgot to say in my original post. If not, then I don't know what else to suggest sorry :-(

Have you checked his mouth to make sure everything is ok in there and nothing is bothering him which is leading to him want to bite?

If nothing is wrong try teaching him to respect you by making him back away before he has a chance to bite. Watch for the signs of the impending bite and react before he gets a chance to actually do it.

I wasnt going to reply to this thread, but thought I may as well. My stallion Oakie has bitten me for 10 years.He is well know for the bitting boy. He did stop from doing it at home and slowed up from doing it in the ring,but still got one in at some stage. When he bit me I started smacking him on the nose,but only if I was quick enough to get him as he was getting me. Then he got marched backwards quick and fast.Every time he goes to nip he gets pushed backwards.He backs up really well now.I jerk his halter back towards his neck(standing in front of him) and make him back up really fast and for how ever long I want him too.Then we just stand there for a few seconds,dont speak or look at him,and the turn into him and walk off as normal.I did this and it seemed to work for him.But he still gets the odd bite in when we are in the ring,Ive just learnt to live with it as its his little bit of him I s'pose.The first time in the ring he reared up and struck out at me and tried to bite.He was about 2 I think then.I just jerked him and backed him up nearly around the whole ring.I then apologised to the judge,who said I did good.Now he is an old man and if he misbehaves he still backs up and then stands there looking at me saying sorry.

And then to my other stallion, he reared when we first bought him.I hate horses that rear.He got jerked and pushed back straight away.I only had to do this too him a few times and hes never reared again.

But you have to do this with meaning.Hard and fast and telling him NO.then when you turn into them and walk off saying walk on in your happy voice as if nothing happened.

Im not sure if other people will agree with me, but it worked for us.Even our big horses get jerked back if they misbehave.Boys or girls.

mineees wrote:

Im not sure if other people will agree with me, but it worked for us.Even our big horses get jerked back if they misbehave.Boys or girls.

You are absolutely right, that was exactly what I was referring to. In a herd environment if a horse bites another horse they don't whack them or pinch them on the nose they make them back away and learn some respect. You must teach them that you are the leader and they should respect you at all times and when they try to push the boundaries they will be put on the outer until they can behave.

Oh and make sure you do your training in a rope halter so that your commands are understood as webbing halters have too much play in them for the horse to listen.

Oh and make sure you do your training in a rope halter so that your commands are understood as webbing halters have too much play in them for the horse to listen.[/quote]

thanks YarrehLane



try and use a rope halter all the time BUT when he does it wearing a webbing or a bridle OR in the ring STILL DO IT...you get more effect from a rope halter but you still need to do it as soon as he does something. So if you are in the ring and he rears,hammer him then and there and then apologise to the judge.Most judges will be ok,if you get one that gets poopy,just use it as a learning curve.

wow thanks heaps for the replies!
i got to my wits end with him and brought in the big guns lol!
well acutally i packed him up and took him to my mums! she has a round yard there and her hubby is very good with horses! there neighbour is also a horsey person and has some big horses there, we have been handling him every day and been putting him and his mum out with the big horses, i must say he is improving wiht everyone but me! but i am learning it is mostly my fault, i babied him and sooked him and made him forget he was a horse! which he is now learning that he is! and he is improving i can walk him on the rope now and he is fairly well behaved he tries to nip my hand while im leading him but i am trying the NO comand and he is slowly repsonding, he will walk with me and stand next to me with not too much drama i am thinking im gonna try him out at our lil show we have here! as for his rearing he only does that to me too, and im gonna try the method written here i really dont want him to do that at the show cause im only a learner like him and yeh sooo now to find all the things i need to do to get him ready for his very first show in less then a month!!
thanks again for the advice i really appreciate it

Good luck with it. Persistence is the most important thing and I am sure you and he will work together good in no time.