I have a one year old stud colt that has recently decided to try and nip at me when we are walking. Currently I am hand walking him to get him fit for halter showing and he will grab at my jacket, most of the time only with his lips, but last night he caught my jacket with his teeth. How can I correct this behavior before it gets out of hand. Trainers here in the States would say to pinch them at the mouth and slap them right at the mouth and I don't believe this is the correct method.
Great to hear from you, welcome to the THF. And well done for resisting the advice of trainers who advocate that sort of punishment.
The important thing to assess before you worry about how to deal with the training, is WHY is the unwanted behaviour taking place? In your case this may be pretty easy - it's an annoying fact of life that youngsters (be them horses, dogs or children!) want to put everything in their mouth. And they need to do this for their own learning (as well as maybe teething and feeling uncomfortable in their mouths).
It is possible that the mouthing could be stress-related but that would depend on the environment in which your colt lives and his routine. How much training is he getting? Do other people handle him? Are there any other factors that you think could be contributing to any stress? (I'm not suggesting this is the case, just trying to cover all possibilities). If so then you should certainly aim to reduce these factors before worrying about training.
For now I'm going to assume this is just typical baby mouthiness. He needs to do this so if you punish it as other trainers might suggest then his need to mouth doesn't go away. In fact you could easily turn it into a behaviour where he bites very quickly and then jumps away out of your range. Furthermore, punishing the wrong behaviour doesn't actually tell the horse what the right behaviour is. So it's much better to get to the root of the problem.
Have you read Karen Pryor's "Don't Shoot the Dog"? There is an excellent section in there about changing behaviour and the 8 methods you can use. I'd really recommend reading that.
But in the meantime we need to think of a way to teach your colt that some things are chewable and some things (ie people!) aren't. As I've not met your colt I can't tell what the best way is. But as an example, you could try getting him a toy that he is allowed to pick up and chew. You could even go as far as rewarding him for chewing it. Then you could use his chew-toy as a reward for not biting you. You can make a point of rewarding him for not biting you, even if it's just for a few seconds. Does he like having a good hard scratch? That's always a good reward instead of food, particularly for horses prone to biting.
Or is he biting in order to get something? Is it attention seeking, wanting food, wanting to avoid the training? If this is the case then it is really important that you never inadvertantly reinforce his biting. That may sound obvious but is so easy to do unwittingly.
Does he get turn-out with other youngsters so that they can bite and play-fight with each other? That's sooo important at his age
How are you doing his training? Has he been taught to lead on a halter before or is that what you're starting to do now? Don't make the mistake of assuming that he knows what to do just because it seems an easy exercise. Lead him for a few steps and then give him a rub as a reward. When he's doing it right let him realise that he's doing it right with praise and scratches. All too often we ignore the good behaviour and then worry about the bad behaviour.
Sorry this is a bit of a ramble but without more info it's hard to know what will be useful. Some of this may be relevant, some probably won't be. But if you let us know your thoughts on what I've said and also how things progress, then we might be able to help you home in on that winning formula for your individual colt.
He is trained to lead at a walk and trot, he does very well. It almost seems like he is wanting to play when he does it. I am the only one that handles him, besides my daughter who will occasionally go get him for me. He stays in a large paddock area approx 20x40, with an additional smaller area of about 20x15 with a stall area, he has access to 3 other horses that are directly next to him so he can socialize but we don't want him getting hurt so he is not turned out directly with them. Approx 1-2 times a week I turn him out with my 2 mares and they play with him, my arabian plays with him and my paint mare disciplines him when he gets too out of hand.
He only attempts to bite at me when we are walking, normally towards the end of our 10 minute walk, almost like he is getting bored and trying to tell me, let's do something else this is boring. Should I cut our hand walking to 7 minutes, before he gets bored and then let him run and play a little, as a reward for not biting. Nip it in the bud before it can happen?
I know he loves to play with his lead rope, in fact he has learned to untie himself and learned to untie my daughters shoes! He will get his leadrope off the fence and play with it, running around with it in his mouth. I have put a stall ball in his paddock area with him, but he seems to be more enticed to play with ropes.
Thanks for your suggestions! I have enjoyed reading Lesley Skippers articles and can't wait for her new book to come out. Most people in the States would prefer to geld every horse because they feel all stallions are unruley and unmanageable, but it seems they are not if brought up right.
We corresponded recently by e-mail and as I said in my reply, it sounds as if you're doing well with your colt. I think Catherine's reply is spot on and there's not a great deal I can add to it.
At the moment our 4-month-old colt foal is just starting to get very 'mouthy' - he likes to grab puffy jacket sleeves as we pass and whenever I bend to give him a scratch (which he loves) the scrunchy thing that anchors my unruly hair in place gets a good chew! As Catherine says, attempts to check this behaviour by the usually-recommended methods (such as pinching or slapping) may result in him nipping and then jumping out of range, and will do nothing to teach him an alternative, more acceptable behaviour. I have found that when Tariel has had a good run around and is slightly tired, he hardly bothers with mouthing and nipping, which suggests that an excess of energy plays some part in it. Unfortunately we haven't got any other youngsters about at the moment, but Tariel does like to play with one of the geldings (Toska, a rising 10-year-old Warmblood standing 16.2!) Although Toska is a mature horse physically, mentally he is still rather juvenile (I sometimes wonder whether some warmbloods ever grow up!) and he and Tariel really seem to enjoy each other's company.
Tariel also likes to play with his father, Nivalis. Although Tariel and his mother Tiff do go out with Nivalis, Tiff won't let her son play with his father out in the field (although both would clearly enjoy it). However if we put Nivalis in a stable and let Tariel wander about the yard, he and his dad will play with each other over the stable door. Again, after playing in this manner Tariel is usually very gentle and not at all nippy, so again this suggests that a suitable playmate (even if this is an older horse) goes some way towards eliminating nipping where humans are concerned. (In this context I have noticed that Toska at almost 10 still likes to play at coltish neck-wrestling and nipping games with the 2 other geldings, Kruger and Zareeba, who are respectively 16 and 17, so it seems that some of them never really grow out of this).
Tariel's father Nivalis was very similar at the same age: he was boisterous and could get very nippy when he got excited. However we never made a big 'thing' about it because it was just this typical colty 'mouthiness'. We did teach Nivalis to stand still when requested (using positive reinforcement of course!) which meant keeping his head and neck straight. He could not do this and nip at the same time, so whenever he seemed to be in a nippy mood and we needed to work around him, we would just say, 'Nivalis - stand!' and he would immediately stand like a rock, waiting for his reward. He eventually grew out of this nippiness; now aged 11, he is one of the easiest, sweetest natured stallions you could wish to handle. We have found that if he gets upset or frustrated, the nippiness tends to recur; the answer lies in eliminating whatever is upsetting him, not in punishing him for behaviour which is to him a natural reaction.
I know many people swear that they have cured colts and stallions of nipping by smacking them or some similar punishment, and obviously it does work with some horses. However, apart from being unpleasant (not to say confusing) for the horse, such an approach could all too easily turn a nippy horse into a real biter. I am so glad you have decided not to go down this road. I think Catherine's suggestion re giving your colt something to chew on is an excellent one - when Toska was a youngster he was very nippy and when holding him for the farrier I used to stuff the end of the lead-rope in his mouth - which took his mind off what the farrier was doing and gave him something to chew on other than me!
If you feel there might be another cause for his nipping other thank just typical colty mouthiness, make a note of the context in which it occurs, which may give you a clue as to the cause. As his nipping seems to occur near the end of your training sessions it might be an idea to do what you suggested, i.e. cut the time to 7 minutes and stop before he gets fed up. Reward him for good behaviour (a scratch or a rub); turn the sessions into something he can enjoy and even look forward to, because he knows they will result in something pleasant for him. In any case remember that he is still very young and his attention span will be quite short, so keep any training sessions short and sweet. It's surprising how much horses can learn in even a few minutes!
Just to add a little more to consider on top of the feed back you have had so far.
As you have said he leads well in walk and trot but starts to get a bit mouthy towards the end of his training session, it may well be he does not want it to end. Sometimes (especially) youngsters that are kept in relatively small enclosures with restricted physical contact with others enjoy getting out and doing something.
There is a fine balance between short attention spans and longer sessions but it may be worth seeing if he stops mouthing you by changing the routine of his leading.
Certainly try stopping before you know he starts mouthing and turn him back out, to see if it helps, but also consider expanding/varying his time working with you.
Varying the routine may help so he does not pre-empt, the length of time he is out for or when he is going back to his paddock . Try varying the length of his sessions, sometimes short sessions, sometimes longer, also work with how he is on the day, remember he is ‘at that age’
Vary the route you take when leading him so his interest is kept by changing the environment, directions etc.
Introducing obstacles can help to keep his interest away from mouthing. This can be things he steps over, goes round, walks under or through etc.
Sometimes it can help when leading a youngster before you get the sense the interest is lost or waning to often break from a training plan to something like obstacles. This can help interrupt a potential pattern of behaviour such as mouthing but also by making his training environment interesting (and as he learns, more challenging ) you also give him the opportunity to expand his understanding and tolerance of different stimulants. This can help lay some good foundations for when his world expands and you take him to shows etc.
Your colt sounds gorgeous and I wish you both all the best
Emma
This message has been edited by Foal on Mar 5, 2005 4:34 PM
