My thoroughbred's horibble attitude!!!?

Question

my horse has a huge attitude, he bites me 24/7 and not nice bite mean aggresive biting! I am very patient with him and nice even when he makes me mad. He was like this before i bought him!. I asked my trainer, former owner, and she said he was abbused before she got him and she was working with him about that kinda stuff.

thing is he's getting alot happier but now he's gaining other things like charging at me with his ears back when i go to the turn out and wanna bring him in.

I have read many behavior books on horses and i know how to act around this type as i have before owned this kinda horse, but he seems unbreakable and uncontrolable!

I'm wondering if i should call a behaviorist or are there any other options you can think of?

PS: i am not a child so please don't talk to me like i don't know about horses, i have been dealing with them for ages.

PSS: he likes me, and i know it it's just every once in a while somthing just triggers his brain and he goes crazy mean.

Answer 1

You need to change the power relationship between you and your horse. You are below your TB in the herd so he feels he has the right to bite you. The best way to fix horse pecking order problems is to incapacitate them gently and quietly using hobbling or a belly rope pulley system and sack him out (rub him all over with scary stuff basically--plastic bags, tin cans, rattles, ropes, etc.) until he relaxes and accepts you will not hurt him. If he feels that you are in control, he may let you lead his herd so to speak. Gentleness is the key. Remember you have nothing to prove to him. You decide whether he is allowed to stay with the herd. Horses that are not allowed to stay with the herd die alone.

As for the pinned ears and charging, I would try treats, but running him around the pasture away from you until he begs to come in to you for a treat instead of run may change his perspective. Again you decide if he is allowed to come in because you are the herd boss. Check out some of the Monty Roberts UTube Videos for good ideas too. Hope this helps.

Answer 2

He's possessed

Answer 3

maybe that he has an atittued problem.

Answer 4

He could have health issues. I.E- Tooth aches theat make him grumpy...or it could actually be his stomach. But if he has been doing this for a long time...probably not. And since he was abused he probably lost his connection with humans and thinks of them as predators

Answer 5

You bought a horse with issues.  If you are unable to remedy the situation, a behaviorist may be a good call.

Answer 6

You may not want to hear this but I am a firm believer in if the horse does anything wrong you punish them. If this horse was mine I would beat the livin c**p out of him.  You have to show him whos boss. Don't let him get to you. If you let him get away with something he will do it over and over again. If he bites.. don't just tap him in the mouth I mean slap him ... hard. He will eventually learn that is he hurts you you will hurt him back. Don't be afraid of him. Show him whos boss. If he goes to bite you and gets close or pins his ears yell at him in a mean tone. My horses don't even pin their ears at me I will smack them. Because if they pin their ears they are going to do something.

               Good Luck = )

Answer 7

I am surprised that your trainer sold you an apparently dangerous animal. Biting and charging are behaviors that can cause serious injury or death. You need to be very careful - and should look to sell the horse back to your trainer so that you can instead have a horse you can enjoy. If your trainer won't take the horse back and you need to sell him elsewhere, please make sure to only sell him to a highly experienced trainer or someone that has already engaged such a trainer. You don't want to just pass on the danger to another owner who can't fix this horse's problems and who might be seriously injured.

I urge you to consider that your horse neither likes nor respects you if he engages in this behavior. Instead, he is afraid of you, and in a potentially dangerous way.

If you must keep this horse for some reason (carefully consider the meaning of "must"), he first has to learn ground manners and respect through firmness and consistency. If your horse trainer is a good trainer, then she will be familiar with the safe ways to accomplish this goal, at least to a level where the horse no longer charges or bites. Until that goal is accomplished, I urge you not to attempt to work with the horse in any way, including retrieving him from turnout. You need to set a time limit, after which, if the goal is not accomplished, you will take the horse out of training and work to sell him.

I don't know your horse's background. If he is an ex-racing horse, he may have issues arising from how racing horses are managed. If he was instead owned by an individual, they may have mistreated him or simply failed to discipline him. On the other hand, if he is new to your stable, he may be terrified by the change, and may be unsure of his place in the local herd. Or he may have medical issues such as arthritis, tendon problems, navicular syndrome or other painful conditions that make him afraid of people who are taking him out to work.

Or several of the above.

One thing is for certain - he believes that of the two of you, he is the boss horse and you are the subordinate horse. And when a horse is this aggressive, you don't want to be in that position.

This horse is costing you feed or board or something above and beyond the purchase price. If you have him in training, that is an additional cost. And in the meantime, you can't safely tack him up or ride him.

Ask yourself why you want this horse. Not "a" horse. "This" horse. There are millions of well-trained, safe horses out "looking for work". One of those horses can join up with you and be your special dance partner.That's what every horse owner deserves.

When you look for such a horse, you need to make sure to

a) see the owner tack up and ride the horse

b) bring an experienced trainer (I would recommend against your existing trainer, because she already sold you a dangerous horse) and have that trainer ride the horse.

c) Tack up the horse yourself. Walk the horse on the ground, lunge the horse. then ride it. If it acts up at any point, you probably want to move on to another prospect.

d) If you seriously consider the horse, go back on a second day, tack up and ride the horse.

e) have a vet do a prepurchase to ensure the horse has none of the issues that can lead to bad behavior such as arthritis, etc. Strongly consider a full set of x-rays of hooves and hocks. Also have an equine dentist check the teeth, for the same reason.

The best way to avoid behaviour problems is to not buy them.

I hope this helps.

Answer 8

To cure biting you need to tell the horse that his behavior is not acceptable WITHOUT being abusive and WITHOUT making it seem like a game to the horse. If you just dab at the horse to tell him to quit, it will just invite him to play more. Horses bite each other in play. It is best to discourage this when the foal is very young and never let it form into a habit. It seems cute when the foal is young to let him l**k and nibble you but when he gets bigger and has large teeth, it can be very dangerous. First of all, how old is your horse and is he a gelding or stallion? Young horses tend to bite more than older horses because they are investigating things BUT young horses are easier to train NOT to bite than older horses. Stallions tend to bite more often than geldings. Let me know the age and s*x of your horse and I will have a better idea how to answer your question. Also, please let me know your level of experience training horses. If you are not a very experienced trainer, this might be a problem that you will need a professional to help you with. If the horse is getting worse, this is not good.

Answer 9

He must be checked over by a vet, farrier, dentist and backman (and a saddle fitter if this problem is when under saddle). There is likely to be some kind of physical aspect tied into the physoclgical issues that this horse has. If he been abused then you need to gain his trust. You must be firm with him though, he needs boundarys and must learn that biting is wrong. Don't respond with violence though, but work on the "comfort zone" thing - if he's good, be nice. When he's behaving like this, take him out of his comfort zone (ie, if he likes attention, ignore him). The fact that this is every once in a while suggests there is a trigger. Make a diary of when it happens, write down EVERYTHING you can thing of:

What the weather was

What were you wearing?

Where were the other horses?

What time of day was it?

Was anyone with you?

etc etc and try and see if there is a pattern. For example, we have a horse that will run a mile if someone comes towards her wearing sunglasses. No one knows why but we just all take our shades off and out of sight when approaching her. This horse will take work, and a lot of it. I would liase with your vets etc. as to the best course of action once your vet has assessed him.

Good luck, feel free to email me.