Teaching a Miniature Horse to quit nipping!?

Question

I have a 1y/o Mini named Spartacus (Sparty). He is like a little puppy dog, and it is really frustrating me with his nipping. Everyone kinda thinks it is funny because he is so little and t doesn't hurt so they think nothing about it. But it is extremely annoying when he is nipping your hand the whole time you walk him and trying to nip you when you brush him and so on and so forth.

I tried punching him in the chest and shoulder...with no avail. He just thinks I am playing with him. I know he is 1 and still a baby so will it work over time if I just keep fermly telling him NO and smacking or punching him in the side or chest. (obviously the punches and smacks I do aren't hurting him so don't call the spca or anything ^^)

Thanks...

Answer 1

Set up a training session.  Think like a lead mare.  If a young horse bites at the lead mare she will rebuke with a kick or a bite.  You cannot do this so you will have to smack or elbow.  Next a mare would run the young horse away from her.  You need to have your horse on a lounge line and make him work.  Then try again repeat until he realizes you are more dominant.  This is not mean.  It establishes your role in the herd and he needs to trust you as a leader. The more you move his feet the more he will respect you.   Do not give treats by hand that is the quickest way to make a mini a piranha.

Answer 2

Some people may not agree with this method, and I haven't tried it myself but try taking a golf tee and use the end that you would poke into the ground on him. Hold it so just the end is sticking out from your fingers and when he goes to nip, just poke him in the lip. It will teach him that its uncomfortable to try to nip... As I said I havent tried it but I heard it works.... and obviously you dont jab the poor horse, just let him kinda poke himself with it.

Answer 3

A miniature horse still has the same mindset of a regular horse. So you need to approach it the same way. I suggested some stuff in "How to stop a biting horse". With a miniature horse, I would say do the same leading exercises. That works better than hitting or using a chain, because the leading exercises work on the horse's psychology. So there is no punching instead you are showing him with body language that you are his "alpha mare". Just because its a miniature horse doesn't change this. So take him for a walk and do some of these exercises.

Read this article, it may help:

http://www.train-horses.com/leadingyourh...

Cheers,

David

http://gentlenaturalhorseman.blogspot.co...

Answer 4

call rob from that show rob and big that was on mtv.  they had a mini horse.  I forgot what they did with it before they had to give it away.

Answer 5

Ok, this might make you feel dumb when you do it, but it works. As someone mentioned above, he is biting you to try and establish his dominance over you. Now, have you ever watched a herd of horses that has a young stallion in it? Normally, the little guy will mess around and play-fight with the alpha stallion to try and pretty much say, "Hey look at me, I'm really strong and tough...tougher than YOU". Haha. Now, the alpha stallion will then proceed to easily kick the c**p out of the colt, and in his way saying, "Umm...yeah right. You're not that tough".  Now, let's apply this thought to you and Sparty. You will play the role of the all-powerful alpha stallion, and Sparty will play the role of the colt who thinks he's 18hh and deadly. When he goes to nip at you, (here comes the part where you will feel silly) simply make a squealing noise, similar to that of a pissed-off horse, and turn away from him and kick out backwards at him like an angry horse would do. He should be able to relate your actions to that of another horse's, so hopefully it won't take long for him to understand that YOU are the dominate one, not him. I hope this helps, it worked with some of my larger horses, so a mini shouldn't be much of a hassle. :D

Answer 6

I would try tapping him firmly on the end of his nose right when nips and say no.Or pinch him on his neck like how the mare would nip him if he did something she didn't like.but timing is everything he has to know why you're doing it

Answer 7

everytime he bites u make him work. Weither it be make him do circles or sumthing that makes his feet move. He will eventually get the idea that he has to work when he bites.

Answer 8

Pinch the tar out of his nose every time he tries and and he'll stop in no time.

Answer 9

try smacking him on the mouth lightly or using a chain when you walk him you may have to smack him a little harder on the mouth

Answer 10

I hate these -it always ends up sounding like half of the answers are telling you to beat your horse, however retaliation is the only true way to stop it. Your action must be instant - he nips you smack, I find that a quick backwards flick of the fingers onto the nose gets a good reaction without being overly forceful.. My daughter favours the pinch and twist method which is roughly equivalent to a bite.

I do worry when people tell others to bite their horse simply because your face is a lot shorter than a horse's face which means you have to get so close that you could get hurt if he throws his head in response to you biting him.

I do like the answer that tells you to squeal, spin and kick - never tried it myself but it makes perfect sense.

Edit> Do not feed him treats by hand and try to get everyone else to see the importance of this too. It may be cute and funny to have him nibbling at hands etc right now but what if he does it to a baby ? - if he gets away with this he is going to get worse. Also you need to get him gelded ( if you haven't already)

Answer 11

I hate when people ask this question! Just bite him back. Dont be afraid of getting your mouth dirty. This is a sign of dominance, the biting is just the start. Stop this before it gets worse. Biting him back every time will do it, he will stop once he understands he cannot dominate over you. Dont be afraid of hurting them, in this case. It really does work, ive had horses bite in the past and they dont get away with it.

Answer 12

You are not hitting hard enough.  But for a youngster try the bump method.  this is where you stick your elbow out or hold an object out and as her tries to bite you, you let him bump his nose on it with a little more force than he applied.  In other words you bump him but make him think he bumped himself.  He will learn that trying to bite causes him to bump himself instead of getting that adrenaline rush from the play.

The spin and kick method, I give a low throated very human "NO, you don't!" works great for foals.  I have not tried it on anything older and do not have mini's so I do not use it on yearlings since they can kick the you know what out of you.  Under no circumstances would I use that on a full sized horse but yours is a mini so what the hey, give it a try!