At feeding time my horse trys to bit me....?

Question

what should I do?

Answer 1

Short term solution: chase him away from you. Whether you are in a stall or pasture, make him move away from you. Watch out for his butt that he doesn't have a clear shot at you as he's retreating. Dump the feed and walk out of the stall or out of the space of the feed. He'll be more interested in the feed than you walking away, but watch your back in either case.

Until you get comfortable with moving him away I recommend taking a longe whip with you. Don't hit him with it, unless he threatens you, i.e. he lunges at you with his teeth bared. Don't be afraid to use your voice and growl at him. Mostly you're just going to wave the longe whip around in his direction as a warning to get out of your space.

From my point of view, I don't like to be bothered while I'm eating and I give the same courtesy to my horse. She'll let me pet her and give her attention, but I know she really doesn't care and only tolerates it while she's eating, so for the most part I leave her be to enjoy her time over her meal.

You should be able to approach your horse and lead him away from the feed in case of an emergency, so that is worth practicing. You never know.

Long term is to "desensitize" him to your presence. He sees you as competition for feed, so he threatens you to get out of the way, the feed belongs to him. You can begin hand feeding him, talking to him while he eats from your palm. Eventually you can hold the bucket while he eats from it, graduating to his feed bin while you stand next to him and pet him.

Good luck and always stay safe.

Answer 2

What is the situation your horse is in? Is it fed in a stall or pasture? Either way, the best thing to do is to pour the feed in the bucket and let your horse eat in peace. A lot of horses become aggressive at feeding time, especially if other horses are around. Try pinching the muzzle and making a loud SHHH sound when your horse tries to bite. This seems to work with most. Just make a quick pinch with your thumb and pointer finger, don't grab a big chunk or hold on to it. Hopefully this will help and eventually the loud SHHH sound will be enough to keep your horse out of your space.

Answer 3

Don't give your horse tit bits as this makes them nippy. If your horse is being aggressive over a feed bucket, I would just pop it over the door & leave your horse in peace to eat. If your horse tries to bite you as you pop the feed over the door then it warrants a smack on the nose as this is unacceptable. In my experience, most horses that snap like that are unlikely to become headshy as long as you only do it at the time you feed them & don't make a habit of hitting them around the head. There is a little thing called self preservation when you are dealing with an animal as big as a horse, it is essential your horse learns a few basic ground rules about things that are unacceptable behaviour eg kicking & biting.

Answer 4

Good grief!
Never hit a horse in the face! You will have a mad head shy horse on your hands. If your horse is trying to bite at you at feeding time, set his food down away from him take care of a chore away from his view and come back in 5 or 10 minutes. Then try and put his feed in his feeder, if he tries to nip at you just back away and let his food sit for a few more minutes. If you fling your arms around yell at him smack him, you are just asking for a more aggressive horse. YOU make the decsion that you will not tolerate biting. Dont say a word to the horse, just act as though, ok bubba, you are just gonna have to wait until you settle before you eat. I have had this problem in the past in training other folks horses at my ranch. You are Alpha yes, but in an animal this size you have to be very careful not to ruin any kind of relationship you want to build. So go easy and stay calm! Dont let him get to you. It really does work! Be patient, thats the main goal.

Answer 5

Please Please never hit a horse around the head area, this is sure to make them head shy and aggressive and will make your situation worse!! How long have you had your horse? Has he always had plenty of food? Is he fed at the sam time as others? If so make sure he is the first one to be fed. Push him back away from the stable door before you feed. If he trys to bite walk away and come back later try the same thing. Never feed this horse tip bits from your hand.

If this becomes a persitant propblem you can get feed manger that swing from the outside of the stable to the inside through a hole in the wall, and you wouldn't have to go near him while he is eating at all.

Good Luck

Answer 6

a lot of horses get a little more aggressive at feeding time. especially if there are other horses around. for the most part if your horses tries to bite it could be an issue with respect. how long have you had this horse and how is the respect issue between you two any other time? when i first got my mare she tried to bite anyone who approached her. i started with alot of ground work and worked up my place in the herd as herd leader. this doesnt mean to be bigger and badder, it means to get the respect as leader. when she tried to bite me once i bopped her on the nose and did not back away with my body language and she hasnt done it since. you have to establish your role and herd rank. of course, there could be other factors for bad attitude such as health but theres not much else to go on here with this question. my guess is a respect issue. here is a great website for horse behaviors. i found it very helpful when i got my mare. she was a major priss with an attitude before. once we established who was alpha and we did it with respect for one another things are entirely different and shes a dream and a sweetie pie.

http://www.wayofthehorse.org/HelpCenter/index.html

scroll all the way down to the help center archives and youll find soo many questions and answers to just about anything related to your horses behavior like biting. good luck!

Answer 7

A little more information would help. Are you in a pasture, in a stall, is it a stallion, how often do you feed... these would all help. I personally believe that your horse has bad manners. Tie him first, put his feed in a bucket where you intend him to eat, but not where he is tied. Then walk to him, untie him and hold the rope while you take him to the bucket.

Answer 8

I had this problem with my partners paint ...(he didn't respect me)
I watched a program (clinton anderson I think, or parrelli)
anyways, they said to "decide" when my horse eats...
your horse is being dominant over you.
what I did with CJ, was...I would bring his bucket and if he pinned his ears or reached for the bucket..I put my hand up in front of his face and waved him away...when he turned his head to look away from me (he did eventually) I would put his food in his bucket....I did this a few times..and now he knows I am not the bottom member of the herd...every time I feed he turns his head away from me and waits for me to give him his feed.
He also eats his grain a little less aggressively, he used to throw it all over the place and beat his bucket back and forth.
yeah...he had BIG dominance issues.
bottom line is though, we now get along great!

Answer 9

you could try leading your horse to the feed instead of taking the feed to him. if he is in a head collar you can control his head movements. stop feeding titbits it is a definate no and is why most horses will bite you

Answer 10

you are letting the horse donimate you. You have to show them who boss. Otherwise you will end up with a potentially dangerous horse