stop a foal biting?

Question

ok, so my mare has a new foal, well hes not new, hes just over 3 weeks old. last night and tonight we intorduced the headcoller to him, but hes started biting. how can we stop this?

thanks for everyones help so far.

i really dont want to have to hit him. i have a 5 yr old mare too, and she was hit as a youngster and is now extremely head shy.

also, i dont own the mare who foaled, shes quite, lets say violent. we couldnt get into the field until about a week ago because she wouldnt let anyone in. so ive been building up trust between myself and the foal, before i attempt to put anything on him.

Answer 1

Well I politly want to disagree with slapping the horses nose or giving him treats. I've been around foals all my life, grew up with my father who bred paints and have learned alot of tricks that really work well without creating a new issue such as a flinchy horse everytime a hand approaches his nose... foals don't understand yet that it is a bad thing to do and will not understand why a human keeps hitting him.

What I have found to work, and not result in a new habit, is too lightly grab the uppler lip and squeeze it just enough to where the foal raises his head to get away from the pressure. It only takes a few times and he will learn that he doesn't like the light "twitch" effect. He'll more than likely look at you like what the heck but it does work and they will not get head shy or hate their noses being touched by human hands. Just don't squeeze to hurt the colt and release as soon as he "moves" from the pressure. I promise this works if done correctly, I've worked with literally hundreds of foals throughout my life and I've never had 1 nipper that didn't respond to this method!

I never smack a foals face, there are too many techniques available to teach a foal, who is literally an open book, you get to write the pages and it can be very rewarding when written clearly.

Answer 2

whatever you do do not hit the foal respect his wish that the headcollar be removed every now and again too 3 weeks is a bit young to keep it on all the time try for 2 months and to stop a horse from biting you as its a foal it is just probably play or because he's only a few wks old do not raise your voice but firmly grab his headcollar and say no he may not get the drift but after you do it a while he may if not consult a real proffessional example vet or horsebreaker

they will always say be firm but let them make the mistake before you correct it don't anticipate it let it happen then correct it

as my instructor once explained to me if your mum all of a sudden came running and storming into your room and screamed clean your room this instant and you hadn't even messed it up well then you would probably have no idea what shes talking about and check her into get an appointment with a phsychiatrist, unfortunately your foals hooves are to big to ring a phsychiatrist so bring in a translater if need be so they can help you, the people around you may not be the best people to use as they may have beliefs that are incorrect or just old wives tales

hope this helps but remember if someone wacked you over the head for just wanting a bit of playtime and asking in your language nicely you would get distressed and soon anticipate it and become headshy

Answer 3

When he bites just give him a light tap on his nose. He will soon learn not to bite. I must say though that 3 weeks old seems a little bit to old to just start putting on the headcollar. Our foal from this year had his headcollar on at a day old and at a week old could be led in and out from the field with no leadrope, just a headcollar, leading the mare on one side and him on the other. We can still do that now and he had all four feet picked up at a week old as well. The younger they are when you teach them all of this then the easier they are to handle when they are older and this way they learn to trust you. We have been breeding and training our own Standardbreds for harness racing for 15 years.

Answer 4

You need to be firm with this foal. they all bite, but its important you get control of it now. Recently bought 3year old with almost no discipline and he almost took the arm off me with his teeth!!! Not funny! I had the same problem with biting when the head collar was being put on him. He is a big horse and I found the best method was having something like a metal curry comb that you put in front of his mouth as he goes to bite. My horse bit the curry comb about twice before realising he was hurting himself and now I don't have too much trouble with him. You do have to be watching out for the moment they attempt to bite and be quick about moving the comb in front of their mouth, they do the rest! As he is a young foal he should learn quickly. A sharp rap on the nose also helps! Good luck.

Answer 5

you dont necessarily have hit the foal in most case that cause head shy.Just discouraged him,watch to make sure,be prepared.you can tell when a horse is going to bite and when he trys yell at him ,fling your arms a bit.I know it scarring them but they have to know your not one to bite.do this several times when he trys.if it doesn't solve it them start to tap him on the nose,start light and work your way up.but also teach him not to be afraid of your hands.Or you could make him discipline himself,usually you stand on the side to do up there halther.stick out your elbow.so if he dose try to bite he disciplines himself, and not putting the grudge on you.and when your teaching him have the halter with you.It will tell not to bite while putting it on and these tactics well teach not to bite.

Answer 6

Go out into a field with lots of horses or a couple and watch them for a little while you should be able to see how the horses react to one another. If one horse bites another horse the horse that gets bit will probably bite or kick back at the one who bit him. Its nature way! If hes going to bite you give him a smack back just not on the face and horse also know when another horse about to bite them get him before he gets you let him know you are boss.

Answer 7

He needs to be disciplined for biting in the same way you would discipline any horse. Give him a good swat and yell at him as soon as it happens. But, DON'T aim for his head. After he reacts, forget it. It does no good to smack him or punish him more than three seconds after he bites. He won't be upset with you if he knows why he's being punished. If you were to watch his mother, she would turn around and bite him on the butt if he got too mouthy with her.

OTOH, don't forget to teach him what a good guy you can be, by giving him some good scratches on his butt and back. He'll be happier to see you then.

Answer 8

Depends on the foal. For some a simple verbal scolding will suffice, but for some you'll just need to smack them on the nose whenever they bite. (If it doesn't sting when you smack them, they'll simply think of it as a game, and bite all the time. So if a smack is needed, don't brain him or anything, but make it count.)

Definitely you want to reward positives and overlook negatives where possible, but if it becomes a chronic problem you'll need to resort to discipline.

Answer 9

Muletrainer is right! You give him a carrot, and he will get confused on what is right or wrong! get contral of that situation now before you have a 500 pound biting machine! As soon as he bites, smack him on the nose, make him feel "Uncomfortable" Thats not abuse! So throw that away! I'l say it again, abuse is when you have a finger stitched up from an unbroke horse!

Answer 10

He is just exploring, though it does need to be disciplined... just like babies chew on toys they are exploring and if somehting hurts, they learn and in time stop. I like to use my elbow rather than my hand, cause if I slap with my hand, the next time he sees my hand up, he make think it's ready to hit. Instead, I use my elbow, because how often do you use your elbow for anything other than to move your arm?