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Equusite.com > Equine Behavior > Biting Colt / Shy Filly
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Biting Colt / Shy Filly WRITTEN BY: Cheryl Sutor [Sept. 7, 2000] |
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Training Question: Just this week, we got two horses from a friend, a colt and a filly. They are both one year old, but have never been socialized! (I realize this is a "dog training" term, but I've trained dogs before, not horses. And yes, at least I do know that the two require completely different techniques. Which is why I'm at your site! :D ) The filly won't have anything to do with us. The colt is more "daring", but he's also bitten my husband. (Didn't break the skin, but did cause a bruise, so I would call this a bite!) Apparently, he was jealous when my husband was feeding the filly some grain, though the colt got his first? If you have a moment, I'd like your opinion. Have we "bitten" off more than we can chew? I'm really thinking that we are NOT the right people to try to tame these horses. Especially since I am afraid of the colt now. I have an eight year old son, as well, and want his experiences to be positive ones. From: Kris Trainer's Response: The very first thing I will suggest is to have the colt gelded, if he is not already. If you have not had extensive experience in training horses, it could be nearly impossible to teach a stud colt with blossoming hormones to behave. His current age, at one year old, is a perfect time to do this since he is young. The earlier you geld a colt, the less he will exhibit stud-like behaviors in the future, and the easier it will be to re-train him if he has already learned some of these behaviors. Having experience in training dogs will help you a lot when learning to train horses. Training horses is a bit harder, since it requires much more patience. Horses learn much slower than dogs do, and they need much more repetition before an action can be considered "learned". Just be patient and consistent, and you will do just fine. Training For The Filly: Your filly just needs to learn that socializing with humans has its rewards. Once she has learned to associate you with a pleasant experience, she will want to be near you often. All you need to do with your filly at this stage, is to slowly introduce her to pleasant experiences. If the colt seems to get in the way, or crowd you when you are attempting to socialize with the filly, keep them in separate paddocks or corrals while you are socializing with the filly. You do not want the colt chasing the filly away when you are trying to get her to stand still and accept your presence. Daily, walk up to her and softly brush her all over with your hand. Avoid "patting" her coat, since this motion is associated with the discomfort of a bite or kick from another horse. Just stroke her coat softly, and use your finger tips to "scratch" her itchy spots. Give her treats (carrots, apples, etc.), and lots of verbal praise. It may take some time for her to come around and learn to enjoy your company. In the beginning, you'll need to visit her several times a day (if possible), just to socialize with her. Keep your visits short (less than 15 minutes), so she does not become bored or annoyed by your presence, until she begins to learn that you are a great friend. She will then want you to stick around for longer periods of time. Training For The Colt: About the biting problem with your colt, it is very natural for him to "hog" all the food, even when he is fed first. You cannot teach him not to hog the food (since it is a primary survival instinct), but you can prevent his biting and bad behaviors. I would suggest that you feed them at least 40 feet from each other. Just drop the colt's feed into the paddock first, then walk 40 feet down the fence line and drop the filly's feed there. As long as the two horses are fed far enough apart, the colt will not abandon his own pile of food for the filly's (until he has finished his own food), and at that point, enough time has usually passed to allow the filly to each a substantial amount of her own food. If the problem continues, I'd suggest feeding them in separate stalls or paddocks, where the colt cannot take the filly's food. The reason your colt has bitten you, is that he is testing your authority. He wants to know who the leader is in this "herd". When he bites you and does not get disciplined, he learns that he can bite you any time he wants to get his way. He learns that he is higher in the pecking order than you. In order to train any horse successfully, in the horse's mind you must be higher in the pecking order than he is. You'll need to be very, very strict and consistent in your disciplining him. Biting is an extremely dangerous behavior, not only for you, but also for anyone else around you, and for anyone who handles your horse. Biting is the #1 bad behavior in horses. The reason for this, is that most people do not know how to respond to a horse who bites, so the horse gets away with it. The more he gets away with it, the more he will do it. When training a horse, your behavior toward the horse should be the same type of behavior that horses naturally exhibit towards each other. If it is not, the horse will have a much harder time understanding your requests. Horses bite and kick each other to move up in the pecking order. If horse 1 bites horse 2, and horse 2 doesn't bite back - but backs away, then horse 1 has successfully made his point: "I'm higher in the pecking order than you". If the horse 2 responds aggresively and bites back to make horse 1 back off, horse 1 has learned that his attempt failed, and that he is lower in the pecking order than horse 2. A horse doesn't just bite and kick to be mean, he bites and kicks to teach the other horses to respect his own personal space. This type of respect is a necessity in their survival skills. When your colt bites you, you must immediately respond as if you are going to kill him, just as any other horse would treat him. This is a method of discipline he already understands 100%, since he has instinctively practiced it ever since he was born, with his mother and other herd mates. In a herd, when he attempts to bite a horse that is higher in the pecking order than him, the other horse will perform aggressive behaviors towards him until he backs down. This is what you need to do with him to show him that you are higher in the pecking order. The instant he attempts to bite, aggresively step towards him and hit him on the side of his muzzle until he backs off and steps away. After he has backed off, approach him non-aggressively and pet him softly on the face and neck. Some people will say that this method of teaching a horse not to bite will make a horse head-shy, but that is simply not true. As long as you do not hit the horse for no reason, he will instinctively know that your response stemmed from his initial action, and he will not become head-shy. When physically disciplining your horse, there are a few rules that you must follow 100%. If you cannot follow these rules, physical discipline may make the situation worse.
You do not have to wait until the colt actually bites you to discipline him. If you see that he is even thinking of biting, you must discipline him. You do not want your colt even thinking that he could get away with it. If the colt has not bitten you, but is making you nervous by rubbing on you with his mouth, or gently nipping at your clothing, immediately place both of your hands on the sides of his muzzle and start rubbing. Rub with enough pressure to make it warm and uncomfortable for the colt. He will then pull his muzzle away from you to get away from the uncomfortable rubbing. With only a few repetitions of this, the colt learns that by putting his mouth on you, he experiences something uncomfortable, and therefore, learns not to put his mouth on you. In addition to this information, you may want to read our articles on Equine Behavior, Ground Manners and Horse Training Principles and apply what you learn to the time that you spend with both of your horses. What's important to remember is that anyone can train a horse. Training horses is only as easy or as difficult as you make it. It's just a matter of experimenting with methods and finding out which ones work for you and your horse. Just give them lots of love and care, and read up on whatever training techniques you can get your hands on. By taking it slow, being very patient and consistent, both of your horses can learn to respect you and enjoy your company! |
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