How to stop nipping or biting

A horse that nips or bites can be an annoying pest but don't feel bad or discouraged because it's actually a pretty common behavior in horses. The great news is: for most horses it's also usually pretty easy to fix.

When I was 14 years old, I bought a two year old Paint stud colt for $75 dollars. His mother was a big, chunky registered bay Quarter Horse mare and his father was a little paint pony. How that happened, I don't know but he came out as a chestnut and white paint with a black mane and tail and black stockings like a bay. I'm not exaggerating when I say he was breathtakingly beautiful. I was really into Native American Indians by that time and he looked like a painted war pony so I named him Red Cloud, after the famous Sioux Indian chief. An older lady sold him to me so cheap not only because he was of mixed breeding but also because he had never been handled, haltered or trained in any way! He had only been fed by people and nothing more. (Yeah, I was a crazy kid and thankfully, my dad didn't know anything at all about horses or I probably would have never owned Red Cloud and therefore would have never gotten all of that great experience in handling horses! Thanks Dad!)

Considering that he had never been handled, Red Could was actually a pretty nice guy but he was a biter from day one. I couldn't get close to him without him biting at me. Using the technique I'm about to share with you, I broke his biting habit in two days and he never bit me again. In fact, when I sold him a year and half later, he was still a stud but he was so sweet and gentle that you could do anything you wanted to: on, under and around him and an old farmer bought him from me as a present to his 3 year old grandson. That was 30 years ago. Since then, I've used the technique on other horses and I've given the advice to other people and the technique has stopped every single horse from biting.

Now when I talk about a biter, I'm not talking about a horse that is viciously trying to attack you! Unless you are a professional, do not go into a closed area such as a stall or corral with a horse that is violently and deliberately trying to hurt you. That horse has issues that probably can't be corrected by reading a book or webpage. Consult a professional that can come work directly with that type of horse. What I'm talking about is a generally well adjusted horse that just has a nipping problem.

Now there are some folks who will tell you that you should never hand feed your horse treats because it teaches them to nip. I totally disagree with that philosophy. Go ahead and give your horse treats if that's what you want to do. I have always given all horses I've been around treats by hand and yes, I have had a nipper or two but I've also quickly and easily broken that behavior and continued to hand feed the horse and have them never nip again. I will agree that hand feeding can teach a horse to nip (especially a young horse) but I also think it's a good opportunity for your horse to learn what is good to do and what is not. Horses are smarter than some give them credit for. They absolutely can learn that they can have treats but biting or nipping is just not the thing they need to be doing (and not something they will want to continue doing)

In the case of a mild biter or nipper, you can usually cure the problem within just a couple of days. Carry a thin, sharp object such as a nail or toothpick in your pocket or hand for a few days whenever you're going to be around the horse. Now before you freak out on me, we're not going to stab at the horse it. The objective is not to draw blood or create a wound. We're talking about a slight pinprick, something along the lines of being stuck by a thorn or a briar and you're not even going to prick the horse with it. You're going to allow him (or her) to prick themselves. Every time you get near the horse, be nonchalent and go about your normal routine but have the nail or toothpick ready in your hand with the pointed end facing out. Hold it in your hand so that it's hidden, with just the tip sticking out maybe a quarter of an inch. When the horse reaches for your hand to nip, hold the object so he runs his muzzle into it. You may have to slightly move your hand a little bit to "help" the horse prick himself with it but the objective is to try not to move your hand so that the horse doesn't realize that you're doing it to him. You want the horse to think they've hurt themselves. (Yeah, this really does work). When the horse gets pricked a few times, especially in the sensitive lips or muzzle, they think something along the lines of, "Wow, that hurt...that hurt me! That's not what I had in mind!" or "I don't think I'm gonna do that anymore." They basically learn that the action of biting hurts them. It usually only takes a few good pricks with the sharp object for them to stop nipping. It's exactly the same concept as a horse touching an electric fence or us grabbing a hot skillet without an oven mitt - - we usually only have to do it a couple of times and we learn not to do that anymore. No one, not even horses, are going to continue to do something that is painful to them.