Ask The Horse Trainer!
 
Email training questions to David at dave@practicalequinetraining.com and each Galloping Grape Newsletter he will select from submissions and provide an answer.  Please use the subject line of “Galloping Grape Training Question.”
 
Question:  I have a foal from last year now becoming a yearling.  He’s a real sweet boy, likes to be with me and wants my attention.  He’s always been a bit mouthy, but he’s bigger and he has begun to actually nip at me and grab my clothes.  I poke him on his nose, but he seems to think it is a game.  I don’t want to hit him, I’m afraid I’ll make him head shy—he’s already a bit sensitive near his ears and poll.  How do I deal with this without causing him to dislike me?
 
David’s Answer:  First I need to say that there are many training methods and techniques, and multiple solutions to any specific problem.  What the right solution is for you and your horse is what works for you.  Not all solutions, and maybe only one, will work best for you and your horse.  When you train your horse, which is whenever you are in sensory range of it, sometimes you need to be like a mechanic with a set of tools.  Sometimes you can spot the problem and select a specific size wrench to fit.  Sometimes you have to use trial and error, pick a wrench, try different sizes, and see if one fits—and if one doesn’t fit, try using some pliers instead. 
 
That being said, this is what I recommend for the scenario above.  First, there are some horse behaviors which they engage in with each other which are dangerous around humans.  Horses need to be taught that these are forbidden behaviors around you.  I include biting, kicking, rearing, striking, and bucking as forbidden, dangerous behaviors.  Generally these are also aggressive, which means when they do them, they intend to threaten or injure you.  Even if done in play though, you can be seriously injured or even killed.  I want to communicate very very clearly to a horse that these are forbidden behaviors, and I should never ever be tested by them trying to do these behaviors around me.  Not even by a foal or yearling.
 
Imagine you are watching a field of horses, one of which is a yearling, and it goes up to a horse superior in the hierarchy (that would be all of them at this point) and decides it wants to play by nipping at them.  What do you think the recipient horse of that behavior will do?  It will turn on them to attack--ears flat, nose and head pointed, leading with the teeth, and will attempt to bite them hard, and if necessary pursue them to get the point across.  In the wild, a recalcitrant 2 year old may receive a virtual death sentence by the lead mare telling the herd to reject the anti-social horse.  It will have to beg and demonstrate submission and genuine repentance to the entire herd before acceptance back into the herd.  Now, does the attack from the superior horse cause the yearling to dislike the attacker?  No, rather, it creates a healthy respect, and serves to socialize the yearling, teaching it what is acceptable and what is not.  “With discipline and respect, come love and understanding,” (Tommy Turvey, Equine Extremist).
 
Now back to your situation.  You should attack your yearling when you can tell it is even thinking of touching you with its teeth, before it even becomes a behavior—correct the thought.  If you can’t correct the thought, correct the behavior.  But there are some rules:
 
1.  Your attack must be initiated within 3 seconds of their thought or behavior.  If it is not (they bite, spin and leave), too bad to be you.  Anything you do to them when you do catch up to them makes you a tyrant, not a leader, and will create distrust and disrespect, not respect.
2.  Your attack must last no longer than 3 seconds.  During the attack, your emotions are as high as possible while still maintaining control, and after a maximum 3 seconds, your attack ceases, your emotions go to nothing, you pet them and you are best friends.  You forget anything occurred between you, never to be thought of or spoken of again.
3.  The yearling must not be attacked forward of the midpoint of the neck (not the head), this is to avoid injuring an eye, and with a young-un, care should be taken with the legs.
 
Now, what do I mean by attack?  First, the horse must know as a result of the attack that it made a serious mistake.  If possible, it should feel during the attack that its life could be at jeopardy.  Obviously that is not your hidden intent, but it should be your outward intent, for up to 3 seconds.  This is the philosophy I use on any of the above dangerous behaviors.  The exception to rule number 3 above regarding forward of the mid-neck line is biting.  My attack whenever possible for biting is to basically turn my hand into a claw, vise, or twitch—I grab the muzzle, dig my nails in as hard as I physically can, twist as hard as I can, hold for a second or two, then let go.  Then while they are still dazed (very common reaction), I pet the forehead, pet the head with both hands, talk soothingly, and work my hands down to the muzzle, and pet and rub/caress the muzzle.  Best of friends now, I make no hint that they ever thought about biting me.
 
Other dangerous behaviors must remain behind the neck line for your attack.  If you suspect you have a problem, consider carrying a long arm of some type—a lead line and dressage whip are my favorites.  You can reach out with them and smack hard on the shoulder or hip, without striking them with your hand which can break your bones, you want to stay out of range/danger from being kicked, and you certainly don’t want to pick up whatever could be handy and injure your horse.  Remember the Three Rules of Training:  you don’t get hurt, the horse doesn’t get hurt, and the horse is more calm after the training session.  You must have a plan on how to deal with dangerous behavior so when it occurs you can execute your plan.
 
Attacking your yearling’s muzzle with your hand when it tries to bite you will not create headshyness.  Even chasing your baby away when it is misbehaving does not make it want to be around you  less and dislike you.  Just the opposite.  It is leadership in the horse world.  It creates respect, if you are consistent and fair it creates trust, gives the yearling a feeling of security, and it will want to come to you, be with you, and be around you more.  Love will follow.  Love never precedes respect.  Truth be told, it probably liked being around you because it considered you to be a 2-legged slave animal.  Feed me, give me attention, rub on me, scratch my itches, serve me.  Oh, and be my play thing to bite, chew on, and kick.  Respect?  Love?  No, slaves don’t get respect.  Leaders do.  And good ones are loved tremendously. 
 
As I started out saying, there are other methods and techniques.  The above should work for 95% of people and their horses, but if it doesn’t for you and your horse, email me or call me.
 
David Yauch
Practical Equine Training
dave@practicalequinetraining.com
540-229-4255
www.practicalequinetraining.com