Solve the problem of a biting horse
Here’s the Chapter, as it is in the book.
MY HORSE BITES ME – A CLASSIC EXAMPLE OF THE IMPORTANCE OF STAYING OUT OF THE OH SHIT ZONE
(You’ll notice the simple, easy to read style and earthy humour!)
We recently had the most amazing example of a biting horse in a clinic. This magnificent giant warmblood was trying to bite his owner whenever he felt like it, which was frequently. He had savaged her husband in the paddock and had to be fed with a piece of poly pipe in the hand to stand him off. They had thought it was a dominance issue and maybe there was some dominance involved, but read on and you’ll see that was not the whole picture.
In the clinic, the owner did her brand new leadership at liberty work and did it beautifully. Here he was coming into her with soft legs, soft eyes and the most beautiful energy and then with the most beautiful energy … he bit her again!
I’d never seen anything like it and it took me a moment to figure out what was happening. This was a horse who had only ever been told biting was unacceptable when he was in his oh shit zone. In the oh shit zone, the horse (and us too!) only program reactions, they do not learn to thinkingly respond. The way the brain works, he was reacting the same way all the time, even though that reaction was getting him whacked and not serving him at all. He had reacted to the whacking, but never actually learned that biting was unacceptable. This was an amazing realization, with implications for all kinds of behavioural problems and training techniques.
To fix this biting, she had to change the way she was dealing with it - the old way of punishing him for biting was not working. Instead of punishing him for biting in ways that put him into his oh shit zone, she aimed to keep him in his not too sure zone where he could learn new things, where he could learn that biting was unacceptable to her – where he could learn to co-operate and try - and where he could respond instead of just react. When he went to bite her, she defended herself with her elbow or whatever she needed to do to actually keep herself safe, trying to keep him in the not too sure zone with however she chose to defend herself - then she waved her rope at him, sent him away and changed speed and directions with the right attitude (no “blame” or “bad boy” – just “no thankyou, that is not acceptable”) - thereby getting leadership.
In a very short period of time he had stopped biting at her altogether. This had been going on for ten years, so this was a pretty amazing deal!
But remember, even with such a dangerous habit, this was still not a “bad horse”. It was a horse who was checking his owner out for leadership, it was a horse with behavior that he had learned, it was a horse who had never learned to think and respond, only to react with something that then became a habit. But he was never a bad horse.
Very few of you reading this chapter will have an experience as big and as dangerous as this, but you can still deal with biting in exactly the same way.
Send them out at liberty and explore changes of speed and direction – as clear and soft and gently as you can before you ask them to come in and join you. If you have a big biter, don’t allow your horse to come to you at liberty unless he has a really nice soft look on his face and body – pretty close to his comfort zone. And if he bites at you, stop that from happening with your elbow or anything else that works in the not too sure zone - send him off again and change speed and directions with the right attitude, doing your best to operate in the not too sure zone and stay out of the oh shit zone.
If he’s in his halter and on a lead when he has a bite at you, stop that from happening as best you can, again I find driving my elbow quite hard into his head as he’s coming at me works well. Get leadership back by holding the lead rope shortish and walking to his back end, tapping his butt out of the way if it hasn’t moved by the time you get there.
I’m smiling as I’m telling you this story. I don’t know how many times I watched Pat Parelli giving a seminar. And every time, without fail, in question time, someone would ask him what they can do when their horse bites. Pat would stand there seriously and ask “do you mean before he’s bitten you, or after?” The person would always look puzzled and say “after, of course”. And Pat would reply “I find rubbing the spot really helps”.
What he’s getting at, is that WHILE the horse’s head is coming towards you to bite, you can do something like drive your elbow into his head or BEFORE he bites you, you can change his mind, but AFTER, there’s nothing to be done except figure out how to get rid of your pain as best you can.
I will add a little to that. If you ever do get bitten, do something to change speed and directions and do your best to do that without going over the top emotionally and without taking it personally. It’s not personal! They do it to each other all the time without taking it personally. We just have to figure out how to communicate that biting is unacceptable to us.
Stay connected to his mind and look for other reasons that he may be biting. Sometimes when we are not listening, they think it’s the only way to get our attention when they are trying to tell us something. Know that if they missed you, they missed you on purpose. Their speed and accuracy is so good, that if they missed you, they meant to miss you, so just figure out what they are trying to tell you.
Backing him up is changing speed and direction too, as is driving his front end away.
If he was biting all the time in the halter and lead, I would be going back to liberty and really getting it right there.
As we’ve seen in this dramatic example, the key in teaching him that it is unacceptable behavior is to be found by staying out of the oh shit zone zone. If he was in his comfort zone, you haven’t done enough or changed speed and directions with enough energy. We do not want him in his comfort zone when he bites – he is not going to learn anything new there either.
Bobby’s brother is now not only a magnificent looking animal, but a magnificently co-operative one, bringing great joy to his owner. Yep, Bobby’s brother. It was a very emotional clinic.
If this chapter appeals to you and you would like to completely understand what we are talking about, then click here to buy the electronic book “Bobby’s Diaries - Straight From the Horse’s Mouth to You”. You could be reading this book in five minutes through the most secure financial site in the world. Not only will you solve your biting horse problem, but you will develop a relationship that will astound you.
You can read Monty’s story in Gina’s own words in the “People’s Stories” Category on the right hand side of the page.
