Disrespectful Horses? or Just Curious?

I received two e-mails with alike questions about horses who are kinda nippy to their owners. Horses are curious and with most of them, when they are comfortable, they start exploring around and usually this is with their mouths. My horses, as do most horses, do things like play with a gate latch, nuzzle your pockets in search of treats things like that.......one of my horses can open a gate latch if I don't set it properly, so sometimes I just set it up for him to unlatch then watch him flip the gate open with his nose. Sometimes I'll spend 5 minutes playing this game with him where he gets the gate open, then I back him a step then re-shut it, and so on. I think it's good for his mind.

I generally try to let horses be horses when I can. One of my horses likes to put ropes in his mouth, like the picture at the below left, with him pulling on a rope I had hanging up next to him being tied to a trailer. Every once in a while, when I'm throwing a loop from horseback he will bend to the right and put the rope in his mouth.

He will also pull some slack out of the lead line attached to one of my functional tie rings, just enough so he can get to the alfalfa cubes bucket in the trailer door, in the photo above at right. He can open a bucket, push the lid off and get to the cubes.  Sometimes he lifts the bucket with his teeth and drops it on the ground closer to himself.  Basically in my way of thinking, he is displaying some intelligence and the ability to think, so I just let him do that sometimes.  

Richard wrote: "I have a 8 year old Gelding. He's just used for trail riding. I'm his second owner. He's generally a good natured horse, but sometimes he can be a knothead. Sometimes he will bend around and nip or nuzzle at my boots, always on the left side. He never actually bites and takes ahold of my boot, he just nips. It usually catches me off guard and I flinch.  He also picks up grooming brushes if they are too close to him and chews on the handles.  Is this something normal and is there something I can do to negate this?"

I think it is normal for a horse to get curious and investigate things with his mouth.  It sounds like your gelding is just bored and feels comfortable enough with you to bend around and play bite your boot or to grab brushes. This is sort of a good thing in that he is comfortable with you, but it is annoying and a distraction to him paying attention to you. The trick is to discourage this behavior without making it a federal offense.  Don't set the brushes close to his head or mouth for instance.   

Maybe the best strategy is to pre-empt the behavior of nipping at your boots. That means to be ready for it and with your response. As soon as you see his head bending towards your boot, try using your voice and be prepared for an immediate follow on re-direction of his head with a bump of the rein. You can also bump the toe of your boot on his nose. I don't mean kicking him in the face - I mean moving your boot in the stirrup forward a little as his head is bending so he makes contact a little sooner than expected.   Timing is everything here as the idea is for him to connect bending around to bumping his nose. Again, I wouldn't make a federal offense out of it. I think sometimes it's mentally good for a horse to explore around as long as it isn't dangerous to him or you. So, I try not to limit everything my horses do that is not productive. You can also spend a lot of time trying to limit harmless behavior.....I keep telling my wife that same thing about my behavior.

Paula asked: " I enjoy your website because I can make sense out of what you write. I couldn't find an article on what to do about a horse (my 10 year Mustang) who turns his head seemingly trying to bite me when I am haltering him. It's almost like he thinks I am going to give him a treat. He is a good boy, but this drives me crazy. Once in awhile I reach up high to get a halter on him and sometimes when he turns his head to move his lips on my arm or hand and I'll lose my grip on the halter and have to start over. Can you give me some ideas on what to try? Thanks in advance"

Thanks Paula, for letting me know that I am making sense at least to you. I'm thinking about sending you my wife's phone number. Maybe you can convince her I make sense once in a while.

On one hand it's a good testament to your relationship that your Mustang feels at ease to play bite at your boots. It's likely a game for him. On the other hand this behavior can get out of hand and at first will likely manifest itself it what appears to be distraction when you are on his back. The trick is to discourage this behavior without making it a federal offense. If he is play biting then retreating he knows it is behavior that he is not supposed to do.

You cannot be his pasture mate. You have to be the strict lead gelding. In other words, be the leader both on the ground and on his back.

You can fix it up like I describes to Richard in the above response, but the horse should be running into your hand or forearm.  Again, timing is very important, it needs to seem to the horse, that he is running into something.  I would also use my voice as a warning also.   I've had horses who want to put their mouths on me when I  was haltering, so a quick bump with my palm followed by rubbing him on the nose was the way I handled it.  Really, the same way you would correct a horse who has been routinely fed by hand and leads with his mouth when addressing you.     

If he is mouthy when you halter or saddle, he may also be crowding you when you are leading from the ground.  Be cognizant of him getting into your space and always back him off if/when he does this.   I had a client with a horse who always wanted to be on top on the handler.  I told him to always think 'what if the horse spooked?,....would you be in danger of getting over run?'  Sometimes a tool like a riding crop or dressage whip can be used to remind the horse to stay out of your safety bubble....just use it with the lowest energy necessary.  I think it's important if you drive a horse away and you also call him back to you so he can think about the different cues.   Hope this helps.