At 14:55:09 on 13.04.11, flashboy wrote:
My miniature horse foal keeps biting, bucking, rearing and jumping up. He is a 2 year old colt. I plan to geld him,but he has not droped yet fully. Dibky wants to bite and chew on EVERYTHING. He has toys in the yard that he can play with, but I seldom see him using them. We have a pet goat who lives with him and his mother, and he is often seen chewing on her legs and tail (she has bite marks to prove it) I try to enforce the no-bite rule when I am around him by pushing his head away and tapping him on the muzzle, but when I leave for the day, there isn’t anyone to stop him. Also, when I turn my back to him, he will often run up behind me and rear/kick me. He also does this to his mother by jumping up and placing his hooves right below her withers. He let me take his halter on and off him at 5 days old and would move back and to the side with pressure too, but now he is so focused on biting or chewing on me that when I ask him to do something, he ignores my signals. Is this a stage, or is it a habit??? And how would I be able to fix it and make him behave?

At 00:24:11 on 14.04.11, JessAndGrenville123 wrote:
Ok so this sound like he is getting mature and his testostorone levels are growing higher. First i would say seperate him from his mother as 2 years olds have been known to sire foals occasionally. And as for the biting horses like to explore and play with their mouth because they don't have hands so they need to learn nuzzling is ok but biting is a no go but this sounds like a dominance thing and when you turn you back and he rears at our back he is probably trying to mount you as in 'i am in charge here' and he is also trying to mount his mother so definately seperate them. I would start with join up, it will probably take a LONG time and be very tiring but you need to assert yourself as being in charge and i would put him in a paddock on his own since he is abusing the goat too! I would also buy a pressure head collar like a dually head collar and i would use a long line and each time he invades your personal space say 'away' and flick the end of the lunge line in his direction and as soon as he backs off carry on but if he doesn't use the pressure head collar to back him up and only release after a few steps so he knows what you want and similarly if he bites or kicks say 'away' and chase him away with you body language first, if he holds his ground use the lunge line and if he still persists use the head collar. It may be a long drawn out process or he may get it straight away but you have to be persistant. Good luck :)

At 00:38:06 on 14.04.11, JessAndGrenville123 wrote:
here is a video of join up and a pic of a dually head collar

At 08:04:43 on 14.04.11, flashboy wrote:
hi thanks. with him being a miniature its hard to get the head collor (any head collor that fits him, he so small)

At 21:59:59 on 14.04.11, JessAndGrenville123 wrote:
erm you could always get a be nice pressure band that you can attach onto any existing head collar

At 13:50:20 on 16.04.11, Sophiee wrote:
I think a bit of Parelli will help, my 3y/o gelding does this and hes 17hh! he bites, headbutts, chews, tries to play with you (rear/jump on you/kick you) and he didnt respond to join up at all he'd square up to you and try to jump on you whether it was a leadrope or a lunge whip in your hand! He's the type of horse that doesn't care if you go to hit him, he thinks its a game. When he bites peoples automatic response is to hit him in the face and he's just like "is that all you got?" and goes in for it again. Hes not nasty just overly playful and i find the parelli carrot/stick approach is alot more effective. Its about respect and in extreme cases - if a horse is far too bolshy and is dangerous i have seen pat parelli use his stick to mimic an aplha horse. 1 smack in the stomach and the horse immediately stopped. but I've never had to do that and ive only seen it once on The Dog Whisperer where they got Pat parelli in to sort out a pony that was used for diasabled kids. It's all about respect, and Roy is now an angel for me and a nusaince to everyone else - i am the only one he behaves for so unfortunately i am the handler when it comes to breaking him in! Basically, you need to be able to get your horse to yield to you in 6 ways - forward, backward, left, right up and down (up and down are like advanced parelli but he goes on about them in his book.) First using finger tips and then using a rope. Once this is mastered you can play the 7 games and friendly games. You can google them or buy the book. The turn around in Roy is unbeliavable, he doesnt bite me, hasnt lifted a hoof, i can put tarps all over him, he follows me like a lamb and i can lead him without my dually headcollar. And I havent regilously read the book or bought the expensive dvds, i skimmed through the book googled the games and used what i had to do some of it myself, you dont need to go buying they're special ropes and sticks and headcollars, i use and lunge line, lunge whip (occasionally) and sometimes a schooling whip (for tounching them all over with and stuff, putting bags on the end etc.) Parelli headcollars are just rope pressure halters and you can adjust him - you may be abe to find one to ft better than a dually and they are cheaper too! There are lots of videos of parelli on youtube, it really does make a difference even if you dont go all the way. I am breaking my horse the usual way, but using parelli yields and games on the ground to boost his confidence and stimulate his playful side. It's realy worth a try! If you want ill video me doing some parelli and post it. Good luck!

At 14:00:06 on 16.04.11, Sophiee wrote:
Here's a really good video showing parelli level 1. Yields friendly games etc. It is essential you start off by making sure you can tounch your horse all over, first with a stick as an extention of your hand and second your hand. Once he's fine with that you can begin yielding . :)

At 21:12:25 on 17.04.11, JessAndGrenville123 wrote:
See i don't really believe in parelli lol i don't know why i just think i have seen too many horses ruined by it by losing trust rather than gaining it and my horse the first time i tried to join up nearly took my face off with kicks and charging at me, it took over an hour to join up but we got there eventually but i guess each to their own :) and also i don't think you should ever hit a horse, especially in the belly with a stick, horses don't understand hitting (its what i have to tell myself every time grenville makes me mad) and now my body language (even a slight change) is enough to send him running out of my personal space until i invite him back when he has been naughty but i do agree it is a respect thing