Help with Colt from Work!

[Alyria Leila]

ok there is a 2 year old colt from work that i'm looking for some advice with!

He is generally quite good however he is relly bad for trying to bite you!
I do believe he is teething but chewing stuff is not the same as whiping his head at you with the intention to bite!!
Now he's never gotton me yet!!! if he does it i tell him off with a v.firm no and nip him on the neck!! this is having little to no effect so i have take to giving him a smack on the shoulder or chest? is there anything else i can do!

would like to say i have never hit him round hid head or his face!

Also when you ask him to back up rather than do it he throws his head in the air makes a grumpy face then tries to bite you! he will move in any other direction but not back!

again i dodge thje bit and flap my arms and stand my ground and make him go back, now i would normally just throw my weight into it a bit and shove him but that would put me in the firing line of the teeth!

any adcvice is helpful!

Also when he does what is asked like go back or move or is generally well be have i praise himin a softer happier voice!

Few more points he is starting to get very bored as not been turned out as the road to the field is just to icy! he is also beign gelded once the vet can get out!

Thanks!!!

[My Crazy Clan]

I try to ignore them, they soon learn that we are not taking crap.

[Tarka the horse]

First up, horses are not people so really, when asking him to go back, just pushing all your weight on him is only going to teach him to resist you, not comply with you. You need to to be asking him very softly and as soon as he moves, release your ask and praise him for it. That way, you'll only even have to use a very light ask, rather than "pushing" him.

Treat him like a horse, not a child. Smaking wont work as it's not in their vocabulary. He could've give a cr4p if you smack him on the neck. Block yourself properly so that he ends up hitting himself on you before his teeth have the chance to come into contact with you. If he's coming at you from the side, block him with your arm (I guess the easiest way to describe this would be to do a "chicken wing" type thing!!!!!), if he's nipping you round the legs, life your leg up and block yourself. If he's in front of you, like Emm said, block yourself with your arm out front. If you're quick enough, which you should be as you know him and have been working with him, he'll make contact with you before his teeth have a chance to. Make sure it;s not YOU making contact with him, it's HIM making contact with you. It's all about manners, respect and your personal space. At the moment, he has no respect for you having any personal space.

Don't yell at him, explode at him, smack him afterwards, just carry on doing everythign you're doing and just block yourself, otherwise you're giving him attention (even if it is negative) for doing something impolite.

[AengusOg]

I agree with tarka.

Colts, by their nature, are always trying to get the upper hand. It's all part of growing up for them, and their ultimate aim is to dominate other colts. In your case, the colt is only doing what is natural to him. He is a young entire male horse.

By slapping him and attempting to use your weight against him, you are playing right into his hands as this will only encourage him to try harder to win the situation. He will always lean into contact, unless you train him properly to yield, so a contest of weight and strength will always go his way, and will only serve to teach him how weak you are.

Watch colts playing in the field and you will see them dodge and parry nips and shoves, often rearing and plunging about. You don't want to get into that sort of contest with a colt, do you?

So you have to think about how you are going to dissuade your colt from seeing this as a contest, whilst giving him a good reason to desist in his biting. If you don't deal with this now, he will escalate his attempts at your domination and will become very difficult and dangerous.

Nipping his neck is just what another colt may do to him, so that is not really something which will help. Causing him to throw his head about will only encourage him to be keen to get back at you, so he will always be looking for an opportunity.

Going about your business quietly and confidently, and letting him come into contact with your elbow/foot, as has been suggested, without any fuss on your part is the best way of dealing with this, and he'll soon get fed up of having his face knocked and, because you don't take him on, he'll tire of the game.

[Zeitgeist Mom]

Also agree with Tarka. At the risk of sounding monotonous (cause I always bring this up :rolleyes:) but I think playing the first 4 Parelli games would REALLY help a horse like that. It will help him to be more respectful of your space, and gives you the upper hand in a language the horse can understand. Parelli also uses the 'blocks' that Tarka was describing above. Nikita also used to just push back when I tried to back her up. Now all I have to do is wiggle my finger in front of her. I haven't taken Parelli that far, because I am not sure it is the way I would want to ride etc, but I do strongly recommend the first four games for having a well mannered horse on the ground. Nikita is an absolute pleasure in the stable because of it. They are also very similar to the on the ground 'games' that Kelly Marks uses, but I think the Parelli ones are slightly better as they give the horse a more definite idea of what they need to do.

[bimba]

TJ can be a bit like this, I think what happens is he trys to be dominant with Mac and gets put in his place so he trys to be dominant with the humans. I use a similar method as Emm, if he comes at you to bit you make an exagerated gesture like waving your arms along with a noise he associates with being naughty - both mine respond to a short sharp no or growling, this should stop him in his tracks then just carry on with whatever you were doing but don't let him come to you until he is no longer being agressive. If he does bite you push him away firmly (again you can use a voice command too) and then turn your back on him and ignore him, keep repeating it until he is no longer behaving in an agressive manner. To be honest there all pretty insecure at this age and it doesn't take them long to want to be with you rather than being pushed away so they stop the agressive behaviour.