Horse bite question

[CountryMom]

I really hope your finger heals up soon. I am sure you are in a lot of pain. And no it wasn't the mare's intent to bite you, but then this is why I tell so many people not to feed treats by hand. Put the treat in the bucket next time.

 

[EweSheep]

Quote:
OMG! Good thing you werent wearing a kilt!

Bad places for horses to bite are the personal areas, I'd rather let them bite my arm than my fingers.

One old timer told me if a horse didnt let go, you use your finger knuckles into his eye to release it. Not sure if it works tho.

For nippers and chronic biters, feed treats in their feed pans or on floor or grass. That way they dont relate you for biting for treats.

 

[Wildsky]

Quote:
Do you think the emergency room folks really believed that story?

 

[EweSheep]

They SHOULD!

 

[EllyMae]

I'm surprised it took her so long to let go...the one and only time my gelding got my finger instead of the treat, he let go immediately when I said 'OUCH'! BUt then everyone tells me he is more human than horse, lol. I did have a patient that had his hand literally crushed by a crazy mare. When she clamped down on it, she hung on! My farrier had his ear ripped in half by a crazy mare. EEEk. Guess you know why I don't ever buy mares.

 

[pinkchick]

Sorry to hear about that..hope you heal soon!


As for the technique you inquired about NO!!!!!!!!
Once a horse bites down they must continue with the action. Their jaw is not like ours where we can stop mid-bite and release they CANNOT!!!! They must finish with the bite before they can release!

Grew up on horses, trust me hurts like no-ones business. My mare liked to lounge from the back of her stall at anyone walking by or climbing up the loft ladder. Sassy finicky little twit! Anyway, she grabbed my shoulder as I was walking out of the stall getting her water........OMG! CRUNCH!!!! I had the perfect set of identifiable dental records for her indented in my shoulder for the Medical Examiner I could have killed her!

 

[arlosmine]

I am so sorry about the bite...But- I am a horse trainer and have a rule in my barn: no hand-feeding of treats. Not only do un-intentional bites happen (like yours), but hand-feeding very frequently leads to pushy, potentially dangerous behaviours which well-meaning owners think are "cute until they escalate to the horse nipping someone to make them hurry up with the hand-out. . We give treats on the ground or in the feed-bucket.

 

[Momo]

Actually the thing about a horse having to bite all the way down before releasing is an old wives tale.

I have a sound I make when my horses are out of line or making a mistake, a sort of staccato little tst-tst sound, and whenever I make it they stop whatever it is that they are doing. I've never been bitten but I like to think that this sound would put a stop to an accidental bite in a hurry.

Plus, I am the boss mare around here and I wouldn't have spoken calmly and tried to distract it - I would have let the horse know instantly that they were making a big mistake of some sort! Imagine a horse accidentally chowing down on the lead mare - what would she do? I can tell you that her reaction would be immediate and definite!

 

[rjv_piper]

Horses don't let go. Once they get a hold of something, they instictivly have to bite untill it breaks. I'd just practice holding the treats in your palm and not useing your fingers at all. Treats are fine, but don't spoil them... My grandma feeds my horses treats a lot of the time, now my mare searches my pockets for them...

Just be careful and know that if you are around horses, you are most likely going to get hurt because they have a mind of their own weather it's getting bitten, stepped on, hit with a metal buckle, fall off... anything. It just happens.

 

[al6517]

Quote:
I also use this practice, no feeding of treats by hand, I have seen more barn sour horses that most women think is sooo cute, until this happens then they say it was not the animals fault. anyway to help you with your problem at hand. If you are ever in a position to grab the horses ear and bite as hard as YOU can this will cause him to release you, and it will not jerk either, but this is an emergency trick that must be commited to not a lazy bite but a bite as hard or harder than it's bite on you. Now the same people who hand feed treats and encourage this behavior are the same ones who will say OOHHH I can never bite her ear like that, it will not hurt the horse so don't get crazy on me, it just focuses their attention on their own ear, it works really works.