Horse bite question

[ddeans]

Sorry that you got bit.

I can remember a couple years my mother in law thought she would feed grain from the palm of her hand the first day of brining a mustang home from a BLM adoption. That lasted for about 3 seconds and I was going out of the field and I heard some of the most foul language I have ever heard screaming at the top of her lungs. The mare bit her first 3 fingers all at the knuckles and she was bleeding pretty bad. She didn't have to goto the E.R. or anything like that, but to this day, she has never fed a new horse by hand again.

 

[Opa]

One of the best things about this site is that I'm always learning new things. Today I learned "never wear a bathing suit around horses".

 

[Wildsky]

 

[kbarrett]

I was taught from a young age how to hand feed treats but always with the warning about losing a finger. Truthfully I never really believed it. Until getting in a mare at the track with the reputation of actually doing it (naturally I received the warning after I met her). One of my 7 stalls had been empty for a week, I was really excited to see my new horse as the trainer I worked for was going to the Fasig Tipton mixed sale (Dec.) and his wife told me they were bringing one home. So the next morning I get to work, head straight to the new horses' stall and duck under the stall guard to check her out. She stayed to the back, wary but let me approach her. I talked to her a bit then removed her blanket to take a good look. I replaced the blanket and turned to leave the stall, took a couple of steps before sensing movement. I turned my head and saw her lunging at me with ears flat & teeth bared. I have never dived out of a stall so fast! I was very lucky it was 4:30 am and there was no horse traffic in the shed row. When my boss showed up a couple hours later he came up to me and said the former owner said she bit somebody's pinky off and to watch my back.
We eventually came to an understanding and mutual respect for eachother but she was not a horse I trusted to work on without being haltered & tied, nor could you hang out in front of her stall without being charged.