Help Please?! Aggressive Horse!

[loulou1991]

Hi, I am new to this site and was just wondering if anyone could help!

I have just taken on a very aggressive horse, he is a serial biter and face puller but he really means it!! He blonged to a friend of a friend and his old mum was on the verge of taking drastic measures as he was getting quite dangerous and she didnt want to risk someone getting hurt.

He will put his ears flat back and lunge at you teeth bared trying with great intent to bite you anywhere he can. If you are doing rugs up he will swing his head round and try and get a chunk! He is a 13 y/o 16.3hh TB x Irish Draft gelding. The strange this is, the minute you raise your voice or be firm, he will almost strop and will instantly want something in his mouth, if i was to raise my voice to him he would grab the end of his lead rope (or anything in reach) and suck it, almost like a dummy. You can then stroke and cuddle him and he will wrap his head around you and cuddle you, try and lick you and nuzzle you then a split second later he will try and take a munch out of you!

His back, teeth everything you name it has been checked when he was with his previous owner. Also, another strange thing is as soon as you put the saddle on and start doing up the girth he is fine (this is when i would expect him to get upset!) he just sucks on something near by and is happy to stand there without any faces or teeth!!

If anyone has suggestions or advice, they would be much appreciated!!!

Thank you,
Lauren

[shan]

Hi Lauren, sounds like he could be a previously scared boy to me, but... how old is he, is he a gelding or stallion, if gelded when was he cut do you know?
He does smack of being previously frightened and defensive to me from the little you said, and if you haven't the experience or knowledge to handle the situation yourself, there are many fantastic RAs on this site who would be a very good place to start. Whereabouts are you? Have a look at who's in your area and give one or two a call
I've known a few horses who seemed very aggressive - some wouldn't do any more than face-pull, some would lunge & bite etc, all of the latter had 'baggage' and needed alot of kind and patient handling, consistency, sensitivity and firm but non-violent handling to win their trust and help them to be confident and feel safe

[loulou1991]

Thanks for your advice, he is 13 y/o and I have been told he was cut at 3 months old. I dont know if his behaviour was initially because of something that has happened to him and then my friend reinforced it because everytime he would pull a face and try to bite she would start "kooing" at him and patting his neck and then he would just do it more, maybe he now associates the face pulling with getting affection? And now he has just learnt to be that way because no one has put the time in with him to make him realise we arent going to hurt him and the biting is a bad thing? I myself dont mind the faces if its more other people, im willing to put the time and effort in to make him a happy boy because he can be so lovely and amazing and its just heartbreaking to see him seem so scared and unconfident. I want a happy horsey

[Deleted]

Do you know if he's been fed lots of treats in the past? Is he any better or worse at feed times?

[shan]

Oh dear, he's got praised for pulling faces & biting!! No wonder he does it alot! What do you do when he pulls a face, do you ignore him, walk away, or something else?
I'd walk away or at least turn away when he pulls a face (not so he can bite your back though!), then praise him in the way he's used to when he stops it, or when he does something you ask. See if you can break the habit because what you've said sounds like he's been inadvertantly trained very well to do what he does. It might take some time if he's been used to thinking he's doing something 'good' for most of his life, and maybe that's whay he turns baby-like if you reprimand him - he thinks he's doing what pleases people, then gets told off for it?

[daviesbaby20]

My section d displayed similar behaviour ( he actually savaged me ) !! And knocked my confidence badly enough that i was questioning whether or not to sell him and whether or not i had what he needs ... and after having an RA ( paddy gracey ) out for an initial assessment we are now moving forward in baby steps ... I can now actually put his feed in his stable and he moves back !!! Previously he would lunge at me ears flat back I really feared for my safety x if I raised my voice the situation would escalate and his behaviour would worsen as though to challenge my behaviour but if too passive he would walk all over me... It's going to be a long road but well get there eventually x

[Deleted]

Hi Lauren,

The rope in the mouth bit you're describing is called displacement behaviour. It's a bit like chewing your nails when you're anxious. In this sort of situation, it's likely to deflecting his desire to actually bite something/someone. That, then, makes more sense of him going from "aaagh" to apparently happy. My guess is that has been taught what a raised voice means and knows then is the moment to re-channel his behaviour towards a rope.

I know you said he's had his back etc checked, but I would still not be at all surprised to find pain at the bottom of this. Not saying I'm sure it is, just that it would remain fairly high on my list of probabilities. Yes, the behaviour has probably been reinforced but it started for a reason, and the most common reason for aggression in horses is defense.

I'd second the advice of calling an RA out as soon as you can. Even if we are talking about current pain, there are some techniques and RA could show you for managing the situation and keeping safe while that is explored.