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Post by bethspring on Jul 21, 2014 15:20:25 GMT 1
Sorry everyone, you'll all be sick of me soon!
Just a quick one, both Spring and Dan have started attempting to nip just lately (Spring actually managed to last night - bloody sore!!) just wondered if anyone has any ideas on how to break this habit before its fully formed?
Thanks xx
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Post by happysnail on Jul 21, 2014 15:39:17 GMT 1
What do you think triggers might be? Is it when you touch a certain area of the body? Do you hand feed? If Mayfly even sees other horses being hand fed she's into personal space and testing things with her mouth. It's 100% illegal in my regime (!) but I always know if she's been watching other horses get treats. On the other hand touchiness around a part of the body e.g. saddling, girthing might be discomfort. Horses and also learn biting (or kicking, stomping, tail swishing) is a good way of controlling a human's movement - it can happen by accident, it works once and then can quickly become habit. IHRA Sue Palmer does a really good newsletter on brain or pain which is really helpfully to untangling the complex interactions between physiology, psychology and training.
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Post by portiabuzz on Jul 21, 2014 15:58:47 GMT 1
hi Beth  |
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Post by bethspring on Jul 21, 2014 16:02:13 GMT 1
Thanks happysnail. I think spring was just trying it on last night, I was doing our leg desensitising exercise again - not her favourite thing in the world! With dan it could be an attention demand! I didn't really think about triggers!!
Hi Portiabuzz, how are you? X
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Post by portiabuzz on Jul 21, 2014 16:05:33 GMT 1
am ok thank you, just busy with wedding coming up  |
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Post by crazycolt on Jul 24, 2014 10:08:38 GMT 1
Hi Morgan's 'stress default' is nipping. If he's a bit wound up, or worried, he'll try and nip my arm. He was pretty bad as a youngster, when I was teaching him to lead. I tried ignoring it, and resorted to cutting the leg off one of the childrens old wetsuits, and wearing it on my arm, hoping that if he didn't get a reaction he'd give up. it worked to some extent, but when he actually grabbed my sleeve and lifted me off the ground! I suddenly - duh -thought Right! He would not get away with that with another horse, so did Kelly's 'jumping/screaming' thingie! It worked quite well, although still now if he gets worried he will 'sort of' go to nip, but stop short of me! On the couple of occasions when I've been in the right place (not easy to do this while you're walking with him) I've (Kelly again!) tapped is leg with my boot (Not a hard kick) But guess it depends on the circumstances, what fits your horse, at the time. Interestingly, when I picked him up, I discovered that his breeders had allowed him to chew their clothes! Not a good idea!! But fortunately, he's quite an amiable chap. Good luck.  |
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Post by portiabuzz on Jul 24, 2014 10:10:35 GMT 1
Hows it going Beth?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2014 11:30:35 GMT 1
I think spring was just trying it on last night, I was doing our leg desensitising exercise again - not her favourite thing in the world! Not trying it on then, more like telling you she's unhappy about it. Depending what you mean by leg desensitising... it could be because she's nervous and would be happier if you took things more slowly and gave her more frequent breaks, or could be discomfort. Might also be worth considering mites - I don't know whether she's at all feathery but don't underestimate how uncomfortable it can make them. I recently saw a cob smash a paving slab by kicking his foot down so hard on it when his owner asked for his leg up, because he had mites and found the contact excruciating. |
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jinglejoys
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Post by jinglejoys on Jul 24, 2014 11:44:18 GMT 1
Just say "Ow!!!" and jump up and down a bit,worked for Malaga plus letting him know which is your space and which is his |
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Post by bethspring on Jul 24, 2014 11:56:37 GMT 1
Thanks everyone - I'll try to jumping/squealing combination tonight!
They are both really smooth coated, so I don't know that mites would be the problem. Maybe working more slowly is the answer - I'll keep you posted!
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Post by bethspring on Jul 27, 2014 15:16:12 GMT 1
Just a thought that has just occurred to me - could dan's nipping behaviour be an attention thing? He's in a paddock with Spring, and I see them every day, but could he be a bit jealous of attention spring gets? Opinions please? xx |
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Post by alonerawnut on Jul 27, 2014 21:28:49 GMT 1
Something that Jim Goddard showed us on the Practical Skills course with one of his stallions was making a loud noise but not reacting with his body (as the youngsters could interpret this as a game) - making it like they were 'pressing a button' when they tried to nibble with their teeth that was entirely separate from Jim.
The noise was a bit like the "brrrr" bit if you were imitating an old-fashioned telephone ring: 'BRRRRING!" to make it an unusual noise that you don't use for anything else. It would happen immediately any contact was made with teeth.
Jim demonstrated it by standing with one of his younger stallions. The horse would nudge Jim's arm with his mouth, using his lips and Jim would just stand still and continue talking to us. As soon as teeth came in contact, Jim would make the "brrr" noise but keep standing still, facing us and then carry on talking. The horse jumped a little bit as it was a loud, unusual noise, then you could see him working out his limits: a little nudge with his lips and no noise, a little touch with his teeth and that 'pressed the button' and set off the annoying noise!
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Post by portiabuzz on Jul 28, 2014 9:21:19 GMT 1
thats a great tip  |
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Post by bethspring on Jul 28, 2014 21:16:25 GMT 1
Dan is better already with it, he isn't nipping (much) over the last couple of days.
Spring is just... Spring. I love her but she can be such a little madam at times! She'll take much longer with the nipping (and kicking out) I think xz
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Post by portiabuzz on Jul 29, 2014 12:02:15 GMT 1
thats great |
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