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Solving the Biting Problems with Green Broke Horses

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I received a letter from a reader who is back into horses after many years away and has purchased a young, green broke horse. Her question was about biting. She mentioned in her note that the horse is grabby with its mouth and has started to nip her. Her choice of discipline included slapping him in the face, and she mentioned that afterwards she always felt guilty so she would go over to make nice/nice with the horse because she didn’t want him to be mad at her. I want to address this letter in the column for a couple of reasons that have nothing to do with biting:

1. There are a lot of similarities between training young horses and young children; the fundamental difference is about 1200 pounds. As anyone who has raised young children can attest, a 30 pound child can drive an adult out of their minds on a bad day and factor in the additional size of a young horse and you will have a sense of the challenges that can arise when working young, green-broke stock.

2. As with raising your children, it is critical to love them enough to be consistent, set boundaries and stick to your guns. Otherwise, you are doing them a disservice in the long haul. I want horsemen to get a sense of the amount of mental and physical work that is involved in training young horses so that you can make an intelligent decision when looking for your next horse. If you are coming back to ride and have fun, buy a well trained, finished horse and have the time of your life. There are plenty of fad trainers on the market today claiming that they can train a horse in 30 minutes. If you have raised children, you know how impossible that statement is and while you can get a horse to do certain things in a short amount of time, it will always take hundreds of hours to season a young horse properly so they end up as a reliable, trustworthy, steady mount and that is a lot of work. My rule of thumb is this; the real difference between green broke and seasoned is 400 hours of your time!

Tip! How to Learn From Our Mistakes - When your child first starts learning to ride and handle horses they will make a lot of mistakes and will learn quickly not to make the same mistake twice. That is what horsemanship is all about.

There was one point about biting that I did want to address here. I don’t want people slapping their horse in the face when it is the face that caused the problem. There is a school of thought that suggests that you should hit whatever part of the body committed the transgression. While I understand the logic, I don’t agree with it. I live by the same logic that engineers live by (do it once, do it well and don’t make more work for yourself along the way). My version of that rule is this, “never fix one problem by causing three new problems.” Slapping a horse in the face for biting may or may not stop the biting problem, but I guarantee it will create all kinds of head shy problems. If you teach your horse that your hand is a potential weapon, each time your hand approaches his face, don’t be surprised when your horse jerks his head away. This boo boo is sure to bite you when you try to bridle, groom the face, clip the face, put on halters, float teeth, treat medical issues or pet your horse. Teaching your horse to be head shy is counter productive and makes more work in the long haul.

Tip! Learn Patience - Horses are like children themselves, and training a horse is much like teaching a child. When your child has become a confident and skilled rider, letting them help train a horse will be an excellent experience for them.

By the way, I sent our reader a long, detailed blue print for fixing the biting problem without causing more problems in the process. However, in this column, I really want to focus on the underlying issues in her letter and those have little to do with biting.

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1. One of those issues is that training horses require a thinker, and neither requires you to necessarily be a rocket scientist but, you are required to be smarter and be able to out think the horse in your charge and as any non-pro who has worked with green stock can attest, there are days when it is hard to tell who is smarter and who is out thinking whom!

2. If you choose to work with green horses (youngsters) you have to recognize that you are taking on the role of teacher/parent/disciplinarian and in that role, anytime you lose your temper you cause more work for yourself down the road and you confuse the horse. It is specifically for this reason that I don’t recommend HOT clubbers purchase green stock. If you are coming back to horses looking for some fun and a relaxing outlet that you can enjoy when you can find free time in your schedule, buy a finished, older horse.

3. The other issue that I thought was important about the letter was the idea that the horse owner didn’t want to hurt the horse’s feelings so after disciplining the animal, she would go over and make a fuss over him. Trust me, in the wild, if the alpha horse reprimands an animal lower on the pecking order for getting cheeky, he/she won’t be going over to make nice/nice afterwards. Horses understand that there are boundaries and that is part of normal herd behavior. There are plenty of fad trainers on the market today talking about bonding with your horse, making friends, and becoming part of the herd, but at the end of the day, it is your job to teach and educate and that is best accomplished when you operate from the position of head of the herd, not just one of the boys. In the case of the reader with the biting horse, it is equally counter productive and confusing to sock a horse in the mouth for biting and then, for no apparent reason, fawn all over him two minutes later. When working with green stock, it is all about consistency.

Tip! Self Discipline - Horses take a lot of time and work, so your child will have to be dedicated to learning how to ride and handle horses effectively. I have found that dedication is rarely something that children lacks when it comes to horses.

A parent who says they never discipline their child and only wants to be their friend is a parent who is headed for disaster because a child who operates in a world without any boundaries is a child who will drive you, the neighbors, all the school teachers and the rest of the civilized world- nutty!

If your kids are raised and you loved the process, buy a green broke horse because it will be very similar to your experience rearing kids. However, if you have raised your children and while you don’t regret doing it, you wouldn’t want to go there again, bear that in mind when you are out shopping for your next horse. If you are a HOT clubber, you have earned the right to have fun. Buying a seasoned, well trained, finished horse is like spending time with your adult kids. Buying a green broke horse is like spending time with a toddler! In the case of my reader, the biting issue is the first of dozens of other challenges she is going to be facing in the months and years to come while working with a green broke animal. The value of her letter is that it brings up the ultimate question: Do you want to spend hundreds of hours teaching and training a horse to ride - or hundreds of hours riding a horse that is already trained? Food for thought when you get ready to shop for your next horse!

Tip! Learn Respect - Children will learn to respect their horses and themselves. Horses are large, dangerous creatures and they demand respect, yet in order to be handled safely they must also respect their handlers.