17month old colt

Question
Hi, my name is Sandi and I have recently acquired a 17 month old colt who has had little handling.(I've had him since Dec 30th)  Though he is very good natured.....he has starting nipping at me and biting the halter when we put it on.  How or what can I do to stop the nipping at me? Any suggestions on haltering too?

Answer
Sandi,

Ok, you have a juvenile delinquent on your hands and you need to establish some ground rules as to what is acceptable behavior.  Get after him.  At his age I leave the halter on the horse so I can get hold of them when I need to, i.e. in situations like this I grab the halter, shake it and yell at them.  I let them know in no uncertain terms that I do not like it when they nip at me and will not allow it.  You might try leaving the halter on at least for a while until you get this behavior corrected.  

For horses this age I use halters that you have to unbuckle the crown piece to get them on.  I put it around their neck then slip it up over the nose and buckle it.  That way I have a hold on them even if it's just the halter around the neck.  Praise and a treat after the halter is on get them to regard the haltering as a way to get a treat so they do it with no problems.  I will admit I use treats regularly.  You can buy a lot of good behavior with bribery as long as you establish ground rules for treats.  No pushing, shoving, nipping or otherwise rude behavior will be tolerated.  

If he's a colt, are you referring to him as an un-gelded horse or just using colt as meaning an adolescent horse?  If he's actually a colt, the nipping has to be stopped.  It's very common in the boys and something you just cannot allow.  Ever.  Boys tend to be very oral and you have to teach them that you are not something for them to test their teeth on.  You have to establish that you run the show.  If you are going to geld him then this is a good age to do that.  It does make them easier to work with, less attempts at dominating you from them.  

Get back if you need any more help.  Good luck

Lyn