correcting a horse that bites, headshy, flaps ears back

Question
hello ma'am, last week, i had been to a racing stable. all horses were abused badly. i started developing vices. i approached one horse, when i showed my palm, it came and sniffed, i fed lucerne from my palms, it ate well but when i slowly tried to touch on its muzzle, it shied and moved its head away. then, i moved on to an other horse. seeing me, one horse came flapping its ears back as if thinking "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU NEAR MY STALL . . . "
it was shaking its head seeing me, crossing its head as if it had strong determination to bite me. another horse which i approached was quiet in the first. i nicely stroked on its head but within few seconds started trying to bite me.

i was really frustrated. so my question is

how to correct and teach a horse not to bite me, not to flap its ears back. how can a horse trust me? i spent 20minutes in the stable. i didnt shout or hit any horse. i tried my level best talking in a soft voice. please help me out ma'am . . .

Answer
Hello Rohit,

You are a special person to realize that behavior like this exhibited by a prey animal is usually a sign that the horse has been abused and is fighting in its own way for survival.

Your question is a good one, but unfortunately a complex one to answer. Each horse needs to be handled differently. I do not mean to "put you off" and not answer your question in full, but the answer involves different approaches and exercises.

Are you in a position to buy books and read them in English? I do not know if her books have been translated, but Linda Tellington Jones's books on the TTouch are the methods I have found that work the best.

If you work with these horses and develop a method with them, and then they are treated the same (abusively) by everyone else, it will not work. This is why all of my students write to me after their lessons..."homework", so I can be sure that they have understood my directions and know how to proceed.

Let me know about the book....otherwise, I will explain some of my methods in more detail.

Mitzi
www.MitziSummers.com