stop biting and hose fear

Question
hi!

i have a 3 year old TBx warmblood gelding. I have owned him since weaning and he stands at 17.0hh at present. He is wellbehaved though very highly strung when he wants to be, and he knows his size and strength! my first problem is nipping. he wont bite your skin but comes at you mouth open and takes hold of my coat or sweater! this is obviously a habit i am determined to break. i know he does it for the attention so i have tried simply ignoring it and have also tried grabbing his lip as he goes to do ti - all to no avail. any ideas?

second is his hose fear. at present i have not had much need to hose him down but last summer when i tried to bath him i found he was terrified of the hose!! what is the best way to coach him with this fear? as he is so young, i dont want to give him reason to fear it otherwise making both of our lives a misery!

help!

thanks!!

carly

Answer
Nipping can become very dangerous, even if the horse is only playing right now.

First off, when he tries to nip do NOT grab his lip like you have been trying... this behaviour actually encourages nipping because it becomes a game for the horse.

Because this is a habit that we want to stop right away, you will have to become slightly aggressive towards your horse. While we don't want to hurt or scare him, he needs to learn that nipping is unacceptable.

The best way to cut the habit is to give him a firm smack on the muzzle (no where else on the face) or his shoulder if you cannot get to his muzzle in time. However, as soon as you give him the smack, go back to whatever you were doing, like nothing has happened. This way he won't become frightened, and he has some time to think. If you remain mad at him, he could become scared and may also not realize what he's done.

As for his fear of the hose... if it is JUST the hose that scares him (without water coming out), then you should start by having the hose present everytime you groom him, but don't touch it. When he settles down to that see if you can carry the hose while grooming. Keep advancing to how much contact you have with the hose. Next step would be to rub him with the hose as if you were grooming him with it.

Its a long process, but hopefully over time he will realize that it is nothing to be afraid of.

Once you do start turning the water on, make sure you start hosing him from the legs up... this way if he is scared you can easily remove the water from him.

Hope that helps some.