Horse Behavior – Biting Children

Hi Cherry, I bought two miniature ponies on the weekend one is the perfect but the other one has attacked my seven year old and four year old three times each. When i say attacked she has every time just lunged at them from a distance ears back mouth open and bit them drawing blood. She is fine with me but i am at a loss as they are not old enough to assert their authority and i am unable to leave her wandering our property(as my other horses do) in fear she will bite them again.

Hello Michelle,

When it comes to the safety of the child, by all means, confine the miniature horse that bites so that your children can play on your property safely.

Then when you have time to properly devote to it, you will need to work with the mini haltered and with you controlling the horse. First ask your brave children to come up to the mini and pet and rub her all over, but especially where she enjoys it. She will let you know where her favorite spots are. Make sure they do this from both sides and the back and the front of the horse with you always in control of the horse.

Then do this as you are walking the mini. Have your children approach as you are leading and scratch the mini on the withers or neck (or where she likes) as you all walk along together. Do this from all angles.

Then ask your children to walk nearby but out of reach of the mini without them touching her. You’ll be on the lead rope to control her if she does lunge at them. Over a period of minutes, hours, days, you will increase the temptation (they will move closer and closer), relax your bearing but still always be able to control the mini. Do this at a standstill first and then in motion like the touching exercise.

I’m also going to post here some other biting Q&As you might find helpful.

Best of luck and be safe.

Biting Prevention by Cherry Hill

How Do I Stop my Horse Biting?  by Cherry Hill

Horse in Stall Bites at People

©  2010 Cherry Hill   © Copyright Information

Cherry,

Why does my horse bite in a assertive way when she is in her stall and people pass her?

Dear Horseowner,

You don’t give me much detail about your horse and his care, so I’m also answering this for other people that have horses with a similar problem.

A horse that reaches out to bite horses or people that pass by their stall is usually “saying” two things:

1. I am bored in this confined space.

2. Stay away from this space, it is mine.

Now as to #1, horses are inherently nomadic, that means they have evolved over millions of years to be roamers, constantly on the move in search of food and water and while doing so, gaining regular, constant low-level exercise. Their diet consisted of prairie grass. A stalled horse has had his world turned upside down. He now gets all his feed delivered to him, often consisting of rich feeds such as grain and alfalfa. And he rarely gets out of the stall. When he is taken out, it is often to be ridden for a short period of time (one hour) several times a week. So it is no wonder many stalled horses are jumping out of their skins with boredom and invent games to amuse themselves and pass the time. So the first time a horse that lunges out at passersby gets a reaction (shrinking, ducking, dodging), he has learned that this is a fun interactive game. And he will continue because it gives him something to do.

As to #2, since the stall is where a horse is fed, it is his private guarded space and he could be acting out his pecking order by saying “Stay away from my food and the area where I eat.” Horses aren’t generally territorial like dogs are except when it comes to feed.

So, bottom line. If a horse is biting out at people and horses, that horse needs more exercise and interaction and probably less rich feed. The more naturally a horse is kept, the less apt he is to exhibit stall vices.